I saw a most unusual interaction this afternoon at Begola Wetlands in Ocean Grove. This is the spot where up over 100 Freckled Ducks have been observed in recent weeks. I was there for about 20 minutes today on the way home from work. I didn’t really have time to count the ducks, but there were Freckled, Chestnut and Grey Teal, Pacific Black, Hardhead, Pink-eared and a pair of Aus Shoveler (which I can’t remember seeing there before). The Freckled Duck were everywhere, but mostly tucked up close to the reeds, with a few swimming in the middle of the pond, and others on just about every exposed log. One log had 3 or 4 Freckled Duck and a couple of Silver Gulls, and not much spare space. A Silver Gull landed on the back of a Freckled Duck – I had to check that it wasn’t just behind it and I was fooled by perspective. But no, it landed and stood right on the back of the duck! Both birds stayed in place for about half a minute, and then the duck dived forward into the water, and the gull took its spot on the log. Is this a common thing for gulls to do? Does anyone else recall seeing a gull or other bird standing on a Freckled Duck? I did get a couple of photos – poor quality but they show the gull on the duck, the duck getting away, then the gull standing on the log where the duck had been. Russell Woodford Ocean Grove VIC =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hi Russ, The appearance of Freckled Duck (and other duck species) at Beloga is no doubt due to the disturbance occurring at Lake Lorne during the installation of the boardwalk and path. Beloga would be a much less comfortable place to hang out for the Freckled ducks (not only because Silver Gulls are landing on them : ), but because its smaller, with less open water, and less roost sites, which would make them open to predation. I’m hoping the new boardwalk and path will not deter the freckled ducks from returning to Lake Lorne, and that the species will not become ‘sensitised’ to movement and hence be more vunerable to predatory approach. Pete Sent by: birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au I saw a most unusual interaction this afternoon at Begola Wetlands in Ocean Grove. This is the spot where up over 100 Freckled Ducks have been observed in recent weeks. I was there for about 20 minutes today on the way home from work. I didn’t really have time to count the ducks, but there were Freckled, Chestnut and Grey Teal, Pacific Black, Hardhead, Pink-eared and a pair of Aus Shoveler (which I can’t remember seeing there before). The Freckled Duck were everywhere, but mostly tucked up close to the reeds, with a few swimming in the middle of the pond, and others on just about every exposed log. One log had 3 or 4 Freckled Duck and a couple of Silver Gulls, and not much spare space. A Silver Gull landed on the back of a Freckled Duck – I had to check that it wasn’t just behind it and I was fooled by perspective. But no, it landed and stood right on the back of the duck! Both birds stayed in place for about half a minute, and then the duck dived forward into the water, and the gull took its spot on the log. Is this a common thing for gulls to do? Does anyone else recall seeing a gull or other bird standing on a Freckled Duck? I did get a couple of photos – poor quality but they show the gull on the duck, the duck getting away, then the gull standing on the log where the duck had been. Russell Woodford Ocean Grove VIC =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Must have been a very gullible duck. —–Original Message—– [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Russ Sent: Sunday, 11 August 2013 10:34 PM I saw a most unusual interaction this afternoon at Begola Wetlands in Ocean Grove. This is the spot where up over 100 Freckled Ducks have been observed in recent weeks. I was there for about 20 minutes today on the way home from work. I didn’t really have time to count the ducks, but there were Freckled, Chestnut and Grey Teal, Pacific Black, Hardhead, Pink-eared and a pair of Aus Shoveler (which I can’t remember seeing there before). The Freckled Duck were everywhere, but mostly tucked up close to the reeds, with a few swimming in the middle of the pond, and others on just about every exposed log. One log had 3 or 4 Freckled Duck and a couple of Silver Gulls, and not much spare space. A Silver Gull landed on the back of a Freckled Duck – I had to check that it wasn’t just behind it and I was fooled by perspective. But no, it landed and stood right on the back of the duck! Both birds stayed in place for about half a minute, and then the duck dived forward into the water, and the gull took its spot on the log. Is this a common thing for gulls to do? Does anyone else recall seeing a gull or other bird standing on a Freckled Duck? I did get a couple of photos – poor quality but they show the gull on the duck, the duck getting away, then the gull standing on the log where the duck had been. Russell Woodford Ocean Grove VIC =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================