WTP Raptors

Hi all, There has been a “blocking high” sitting over south-eastern Australia for just on a week now. Every morning has been clear and cold enough that ice forms on the windscreen of the car and ones breath rises white into the morning air. The cold west to south-west winds of winter are flowing south of Victoria and are battering Tasmania. These calm, blue-sky conditions just scream for a person to go birding. Werribee was perfect on Tuesday. In spring and summer the place is shimmering with waders but now all that are around are a few Red-necked Stints, a couple of Greenshanks, and a hundred or so Double-banded Plover wintering over from New Zealand. Some surprises do exist though, like finding a lone Sharp-tailed Sandpiper in full breeding plumage and seven Bar-tailed Godwits on the sand flats at low tide. They shouldn’t be here; they should be in Siberia somewhere. I didn’t look for the Northern Shoveler so I don’t know if it is still around or not. Wader watching requires hours of scanning mud flats and ones eyes are looking down and out. And the frustration, oh the frustration; could that be a Little Stint? Or over there, is that a Broad-billed? Damn!, that kite just flushed the flock, I am sure that was a mega White-rumped Sandpiper I saw just before they flew! Right now though, in the middle of winter, all the action is in the air. Raptors are everywhere. On a good day 12 or 13 species can be seen and when the sky is azure blue and there is no wind, as it was last Tuesday, they are a sublime joy to watch. I saw a Hobby sunning above Beach Road, a pair of Black Falcon stealing something small from a Black-shouldered Kite at the gate before the Little River ford, a gorgeous Kestrel on Paradise Rd, a Whistling Kite devouring the last of its dinner on the Ryan’s Swamp road, Swamp Harriers everywhere and both dark and pale Brown Falcons One thing at WTP that has me intrigued at the moment though is just how far out low tide takes the water now. I am sure there is at least twice the amount of exposed sand between Beach Rd and the hide, and some rocks further out that used to be islands at low tide are now joined to the coast by sandbars. The seagulls and avocets are enjoying it now and I am sure the waders will love it when they get back. I wonder if this change has been caused by the deepening of The Heads? Maybe more water can get out of the bay each tide? I can hardly wait for the waders to return but for now, raptor watching is a more than adequate alternative. cheers Jenny http://jenniferspryausbirding.blogspot.com.au/ =============================== 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 ===============================