Cycled to Clayton today. Round trip of 92 km so I'm pretty pleased with myself. Anyway, along Lake Alexandrina I heard/saw lots of golden-headed cisticolas (or, if you're Roman, cisticolae), clamorous reed warblers, little grass birds, several black-tailed native hens &, the jewels in the crown, 37 Cape Barren geese. Some of the geese were quite close to the road & were hardly disturbed by my passing (tho' I'm still alive & kicking.) I notice Morcombe says they're "wary & difficult to approach." They were feeding near a farm house so perhaps they were desensitised to the presence of humans but I reckon it's a good thing I wasn't a fox. I couldn't tell if they had any young but I'm wondering if it's a little early in spring to be seeing Cape Barren geese normally.
I had expected to see a swamp harrier or 2 but no go.
Hi Woko, it's not too early for the Cape Barren geese to have young. I took those photos on the 13.8.at Phillip Island.What a great day you must have had!!( no more Roman jokes please!LOL) M-L
M-L
Yes, it was a great day, Araminta. Love your photos of the Cape Barren geese.
Since the geese breed on islands Jul - Oct then return to the mainland late spring & summer it seemed to me that the birds I saw today were either early or over-winterers. I've never known Cape Barren geese to be around Lake Alexandrina so early in spring.