Now we have continued to observe the birds along the edge and on the Nice Northern Freeway to the south of Broome throughout Roebuck Plains. The depth of water over the freeway varies day by day and the bird-life varies too. Many components of the north of Australia are nonetheless inaccessible because of flooding and one of the best place to verify is the Main Roads website earlier than going for a drive. There may be not quite a lot of site visitors at any time, so you’ll be able to pull to the sting of the bitumen and cease to look at the birds. Don’t go away the bitumen or you could nicely get significantly bogged!
There have been extra Great Egrets, Intermediate Egrets and Little Egrets arriving and in addition extra Pied Herons, which have numbered as much as 24 not too long ago. There are additionally White-faced Herons, however surprisingly we have now but to watch a White-necked Heron there this 12 months. The center of the part of freeway that runs by way of Roebuck Plains has been the deepest part of water not too long ago and the place the birds wish to feed on or beside the freeway as above and beneath.
Birds feeding on and close to the freeway
Final Sunday we had been parked within the water on the sting of the freeway all the birds when Grant seen that there was an odd hen. The hen was simply over some lengthy grass simply past the sting of the freeway and it was amongst Little Egrets. This particular person was the identical dimension as a Little Egret and had the identical options, nevertheless it was not white.
I used to be capable of simply see the odd particular person hen by standing on the aspect steps of our four-wheel drive. I tried a number of photographs, however because of the top of the freeway above the flooded panorama it was moderately tough. Ultimately I balanced within the car standing proper on the sting and I might simply seize the odd plumage. As a substitute of being a white Little Egret it was principally gray. We imagine that this hen could also be displaying melanistic tendencies.
Little Egret with irregular plumage
That is our first encounter of a Little Egret with irregular plumage, so regardless of the small concern of the grass being tall or myself being not as tall as I might have favored on this event the photographs above are one of the best that I might handle. I believed I might moderately doc one thing moderately than nothing on this event and if we get an opportunity to get higher pictures then I’ll.
Beforehand we have now encountered birds which were white when they need to have been darkish. This features a white Red Knot in 2011 and a Greater Sand Plover with abnormal plumage between 2016 and 2018.
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