We’ve continued to observe the birds alongside the sting 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 elements of the north of Australia are nonetheless inaccessible as a result of flooding and the most effective place to verify is the Important Roads web site 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 depart the bitumen or chances are you’ll properly get critically bogged!
There have been extra Nice 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’ve got but to watch a White-necked Heron there this 12 months. The center of the part of freeway that runs by Roebuck Plains has been the deepest part of water not too long ago and the place the birds prefer 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 taking a look at all the birds when Grant seen that there was an odd chicken. The chicken 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, however it was not white.
I used to be capable of simply see the odd particular person chicken by standing on the aspect steps of our four-wheel drive. I tried a number of images, however because of the peak of the freeway above the flooded panorama it was slightly tough. In the long run I balanced within the automobile standing proper on the sting and I might simply seize the odd plumage. As an alternative of being a white Little Egret it was largely gray. We imagine that this chicken could also be exhibiting melanistic tendencies.
Little Egret with irregular plumage
That is our first encounter of a Little Egret with irregular plumage, so regardless of the small situation of the grass being tall or myself being not as tall as I might have appreciated on this event the images above are the most effective that I might handle. I believed I might slightly doc one thing slightly than nothing on this event and if we get an opportunity to get higher pictures then I’ll.
Beforehand we’ve got encountered birds which were white when they need to have been darkish. This features a white Crimson Knot in 2011 and a Larger Sand Plover with irregular plumage between 2016 and 2018.
Autor Clare M
