More Swamp

This time it is Kelly's Swamp in Jerrabomberra Wetlands.  After a couple of years being covered with water the Swamp is now undergoing one of its dry patches so there is very little open water left (despite the heavy rain a week ago).  However this is not necessarily a Bad Thing.  When I visited from about 11:25 to 11:45 on 8 February there was a lot happening in front of the Cygnus Hide.  (For those who don't realise the names of the 3 hides which face onto the Swamp are called Ardea, Bittern and Cygnus - A,B, C starting from the North - as shown in this Google Earth snap.

A series of new perches were built into the water but when there is no water they seem to provide shade for Black-fronted Dotterels.  These little birds are very hard to spot when they stand still: I had only expected to find 2 in this shot.

In total I estimate there were about 20 visible from Cygnus Hide.  Some of them were juveniles.

The next image has a couple of perspectives on Australian Spotted Crake ....

 .. and here is a closer shot showing the spots.  I estimate there were at least 6 of these pottering around on bits of mud close to cover.

 Now lets segue back towards Dotterels, with this shot showing the similarity in size (and little else) between Australian Spotted Crake and Red-kneed Dotterel.

 Now we see the comparison between Red-kneed Dotterel and Black-fronted Dotterel.

Clearly, the black band is more pronounced on the Red-kneed (and the red knees are invisible in this shot).  An explanation I recently heard was that a name including '-fronted' often refers to the colour of the forehead rather than the breast.  However the forehead of the red-kneed is again more copiously black than the black-fronted!  I merely refer to {expletive deleted} taxonomists, sigh in exasperation and move right along.

An additional member of the Rallidae that made a welcome appearance was a Buff-banded Rail.

Also in this family but not photographed as I ran short of time were what a well respected local naturalist has referred to as "the Eternal Three" - Purple Swamphen, Eurasian Coot and Dusky Moorhen.

Finally a Masked Lapwing decided to demonstrate the adhesive nature of the gloop.

The use, as a refuge, made of the typha by many of these birds ...

... clearly shows that it is an important resource and mustn't be completely removed.  However in this case there is a risk that it will soon take over the entire swamp if not managed more carefully than it has in the recent past.  Whether some way can be found to do that which also satisfies the Government's (apparent) primary policies 

• creating work for members of the building industry, and
• maintaining the profits of ACTEW and Canberra Airport; and
• minimising the Budget deficit

remains to be seen.