Trucking Yard Lane weaves its magic

When I got home from the ANPS outing yesterday there was a phone message to say that about 12 Plumed Whistling Ducks were on the dam in Trucking Yard Lane.  So off I went.  The weather wasn't pleasant, blowing a gale but the ducks were there.

For those not familiar with Bungendore here is a snip from Google Earth (GE).  The ducks were at the spot marked with an X.
Using the ruler function in GE I estimate that the ducks were about 60m away from me.  I am using that as an explanation for the shakiness of these images!

This shot shows most of the ducks. Another 4 were just to the right, but I wanted to include the Australian Raven as well, both to give an indication of the size of the ducks and to remind me to record that the Raven seemed very curious about the ducks.  Perhaps it recognised that they were unusual?  The ducks didn't welcome the attention and skittered about the place.
 The ducks are much smaller than a Hereford!
 A very typical posture of the species.  The image also gives somewhat of the 'jizz' when they run.
 This was the best shot I managed of the plumes.
 Even when most of the flock was grazing a couple kept lookout.
As well as the ducks I was alerted by the calls of Little Corellas to the presence of that species.  It is a tad unusual to get Australian Shelduck and Corellas in one image!
The overall tally of birds for the day was:

  • Plumed Whistling Duck 13
  • Pacific Black Duck 2
  • Australian Shelduck 2
  • Galah 50
  • Sulphur-crested Cockatoo 100
  • Litle Corella 20
  • Crested Pigeon 2
Most of the birds seem to be attracted to the area by the grain and hay used to keep the cattle which are kept here as a holding paddock for an abattoir.

Departure from lounging:  My friend Julienne saw 25 PWD at the dam on 5 October and reported they were still there at 6:30am on 6 October.  However when Frances and I went by about 1430 on the 6th the cupboard was bare.  

Referring back to the GE clip, note the density of housing in the newish, Bungendore Meadow development.  Why on earth anyone would choose to come 40km from Canberra and live jammed together like that I don't know.  They can't even see the 'real'  meadow as a tasteless fence has been erected  around the houses.

Further update: Commencing on 13 November 15-22 PWDs  have been reported from either the Trucking Yard Lane or Hoskinstown Rd dams.  They were still there at 4pm on 16 November.

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