Life in the wet bits of of Monaro

The word Monaro has two meanings as far as I know.
  1. A very sporty car (aka Hoon-mobile) made by Holden in the 1970s; and
  2. The Tablelands around Canberra.
This is about point 2.

The first wet place was a small dam on Trucking Yard Lane in Bungendore which is the favoured haunt in this area of Plumed Whistling Ducks.  They were there on June 1 and despite their usual diet being vegetation were feeding on something - probably grain that had been through cattle - in the water.
Cockatoos, Galahs, Starlings and Mynahs were feeding around the hay racks.
Suddenly all the cockies and galahs took off.  At the time I couldn't see the reason but on looking at this image I noticed the arrowed shape.  A Brown Falcon had come to play: very welcome as Bird of the Day!
I then moved to the back of the village where Bungendore Common had been recommended to me as an interesting wetland.  This is one of 2 ponds there.
A White-faced Heron was lurking nearby ...
.. while a male Chestnut Teal took a bath.
A Grey Burcherbird had finished its bath and was reorganising its plumage in a neraby tree.
Next stop was the Sewage Works where Australasian Shovelers (with orange feet) and Pink-eared ducks were hanging out of a bank.
Then on to Lake Road and the Big Dam.  OK, a few years back it was a big dam, but several dry years have revised its name to the Moderate Sized Paddock.  No birds.
The same with Lake George.
The only birds in numbers there were a charm of European Goldfinches feeding on the thistle seeds.
Later in the day it rained reasonably solidly (9mm) at home.  Making this a wet patch.  So when I took the small dog out for a pit stop before bed a Pobblebonk was sitting on the deck.  Surprisingly

  • the small dog passed it by; and
  • it stayed around for me to grab my camera and take a couple of images.







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