A trip to Bungendore

I had hoped to do a post today about colourful insects but they are not around at the moment.  I'm a bit surprised about this as there are lots of insectivorous birds (Rufous Whistlers, Dusky Woodswallows, White-winged Trillers amongst others) around at the moment.

So you get some photos from a trip to Bungendore instead.  After visiting the tip my first stop was the sewage treatment works.  As I drove in I noticed a Spoonbill on one of the banks.  Looking more closely it was a Royal Spoonbill, which is the common species around here.  that will be bird of the Day.
I then noticed 23 Plumed Whistling Ducks standing on the banks or swimming.  As the Trucking Yard Lane dams were empty (see below) I assume these are the birds that have been there for the past year.
3 Bin Chooks (aka Australian White Ibis) were also evident.
I next headed up to  Lake Rd to check the Big Dam.  The main section of it was completely dry ...
... and very little water was in the section to the left of the fence.  A couple of Masked Lapwings and about 10 Grey Teal were the only waterbirds present.

Heading back towards home I stopped first at Trucking Yard Lane Dam #2, but saw no birds just a few cattle cooling off their feet.  (It was already 31o</>C by 11am.
The same situation applied at Dam #1!
On getting home I drove carefully across our ford to ensure I didn't damage any reptiles.  This was not an issue as the resident Gippsland Water Dragon was flaunting his colours off the road on a shady rock.



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