Atlasville – 21 Dec 2008

Paid a visit to the Marievale Bird Sanctuary this morning, my first visit there in 4 months. Although it was a relatively short visit it was still disappointing to only record 27 species. For mid-summer with the expectation of many migrants as well as the resident species it should be more. Probable cause is the current extremely high water level. The only waders seen were Little Stint, Ruff, Common Ringed Plover and Pied Avocet. The herons were well represented with Squacco Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Black Heron and Purple Heron all present. Oddly though 3 of the most commonly seen were not around – Grey Heron, Black-headed Heron and Goliath Heron. The one sighting that stood out was African Marsh Harrier, always good to see this one as it is not a frequent sighting for me at Marievale.

Photos of the day included Black-winged Kite, Long-tailed Widowbird, Southern Masked Weaver and probably the most photogenic bird at Marievale in mid-summer the male Southern Red Bishop.