Article for the District Bulletin

The following article about Waterbirds returning to the area was published in The District Bulletin in December 2012.
The Waterbirds return

Many families of birds are closely linked to the presence of water.  Best known of these are the Swans Ducks and Geese; Herons; and the Waders (Plovers Sandpipers etc).  With water returning to Lake George, good flows in the Molonglo and Queanbeyan Rivers and many farm dams remaining full, the numbers and diversity of waterbirds in the District is currently very high. 

In the urban parts of the District a good place to start with waterbirds is the Queanbeyan River near the weir.  Many of the waterbirds can be found there and will often stay close enough to be viewed for identification purposes. 

Those with small dams on their properties will be very familiar with Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Wood Ducks and Australasian Grebes.  White-faced Herons and Little Pied Cormorants are also common visitors.

As well as these common species some damp sites have attracted unusual birds. 

Many farm dams have hosted the large White-necked Heron. 

Apart from the very obvious long white neck (see image) they are twice the size of the familiar White‑faced Heron.  Often seen as single birds, up to 15 White-faced Herons have been seen on the Hoskinstown Plain.  

The paddocks on the South side of Bungendore village often support Australian Shelduck in numbers ranging from 2 up to 30. 

They are usually found in pairs as shown in the image, with the female having a white ring around the base of the bill.   The Shelduck also feed on Lucerne crops and birds can be seen in these crops on the Hoskinstown Plain.

Banded Lapwings are closely related to the common Masked Lapwing (sometimes called the Spur‑winged Plover). 

As shown in the image the Banded Lapwings differ in not having a yellow mask but showing a black band across the breast.  They have been very uncommon in this area (other than private property around Lake Bathurst) for about 50 years.  A few were reported near Lake George last Summer but have recently been reported in good numbers from South of Bungendore and on the Hoskinstown Plain.  It seems the wetter seasons have been good for their breeding and they are now spreading out to sample the goodies a little further afield.

The least common (in this area) waterbird seen recently has been a party of Plumed Whistling-Ducks seen in the paddocks off Trucking Yard Lane. 

The upwards pointing plumes beside the wings are an easy field mark when standing but less so when in flight.