We’ve continued to observe the birds alongside the sting and on the Nice Northern Freeway to the south of Broome throughout Roebuck Plains. The depth of water over the freeway varies day by day and the bird-life varies too. Many elements of the north of Australia are nonetheless inaccessible on account of flooding and the very best place to examine is the Major Roads web site earlier than going for a drive. There’s not loads of site visitors at any time, so you’ll be able to pull to the sting of the bitumen and cease to observe the birds. Don’t depart the bitumen or you might nicely get severely bogged!
There have been extra Nice Egrets, Intermediate Egrets and Little Egrets arriving and in addition extra Pied Herons, which have numbered as much as 24 lately. There are additionally White-faced Herons, however surprisingly we have now but to look at a White-necked Heron there this yr. The center of the part of freeway that runs via Roebuck Plains has been the deepest part of water lately and the place the birds prefer to feed on or beside the freeway as above and beneath.
Birds feeding on and close to the freeway
Final Sunday we have been parked within the water on the sting of the freeway all the birds when Grant observed that there was an odd fowl. The fowl was simply over some lengthy grass simply past the sting of the freeway and it was amongst Little Egrets. This particular person was the identical measurement as a Little Egret and had the identical options, but it surely was not white.
I used to be in a position to simply see the odd particular person fowl by standing on the aspect steps of our four-wheel drive. I tried a number of photographs, however because of the peak of the freeway above the flooded panorama it was moderately difficult. Ultimately I balanced within the automobile standing proper on the sting and I may simply seize the odd plumage. As a substitute of being a white Little Egret it was largely gray. We imagine that this fowl could also be displaying melanistic tendencies.
Little Egret with irregular plumage
That is our first encounter of a Little Egret with irregular plumage, so regardless of the small difficulty of the grass being tall or myself being not as tall as I’d have preferred on this event the photographs above are the very best that I may handle. I believed I’d moderately doc one thing moderately than nothing on this event and if we get an opportunity to get higher pictures then I’ll.
Beforehand we have now encountered birds which were white when they need to have been darkish. This features a white Crimson Knot in 2011 and a Higher Sand Plover with irregular plumage between 2016 and 2018.