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| Freckled Duck & Pink-eared Duck - Kilcoy |
A three-night campout on the shore of Atkinson Dam in the Lockyer Valley. There remain plenty of good birds in the area. On the way I stopped at the wetlands in Winya Road, Kilcoy. Eight Freckled Ducks were present along with Pink-eared Duck (6) and Australasian Shoveler (10). Nearby, at the Mary Stokes Creek roadside dam, Cotton Pygmy-Goose (8) was present.
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| Hoary-headed Grebe |
An afternoon drive along Banool Road behind Atkinson Dam turned up Hoary-headed Grebe (2) on a small roadside dam. Interestingly, this species was not encountered later among hundreds of Australasian Grebes on Atkinson Dam.
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| Red-necked Avocet |
Plenty of Red-necked Avocets (200+) were present on Seven Mile Lagoon, with other nice birds including Australasian Shoveler (40) and Hoary-headed Grebe (4) again.
Atkinson Dam proved a lovely setting for camping.
I set off in my kayak in the early morning to explore the 15km or so of dam shore.
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| Cotton Pygmy-Goose |
The dam was full of birds with Cotton Pygmy-Goose (16) present in small flocks.
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| Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Black Swan, Australian Pelican |
Clearly there were plenty of fish about as pelicans, cormorants (all 4 species) and darters were in large numbers.
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| Great Crested Grebe |
Great Crested Grebe (50+) was plentiful with some birds close to shore.
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| Whiskered Tern, Caspian Tern |
Good numbers of Caspian Terns were about along with a few Gull-billed Terns and Whiskered Terns in non-breeding plumage.
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| White-bellied Sea-Eagle |
White-bellied Sea-Eagles were surprisingly common - about 8 were seen.
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| Pink-eared Duck |
Of particular interest on the dam was a huge (3000+) gathering of Pink-eared Duck at its southern end.
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| Black Flying-Fox |
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| Sunset over Atkinson Dam |
A small colony of Black Flying-Fox with a few Little Red Flying-Fox among them was roosting near the dam.
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| Freckled Duck - Peach's Lagoon |
A circuit of other wetlands in the region began with a stop at Peach's Lagoon, Lower Tenthill, where Freckled Duck (4) was present. These birds have been here for several months.
At nearby Karrasch's Dam, Placid Hills, a single Black-tailed Native-hen was foraging along the shore.
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| Australasian Shoveler - Karrasch's Dam |
Other birds at Karrasch's included Australasian Shoveler (10).
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| Red-tailed Black Cockatoo |
A surprise was a party of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (5) feeding roadside between the lagoon and the main road.
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| Blue-billed Duck & Freckled Duck - Lake Galletly |
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| Blue-billed Duck females |
After finding a pair of nesting Black Falcon on private land near Lake Clarendon (see post following) a visit to Lake Galletly near Gatton turned up Blue-billed Duck (2 male, 2 female), Pink-eared Duck (50) and Freckled Duck (3).
