Last Monday was a good bird day.  We often have birds sitting on the jetty railing.  Usually, Australian Wood Ducks;  often Little Pied Cormorants;  rarely, a White Necked Heron.   On Monday, all three species were sharing the space.

The Little Pied Cormorants have been here every morning since then, diving for food and airing their wings.  I’m not sure what they are catching as there are no fish in the dam that I have seen. Although, we had a healthy crop of frog spawn floating on the water in Spring.  Perhaps there are tadpoles or frogs.

The Australian Wood Ducks have been here for most of the Summer.  Usually just a pair, sometimes two pairs. They move between swimming in the water to grazing on the plants around the dam.  The jetty is their favourite place to rest.

White Necked Herons are rare visitors, but we have had at least one or two visits each year.  This bird, we think, may be a juvenile.  We spotted it standing on the dam ‘beach’ a few days prior to this, and it had grey feathers on the front of its neck.  White Faced Herons also use this ‘beach’ and we suspect they find yabbies along with the muscles buried in the sand.

Sometimes we consider putting some native fish in our dam, but this mixed flock indicates what would happen to most of the fish…!