Identificaciones de conradtrollip

Hard to tell but I think I can make out pink on breast and long upper bill 2 on there own and few others around zoomed in now so def a lbc. Often hard to get them in their own in flight without little corellas and they were quite distant on this shot

Cool, windy, overcast day, around 16 degrees Celsius.

I'd previously made an entry of the Australasian Grebe pair and their 7th attempted floating nest 40 metres out from the viewing area, the previous 6 lost to heavy rain and sinking. There'd been heavy rain and I wasn't hopeful on attending the lake and, sure enough, the nest was gone. I shook my head in dismay only to be drawn to the furious screams of a Grebe pair just out of sight to the right and the hasty appearance of a terrified Coot, quickly followed by an angry Grebe who stopped, staring at it and screeching before turning back right out of sight. I stepped over the the right, the North-West corner of the lake and was greatly surprised and relieved to see the missing Grebe nest, safely a few metres out from the bank! They'd either towed it there or it had been blown in the bad weather - I did note a lot of Ribbon Weed blown into the North-West corner. Good! It's sheltered there, and much shallower, the nest firmly anchored to the Ribbon Weed below, and made predominantly from the Ribbon Weed. The female stood on the nest, watching the male paddle up, ensuring the nest and the now 3 eggs (there were 2 previously) were safe. The female seemed to screech her satisfaction to her partner and he swam off to dive to feed and retrieve more weed to add to the nest.

She settled down on the eggs briefly before standing and rearranging them and tidying the nest before reluctantly entering the water to retrieve more weed to add to it, paddling and diving to return again and again, her partner also attending with more weed for her to arrange. Satisfied the nest and eggs were at their best, she settled back down to warm them.

More heavy rain expected in the next 2 days, hopefully the nest is now sheltered close to the bank and will survive.

The Coot originally frightened away from the nest cautiously stuck close to the bank on it's return along the North bank then to its nest on the Western bank only to stumble into a Pacific Black Duck mother with her 6 visible ducklings foraging at the North-West bank water's edge - the outraged mother quacked loudly, flying and battering the Coot who rapidly retreated in shock several metres to the South-East. The furious mother attacked another couple of times, defended by a kicking Coot, she looked angrily at it, quacking loudly before returning to her ducklings. No luck for the Coot who hurried back to its nest and didn't venture out again.

Postscript - 2 days later after heavy rain, the nest was empty and abandoned, waterlogged, blown against the North-West bank. 7th failed nests for the Grebe pair, at least 6 eggs lost that I noted.