I first found the Lathams Snipe, a threatened species of shorebird in March 2018 in this small local wetland. It was the first record for this suburb though no doubt they have been here for a long time but are very difficult to see and photograph. They hide amongst the reeds and you usually don’t see them unless you flush them out. Most people would walk right past this little spot. Lots of reeds and weeds around the edges nothing too special but it I have recorded three threatened species there.
This wetland is currently within a green corridor although there has been a lot of development of the surrounding area and some damming of the waterway further north.
It just blows me away that these migratory shorebirds breed in Japan and south-east Siberia and then head back to spend the non-breeding season in eastern Australia (August to February). They often return to the same location, in this case, an innocuous wetland around 70 x 50 m. Recent tracking of several birds have found that they can travel at least 19,000 km on their journey.
It was a very special bird to welcome me on my first foray out with the camera (we still are required to stay within 5 km of home with a 2 hour limit on recreation activities so I am very limited (but thankful nonetheless).
Thanks to David
www.flickr.com/photos/birdsaspoetry/ spotting a Snipe near his home, which reminded me to check for this bird.
I have been asked to do a Snipe count there on Saturday as it is Snipe survey day! A teeny, tiny bit scared of walking through the reeds ;-)
