It's all up to these guys

Orange-bellied Parrot fledglings, Melaleuca

...to keep from the species becoming extinct. The numbers are crazily low. 

I was lucky enough to go back to South-West Tasmania in the last few weeks; the adult birds had already left for Victoria. The fledglings follow a bit later. 

Partly why I haven't posted - busy busy!   The Wooden Boat Festival was a highlight too - for those of you that like boats.

Wild Bird Wednesday

Look for the red knees..

Red-kneed Dotterel, Mildura

This guy has taken up residence where the Black-fronted Dotterel chick below was raised. No breeding that I know of at this wetland but I did see a chick this year when we went Broken Hill-Menindee-Pooncarie. 

Actually wanted to post a picture from that trip but thought twice with the duck shooting season... It's a bit sad when you have to censor your blog posts and location of photos to protect the birds! It was something that came up in discussion with the unusual Malleefowl sighting. Should we actually tell people details when we see such things? Here's hoping that the Malleefowl can disperse soon and become less of an easy target. 

Wild Bird Wednesday

Our baby

Black-fronted Dotterel juvenile, Mildura

We've been watching our Black-fronted Dotterels intently all spring/summer and they have finally moved on I think. No sign of them yesterday. The wetland must be relatively healthy and have good food because the pair didn't move for weeks even after the eggs hatched from the same little 3m stretch of "shore".  Unfortunately, we only ended up with one chick but last time I saw it was when I took the photos above so hopefully it makes it!