Another crazy twitch

Glebe Park, Bega (brought to you by the Rotary club)

Monday was a public holiday for us down here due to the Queen's Birthday and so I found myself heading south for another silly road trip chasing a bird. This time the intended target was a Pied Heron which would normally be living up in the Top End around Darwin and into tropical north Queensland. This confused individual, however, had turned up the previous weekend in a small park in Bega which is a wee town about 500 km south of Sydney and previously only famous for its cheese. Not sure if the bird was still there even, I headed off on Sunday morning and after a bit of a drive through the rain and fog arrived in Bega just before dusk.

White-headed Pigeon

I found the little park and scoured the pond unsuccessfully for the bird. Every other species of heron, egret, ibis and spoonbill seemed to be coming in to roost - a ridiculous number of birds for such a small pond. I also had great views of an Azure Kingfisher and White-headed Pigeons but no Pied Heron. The sun was soon down and I had to find a motel with satellite telly to catch the end of the England test match.

Pied Heron

It didn't stick around for long

The next morning I swung by the pond again before heading back north and found a couple of birdwatchers wandering around the park. Had they seen anything special I eagerly enquired. Not really they said but they had just observed a strange heron over in the far corner of the pond and it wasn't something that they recognised. A strange heron! I almost ran over to the far side and, indeed, poking about on the lilies was the Pied Heron #376. It stayed for a couple of minutes before flying off. A tremendous stroke of luck and the drive home was then really very pleasant.

Heading north through the Monaro sheep country