Hi all
I have been sent the following email from a Waikanae birder:
"On 3 July my wife was walking down the Waikanae river track when she saw a very unusual black and white bird. It was about the size of a blackbird but she is familiar with pied black birds and unlike blackbirds this one fanned its tail in flight. (She is an experienced birder and is very observant of detail), She also said it had considerable more white on the body and head and was not a magpie.
I showed her a Magpie Lark image and she confirmed the bird she saw was very similar."
Possible magpie-lark, Waikanae
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Re: Possible magpie-lark, Waikanae
Any idea where along the river, Colin?
Cheers, Graham
Cheers, Graham
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Re: Possible magpie-lark, Waikanae
That is all the info I have Graham. I have passed your email address and request for info to my correspondent
Na
Colin
Na
Colin
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Re: Possible magpie-lark, Waikanae
Thanks Colin,
I'll go down there tomorrow and try the various open-space areas. There are "pied"/leucistic blackbirds in the general area and can be seen occasionally along Te Moana Road.
Cheers,
Graham
I'll go down there tomorrow and try the various open-space areas. There are "pied"/leucistic blackbirds in the general area and can be seen occasionally along Te Moana Road.
Cheers,
Graham
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- Posts: 167
- Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 9:29 am
- Location: Waikanae, Kapiti Coast
Re: Possible magpie-lark, Waikanae
Don't get excited - nothing on the putative Magpie Lark yet. Just got back from a walk down the North bank path, in a clear slot between the showers (well, almost); from Edgewater Park (Fleetwood Grove) to just pass the Equestrian Centre. It was very birdy in the sunshine, with lots of activity on the fields and paddocks. A few big piles of wood chips at the western end of Edgewater Park had attracted over a dozen fantails that were skimming over and on it. In fact it was fantail heaven along most of the path - almost a continuous aerial escort of them. A newly-sewn piece of floodbank between the footbridge and pylons had hundreds of House Sparrows to feed on it along with numerous Yellowhammers and Chaffinches. Heaps of Blackbirds and Song Thrushes on the grass areas. The only "black & white" birds were about four Oz magpies on the sports field and pylons, two Pied Stilts on an isolated patch of vegetation in midstream of the full river and, at a pinch, four Spur-winged Plovers in the paddock next to the equestrian centre. Still plenty of areas to look at though. Cheers, GrahamB