Common Terns at Herdsman Lake

The BAWA Sightings page received a report of 12 Common Tern at Maurice Hamer Park, Herdsman Lake on the morning of the 7th February. A subsequent search that afternoon revealed one bird still remaining at Maurice Hamer Park. Other areas of the lake, particularly the northern end, were not extensively searched, so the others may still be present. The single bird was initially seen hawking over the water, then perched on a piece of wood near the lake shore about 200m around to the left (north) of the carpark off Lakeside Drive near Heron Place.

Common Tern (& Pacific Black Duck) at Herdsman Lake

The Living Ghosts of Twitches Past

A pre-Christmas visit to Rottnest Island appeared to confirm the rumours were true – the Indian Peafowl control program may well have removed the last peahen from the island [1]. Long-time island residents confirmed that, to the best of their knowledge, the two adult male peacocks currently hanging around the Thompson Bay settlement are the last remnants of this historic population.

Peacock memories, Rottnest 1994.......OK, laugh at the hair if you must!