White Ibis snatches, swallows snake in seconds

Surprise sight today of White Ibis snatching snake in Townsville Town Common Conservation Park and swallowing it within about 30 seconds.

 First such catch I've seen. And by far fastest swallow by any bird - similar size or larger.

Sorry about lousy pictures but speed definitely of the essence.

Darter glistens in early sunshine

Australasian Darter (Anhinga novehollandiae) sunning in a paperbark island at Tyto today. Several birds active in the lagoons these days. Elsewhere, close to Ingham, I recently spotted four rapidly maturing juveniles on a big messy nest visible from the highway.

At the same Cattle Creek site, large flocks of Intermediate Egrets are thriving on the large areas of silt and mud deposited by the massive floods of January-February.

Another mud lover is the oft-unloved White Ibis. But they grow more attractive the closer one gets.

Catching a few on the wing

Rufous Night-Heron

Masked Lapwing

Welcome Swallow

Little Pied Cormorant

And one that didn't fly: White Ibis