Stork stalks away from snaky breakfast

Nothing like a long white to start the day, so female Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) looked set at Tyto Wetlands this morning.

But not all breakfasts go down easily. And the long white had a dark side. 

Water Python stopped playing dead. Stork tried again. Snake writhed. Another grab. Another wriggle. Stork lost appetite for contest and stalked off.

Not so lucky some time back, fish for Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris). Seconds after capture (mine and bird's) fish was toast. So, Little Blacks beat long whites at breakfast.

Grebe goes it alone on lagoon

Male Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae) busy on main lagoon lately, sticking close at first to pair of Green Pygmy-geese, striking out alone mostly in past few days. Perhaps he's unaware of grebes on ponds across the other side of Ingham. 

Never wanting for company when small schools of fish are being herded, Little Black Cormorants (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) are mainly hunting alone recently. Pickings have presumably dropped off after the Wet's aquatic breeding flush.       

A few more Intermediate Egrets (Ardea intermedia) are jumping into action on the main lagoon as outlying ephemeral pools in the area start to evaporate, though coastal showers are slowing the process.
Click pix to enlarge

Good times for Cormorants

Pouring down, minor flooding here and  there, more rain coming, so good time to feature water-loving Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris), on the rocks at Jourama Fallls ...

... and sticking to a Tyto branch.
Click pix to enlarge