Flashback to those walls of flying ducks

Flashback to the '50s today at Tyto Wetlands with Cotton Pygmy-goose (Nettapus coromandelianus) trio flashing across the main lagoon like a middle class home lounge decor feature.

Do think though nature does the decorating better than the plaster kitsch plants.

But a bird doesn't have to flash over some picturesque stretch of water to enhance the natural beauty of a scene. Who's a pretty Plumed Whistling-Duck (Dendrocygna eytoni) then?

Less pretty as a picture, but pretty true to nature is the alarm of Pied Heron (Egretta picata) as it realises vehicle along Orient Station has come to a stop on road beside its fishing sspot. Adding insult to you-know-what, the driver and his mate then leapt out and began wholesale capture of heron's fish with big circular baitnet.

Same spot, but with lens swivelled 90 degrees and here's a Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata) showing typically less concern about people close by. Pretty, but not really possessing that '50s look.

An afterthought: whatever happened to all those pink flamingos embedded in lawns?

Wood Sandpiper leads the stand-alones

Birds of a feather may well flock together, but some species seem happy to stand alone much of the time. Almost always solo when around Ingham, Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola) also often turns up in temporary pools (roadside, above) ignored by others. 

Pied Heron (Egretta picata) less often totally alone, but seldom up this way accompanied by others of its species, though I did see 16 standing on dirt ridge in flooded Orient Station paddock recently. Never before seen such a large group.

Not so notable a loner, indeed sometimes here in hundreds, none the less Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) will happily stick around by itself for weeks without any evidence of pining for company.

Pied Heron picks up pasture pool prey

Making the most of latest heavy rainfall, Pied Heron (Egretta picata) ventures from typical wetland habitat to pick up prey along edge of pasture pool near Forrest Beach east of Ingham today.

Bit too far across the water but caught some distant flight action.

Pied Herons step along in style

Seldom ever seen three Pied Heron (Egretta picata) together near Ingham, let alone stepping in ascending order across a wetland scene.

But in a reverse of less is more, the  picture fails when the focus tightens on the birds, doesn't it?