A bit of Ruff at the Poo Ponds

Author Dorothy L. ◦

Five minutes of being inside the gates of the Alice Springs sewage ponds and I spotted the Australian Pratincole!! Wonderful find, click, click, click. The crows, at least 25 to 30 of them, were continually harassing the Pratincole and it would fly off.

Later the crows left and the Pratincole moved closer to where we were sitting. Click, click, click. I turned to David and said “not a bad start for the morning”.

I looked towards a small group of Sharptail Sandpipers and there in between them a Ruff!!! “WOW,WOW David don’t move, except for your eyeballs, look in front of us, a Ruff!”

Well I was totally having fun, two birds that are uncommon here in the Red Centre of Australia within half an hour.

Well after that, what other magical bird could I conjure up!! Maybe a glimpse of the Long-toed Stint (Calidris subminuta)… Task completed!!

“Let’s go and order a coffee, and discuss what we will do for the afternoon.” I said to David, with a huge smile on my face.