THE AREA around Swan Hill and Kerang has become a hot spot for rare birds.
Sean Dooley, editor of Australian Bird Life Magazine and former Australian record holder for the most birds sighted in one year, has described the local area as having become “a bit of a bird-watchers’ mecca”.
His comments follow the first ever Australian sighting of a North-American wader in Lake Tutchewop, near Kerang, earlier this month, which has attracted hundreds of bird-watchers, or “twitchers” from all over the country.
The wader, understood to be a long-billed dowitcher, breeds in the tundras of Canada, Alaska and Siberia, only ever migrating to South America.
“It never strays over here,” Mr Dooley said.
“This sort of vagrancy does happen every now and then.
“It could have gotten mixed up with a group of other waders and just gone with the flow, so to speak.”
While finding the long-billed dowitcher in the heart of the lower Mallee was indeed a rare occurrence, it appeared the area wasn’t new to hosting vagrant birds.
“[The Swan Hill] district has a great record for attracting a great number of rare birds,” Mr Dooley revealed.
“This has been known by birders certainly over the last 40 years, especially in the lakes around Kerang.”
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Monday’s Guardian (December 1).
