Letter-winged Kite
In the course of a number of bird tours and reconnaissance trips across southern and northern Victoria in the last few weeks a mighty range of birds have been encountered. What's more I have located a number of local rarities such as Australian Painted Snipe and Australian Bustard. Wetlands in their drying phase continue to attract large numbers of waterbirds. The grasslands of the northern plains are full of birds of prey as mice numbers increase. Swift Parrots have arrived back on the mainland from Tasmania, and bush birds are on the move as the weather cools and winter approaches. Spotlighting adventures have recently chalked up an impressive list of night birds, but perhaps the highlight of the lot was a sighting of a Letter-winged Kite on the northern plains of Victoria, the first confirmed sighting of this species in Victoria since 1981