Report by Rex Aspeling.

21 Birders attended the SAPPI Hide outing so the group was split in two. One group staying at the hide and the other doing the walk through the picnic area for about a kilometre around the Hide Dam. This proved to be excellent birding with the assistance of two members having scopes. The group from the hide eventually joined the walking group.

Birdlist for the day amounted to 52 including 3 ticks for myself . Thanks to all the knowledgeable Twitchers who made the day a success.

The day ended with Bacon rolls for those who wanted and a lovely picnic enjoyed by all.

Some photos:

A sequence of a yawning Pelican:

Pelicans in flight and landing:

A few people went back to the hide after the picnic and were lucky enough to see the Grey-crowned Cranes that were seen in a mating ritual earlier this month (and shown in an earlier post):

Late photographic submission from Norman Freeman: