Checking the alerts mid-morning, I saw that Ged Tranter had seen three Australasian Shovelers at Kedron Brook Wetlands yesterday, presumably the two birds that were at Lytton a few weeks ago, joined up with a third bird. Being only 15 minutes from the house, I hauled myself into the car and headed up to Kedron in the drizzly rain. Sure enough, scoping from the yellow gate I got straight on to a pair of Australasian Shovelers, although I couldn’t see a third bird. This species is reliable in the Lockyer Valley, where reasonable numbers are always present at Lake Clarendon and other sites, but it is rare and erratic in Brisbane, so I was very pleased to connect. While there, I wanted to make the most of it, and wandered through the waterlogged tracks to view other parts of the marsh. A raptor caught my attention – a Swamp Harrier! While not mega rare in Brisbane, this is another species that is not reliable in any one spot, and I was always going to rely on finding one by chance.

With two year ticks today (Australasian Shoveler and Swamp Harrier), my year list rose to 246 species. I spent 55 minutes birding, walked 1.199 km and drove 35.3 km.