Yesterday, at Werribee Treatment Plant, looking for a Northern Shoveller (annual Oz sightings of about 2 a year), I saw a pair of Oriental Pratincoles. Very unusual, they usually don't come within 1000 km of Victoria, and have normally left the continent by now. So I was very excited.
I'm even more excited now that other people have seen and confirmed what they were!! (they were a lifer for me, and I've never seen the other pratincole sp., Australian Pratincole).
Oh, and I never did see the Northern Shoveller, just heaps of Australian Shoveller.
Nice one! (or rather, two) - my guess is that they decided to migrate south instead of north.
There's been 2 or 3 UK records of Oriental Pratincole, but I didn't have the chance to go for them (wrong end of the country!). The only 'prat' I've seen is Collared. But plenty of Northernn Shovelers here, of course.
Michael