Great Birding Moments #7 Koala

Last Thursday we travelled to Adelaide to attend the funeral of the mother of a close friend. On our way home we detoured to a part of the Adelaide Hills we hadn’t visited for several years. Near the hills suburb of Blackwood are the Wittunga Botanic Gardens. This is an annex of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens which are within walking distance of the Adelaide CBD.

The Wittunga Botanic Gardens are set in the midst of housing on two sides, a school on another side and a transport corridor for trains on yet another side. The main access road is a busy four lane highway. Despite all of this, it is remarkably peaceful within the gardens themselves. I’ll be posting more reflections on our visit in coming days.

One sighting rather delighted me.

Perched high in a eucalyptus tree – I didn’t take any notice of its species name – was an Australian Magpie. Not something to really rave about as they are quite common in the Adelaide Hills and surrounding areas. This magpie was a little different. It was most upset and was screeching its displeasure at the sleeping Koala near the top of the same tree. It flapped its wings and called raucously, but it didn’t actually approach closer to the mammal more than about a metre away. Its concern was shared by a Noisy Miner who made several bombing raids near the head of the drowsy Koala.

While this all happened, the Koala just kept on snoozing. Below is one of the photos I was able to take.

Koala and Magpie