Pelicans, Shelducks and Teal
On a recent visit to Meningie, about an hour’s drive south of home, we passed a swamp area next to Lake Albert. The River Murray flows into Lake Alexandrina which in turn flows into Lake Albert. It is near the significant wetland called the Coorong.
In this swampy area we saw a large number of Australian Pelicans (about 40), hundreds of Australian Shelducks and several hundred Grey Teal (mostly out of the photo). This was probably one of the largest concentrations of shelducks I have seen anywhere. In my experience they tend to spread out over a wide area as they graze. On this occasion they were probably sheltering together from the wild, stormy, freezing wind on that day. I took this shot from the car. It was about 14 degrees but a week later it was 41 degrees!
If you click on the photo you might be able to see several Pacific Black Ducks, a few White Ibis, and at least two Black Cormorants (also called Great Cormorants). Behind me and a little down the road were about 40 Cape Barren Geese.
Alas – no Glossy Ibis.
This is turning out to be a real bogey species for me.
Australian Pelicans, Lake Albert
Birds at the Test Cricket in Adelaide
The current Test Cricket match between Australia and England is being played at the beautiful Adelaide Oval in South Australia. Since England won back the coveted Ashes Trophy last year in England there has been great interest in this current series. Usually my daughter and I attend at least one day of the Adelaide Test Match every year. Because of the intense interest in this series I, along with many tens of thousands of other cricket enthusiasts, was unable to get any tickets.
So I am confined to the comfort of watching the cricket from my favourite chair in the lounge room. That is no excuse for not doing some birding. The Adelaide Oval is well known for the hundreds of Silver Gulls that congregate on the grass during the match. The numbers seem to increase as the day progresses. I guess they come to help clean up the mess left by the crowd, things like dropped chips, meat pies, bits of rolls and other items of food from the fast food outlets.
Other species have noticed during the telecast of this test match are Welcome Swallows and Magpie Larks. On my various visits to the oval for cricket matches I have seen the following species:
- Silver Gull
- Pacific Black Duck (the River Torrens is just a few metres south of the oval)
- Rock Dove
- Spotted Turtle Dove
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Rainbow Lorikeets
- Adelaide (Crimson) Rosella
- Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo
- Welcome Swallow
- Tree Martin
- Willie Wagtail
- White Plumed Honeyeater
- Red Wattlebird
- Noisy Miner
- Magpie Lark
- Australian Magpie
- Little Raven
- Common Starling
- House Sparrow
This certainly is a good list. Many more species could be added if I included the nearby River Torrens and the parklands. Watching the birds during slow periods of play maintains one’s interest, to be sure. The photo below was taken several years ago during and interstate match. The white patch on the grass centre right is a large flock of Silver Gulls.
Adelaide Oval, South Australia
Baby Willie Wagtails – at last
Willie Wagtail
I have been puzzled throughout the spring about the absence of a Willie Wagtail nest in our garden. The resident adults have been flitting around all through the spring with no sign of a nest anywhere. Everyone else seemed to be busy raising their families. There have been nests everywhere and more recently baby birds calling to be fed all over the garden.
Willie Wagtail
But not the Willie Wagtails. They usually nest within about twenty metres from the house for some reason. There are many suitable trees further a field but they insist on keeping close to home – our home that is. Despite thorough searches I have been unable to locate a nest this spring. Two days ago I observed both adults giving one of our Australian Magpies a very hard time, swooping and harassing the magpie until it flew away. A-ha I thought. There must be a nest somewhere nearby – but where?
Willie Wagtail (baby)
Today we discovered two lovely recently fledged baby Willie Wagtails keeping their parents busy bringing them food. Whenever we approached too close the parents would tell us off in a very noisy manner. Keep away they seemed to be saying.
Despite even more searching I still didn’t find that nest.
Related articles:
- Why do baby birds disappear – an article about baby bird deaths.
- Babies, the birds and the bees – a list of species nesting in our garden this year.
Updated Nov 2013.
Great Birding Moments # 25 Superb Blue Wrens
Male Superb Blue Wren
I love seeing the various species of wrens we have here in Australia. Possibly the species most commonly encountered would be the Superb Blue Wren. It is indeed superb. The male in his breeding plumage is magnificent.
This species can be quite tame where they become used to people. In parks, gardens and picnic areas they are quite at home hopping around your feet. They are even bold enough to join you on the picnic table looking for crumbs from your lunch.
On a recent drive along the Murray River upstream from Mannum we stopped to check out a lagoon near the road. I was looking for water birds. I had just pulled up by this post on the side of the road when a male and female Superb Blue Wren decided that they had better investigate what we were up to. They posed beautifully for several minutes, enough time to take some lovely photos.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Superb Blue Wrens
Beware of the Pelican!
I’ve always had a deep respect for the pelicans of this world. Sitting on a park bench quietly eating my picnic lunch (a meat pie from a wonderful bakery across the road) it was quite disconcerting to have an Australian Pelican waddle up and stand only a metre in front of us and eyeball us – or at least our lunch.
Snail over at A Snail’s Eye View writes poetically about pelicans. Then she goes and shatters the peace by including a video of a London park dwelling pelican with a taste for pigeons!
Check it out here:
- A Wonderful Bird is the Pelican. Be warned – the video clip is not for those with delicate stomachs.
A related article I have written about aggressive birds can be found by clicking here.