Emus swimming
Over the weekend I had a comments from a reader about Emus. He had observed a group of Emus entering the water at Coffin Bay on the west coast of South Australia. Michael said he had seen 6 Emus swimming in sea water there.
This brought to mind an article about Emus swimming I wrote several years ago. As a result I have completely updated that post, now with photos and links to more articles about Emus.
You can read the article here: Do Emus Swim?
Birding in the Adelaide Botanic Gardens
Pacific Black Duck, Adelaide Botanic Gardens
A few moths ago my wife and I attended a special food fair at Norwood. The emphasis was on South East Asian food and Chinese food in particular. Some Chinese friends of ours had especially invited us to attend. The food was magnificent and we introduced our palates to many new dishes.
After the festivities we decided to spend an hour or so in the nearby Adelaide Botanic Gardens. I had my camera at the ready because I knew from past visits that this was an excellent venue to obtain some great bird photos. This time, however, I was a little disappointed. I had a frustrating time; not many birds, my batteries ran flat and the spares were also flat. You have days like that.
I did manage to get a few photos of some of the trees and flowers shown on this page, plus a rather nice shot of a Pacific Black Duck. I guess the birds will have to wait for another day.
Adelaide Botanic Gardens
Adelaide Botanic Gardens
Adelaide Botanic Gardens
Crested Pigeons, Botanic Park, Adelaide
8 Comments »13th March, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, General, Murray Bridge, Pigeons and Doves
Crested Pigeon, Botanic Park, Adelaide
Crested Pigeons are one of my favourite birds. We have a number resident in our garden and they have even nested several times within a few metres of our house. When the breeding season has been successful I have seen up to 35 Crested Pigeons sitting on the power lines running past our property. Elsewhere in Murray Bridge I have even seen about 60 in a loose flock sitting on power lines along the road.
Crested Pigeon, Botanic Park, Adelaide
Crested Pigeons are widespread throughout Australia except for the driest parts of the inland, southern Victoria and they are absent from Tasmania. They are also largely absent from the northern most parts of Australia. This distribution is changing and some Crested Pigeons can be found in the Melbourne region, for example, something that was rare as recent as a decade ago.
Crested Pigeon, Botanic Park, Adelaide
Crested Pigeons are ground feeders and can often be seen feeding in parks in loose flocks numbering in the dozens. This is the case in Botanic Park between the Adelaide Botanic Gardens and the Adelaide Zoo where the photos on this post were taken.
Crested Pigeon, Botanic Park, Adelaide
The birds in these photos were busy displaying to one another, more interested in breeding than in my wife and I having afternoon tea in beautiful park on a lovely spring afternoon.
Further reading:
- Crested Pigeon nesting
- Crested Pigeons by the dozens
- Birds in the garden plus one reptile
- A panic of pigeons
- Crested Pigeons as pet birds (one of my most popular articles)
- A crested Pigeon caught by surprise
Botanic Park, Adelaide
Dusky Moorhens
Dusky Moorhen
Dusky Moorhens are found throughout the eastern half of Australia and in the southern tip of Western Australia. They are predominantly a waterbird and are common where suitable habitat is found.
Their preferred habitats include wetlands, lakes, parks, farm dams, rivers and irrigation areas. They breed during the warmer months, roughly from August through to about March. The nest is an untidy platform of sticks, reeds, grass or bark and is often built in reeds in or near water. They can lay from 7 to 10 eggs.
At a distance they can easily be mistaken for Eurasian Coots, with which they often associate. The red bill and skin on the forehead distinguishes it from the Coots which have white bills and foreheads.
Further reading:
Dusky Moorhen
Dusky Moorhen
Dusky Moorhen
Great Cormorants
Great Cormorant, Wellington, South Australia
Last night I had a meeting at Wellington in South Australia, about a half hour drive south of home here in Murray Bridge. As we crossed the river on the ferry I commented to my friend who was driving about the number of Australian Pelicans swimming near the ferry. There must have been about 15 of them. I didn’t have my camera and it was almost dark anyway.
Last year I crossed the River Murray on the same ferry during the day and took the photos on this post – but didn’t share them at the time. This is an example of taking birding a little too casually. I thought the birds I had photographed were Little Black Cormorants. When I looked carefully at the photo above I realised that they were in fact Great Cormorants. Observe the yellow facial skin which is missing on the Little Black Cormorants.
Great Cormorants are considerably larger than the Little Blacks: 70-90cm compared with 60-65cm. Their ranges throughout Australia are very similar. Their preferred habitats are also very similar: coastal waters, rivers, lakes, dams, reservoirs, estuaries. Their nests are also very similar: large untidy collections of sticks, weeds and bark, often over and usually near water and often in large colonies. These colonies can also include spoonbills, herons and other species of cormorants.
Related articles:
- Birds of Mystery Bay NSW
- Birding at Mallacoota Victoria
- Unusual cormorant behaviour
- Birding around Cape Dombey, Robe
Great Cormorants, Wellington, South Australia