Ducks upside down
Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
On my recent visit to Laratinga Wetlands at Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills I saw many water birds, including plenty of Pacific Black Ducks. This is a common Australian duck species found throughout much of the country where suitable habitat exists. They are often found in wetlands like this one, but also swamps, lakes, rivers, creeks, reservoirs, ponds, parks and gardens and even in suburban home swimming pools. We’ve had ducklings in our swimming pool on many occasions.
What amused me on this occasion was capturing a number of them upside down – see the photo below. They were all feeding on the bottom of the pond, tails stuck up in the air.
See also: Rescue of the ten little ducklings
Pacific Black Ducks, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
Pacific Black Duck, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
Australian Reedwarblers in full song
Australian Reedwarbler, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, Sth Aust
During my visit to the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker, Adelaide Hills, last week the reed beds were constantly alive with both Little Grassbirds and Australian Reed-warblers singing. Every patch of reeds seemed to have 4 to 6 individual birds of each species. I didn’t do a count as it would be very hard to do this considering that both species can be very secretive in the reeds. I tried to get photos of the Little Grassbird, but they were too shy and stayed mostly in the reeds. I did see the occasional one flit from one reed patch to another but far too quickly for a photo.
The reed-warblers were a little more cooperative. I stood patiently for about half an hour on the jetty in the middle of the photo below. One section was about 3 – 4 metres from the clump of reeds in the photo above. Several reed-warblers kept flitting around on my side of the reeds, in full sun for my benefit. After many failed attempts I was able to get one reasonable shot as shown above.
I took a much closer shot of this species some years ago, and I’ve posted this at the bottom of this post. This photo was taken at Cleland Wildlife Park of a captive bird in a walk-through aviary.
Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, Sth Aust
Australian Reedwarbler
A bird’s eye view
Little Pied Cormorant, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
The Laratinga Wetlands at Mt Barker in the Mt Lofty Ranges certainly have a large range of water loving birds. Included in this list are several species of cormorants. On my last visit early last week the only cormorant I saw was the Little Pied Cormorant shown in the photo above. It was either taking advantage of the view from the dead branches of a eucalyptus tree or just having a rest.
The feathers of cormorants are not water repellent, so they are often seen sitting on branches like this, or logs or rocks or on the bank with wings outstretched for drying. This one must have dried its feathers before I had arrived because at no stage did it spread out its wings while I was watching.
These wetlands boast a large number of water birds. The water comes from waste water in Mt Barker. It is purified through filtering via a series of ponds and reed beds before being reused for irrigation nearby. In addition, it provides an excellent habitat for a wide range of water birds. The tree plantings along the ponds also provide great shelter and food for wrens, honeyeaters, parrots and many other species.
Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
Rainbow Bee-eaters
Rainbow Bee eater
The Rainbow Bee-eater would have to be one of my all time favourite birds. We regularly have these beautiful birds in our garden, flitting around catching bees and other winged insects. We always enjoy hearing their calls when they arrive in spring, and feel a little loss when they leave in late summer or early autumn. They are wise spending the winter months in the warmer parts of northern Australia.
This year we haven’t heard or seen them nearly as much as usual. Perhaps they didn’t hang around to nest in our area this year. Yesterday we heard about three or four of them calling from our mallee scrub. I went outside and had good views of at least two of them. Within a few minutes they appeared to have moved on. Perhaps they are already on their migration north.
Young Ducks, Laratinga Wetlands
Grey Teal with ducklings, Laratinga Wetlands
On my visit to the Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker earlier this week I was pleased to see how many birds were breeding, or had young. Many of the water-birds had young in various stages of dependence, including this family of Grey Teal swimming on one of the ponds.
These wetlands are on the eastern side of Mt Barker in the Mt Lofty Ranges about a half hour drive from Adelaide, South Australia. The series of ponds have been made next to the treatment works and they purify the water which is later used in irrigation projects nearby.
Grey Teal are a very common duck, being found throughout Australia where there is suitable habitat. They usually respond quickly to flooding and heavy rainfall, breeding up in large numbers. I didn’t see as many Grey Teal on this occasion. Many have probably flown to more northern and inland parts of Australia where there has been extensive flooding in recent months.
Related Articles:
- Australian Shoveller, Laratinga Wetlands
- Australasian Grebe
- Pacific Black Ducks breeding
- Australian Wood Duck family
- White-eyed Duck
Grey Teal with ducklings, Laratinga Wetlands