Now here’s a common sight in Australia
Grain silos at Lameroo, South Australia
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
Grain storage silos are a common sight throughout the cereal growing areas of Australia. Almost every small town has some and they make up a prominent feature of the landscape. On our trip to Sydney earlier this year we passed many such structures along the way. They become so commonplace one almost forgets that they are there.
Not me.
I usually give silos more than a quick glance as they flash by, checking out each one for any interesting birds perching on the building or flying nearby. Sadly I’m usually disappointed because the most common inhabitant of these artificial “cliffs” are Rock Doves (feral pigeons), usually in their hundreds. Quite often they are in the company of just as many House Sparrows.
On the odd occasion, however, I have seen Nankeen Kestrels, Black-shouldered Kites, flocks of Galahs and Corellas and even cockatoos. At Lameroo I only managed to see some Rock Doves (see photo below). It’s not a brilliant photo, but considering the silos were some 200 or more metres away, the zoom on my camera is impressive.
Sometimes one has to be content with the common, ordinary species and a not so wonderful photo.
Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) at Lameroo, South Australia
Interesting Magpies at Lameroo
Male Black-backed Magpie at Lameroo, South Australia
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
The various races of Australian Magpies make a fascinating – albeit confusing – study. Here in Murray Bridge, South Australia, the magpies are almost all of the White-backed variety. The further one drives east, the Black-backed magpies become the dominant race until over in Victoria and into NSW they are all Black-backed Magpies. Travelling north into Queensland or south into Victoria and the races (and amounts of black v. white change). Travel to Western Australia and the races change again. It can be quite confusing , especially when the races interbreed. Layer upon this the colour variations of juveniles and you have a recipe for a headache trying to identify which race you are seeing.
On our trip to Sydney earlier this year we stopped for morning tea at Lameroo in eastern South Australia. In the picnic grounds of Lake Roberts I took the photos on this post of a nicely coloured male Black-backed Magpie (see above and below). Interestingly, it was accompanying a White-backed female (see photo below). They were feeding together. I wish I was visiting Lameroo in the coming weeks to see if these two individuals breed together, or are just being sociable (as magpies are known to do).
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Male Black-backed Magpie (left) with female White-backed Magpie (right)
Male Black-backed Magpie at Lameroo, South Australia
Male Black-backed Magpie at Lameroo, South Australia
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
As I wrote yesterday, we stopped at Lameroo on the first morning of our trip to Sydney earlier this year. Lake Roberts on the eastern edge of town is a good birding spot with a mixture of bush birds and water birds inhabiting this artificial wetland area. On most of my visits I have seen at least two Masked Lapwings. They feed on the grassed area around the lake and picnic area. Behind me where I took these photos is the small caravan park which is also a grassed area. Last year we saw several chicks in the caravan park, running after the adults.
We stayed at this spot for about 20 minutes while we had a cuppa and morning tea. The following is a list of birds observed during that time:
- Black-shouldered Kite
- Brown Falcon
- Nankeen Kestrel
- Little Pied Cormorant
- Muscovy Duck (introduced species)
- Masked Lapwing
- Rock Dove (introduced species)
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Variegated Fairy-wren
- Red Wattlebird
- Magpie Lark
- Australian Magpie (both Black-backed and White-backed)
- Little Raven
- White-winged Chough
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Some of these were seen in the town or on the road leading into town and not at the lake.
Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Muscovy Duck, Lameroo
Muscovy Duck nesting at Lake Roberts, Lameroo
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
Over the coming few weeks I will intersperse my usual sightings around home with a series of trip reports when we went to visit family in Sydney in June earlier this year. I’ve been both busy and unwell so these reports are a little overdue. Never mind; I’m much better now and getting back into adding regular postings here.
On the first day of our trip we drove from home in Murray Bridge to Lameroo in eastern South Australia. We stopped for a cuppa and morning tea at Lake Roberts on the eastern edge of Lameroo, a farming community in the Murray Mallee region. I always like stopping here as you never know what birds are around.
This time I observed a Muscovy Duck near the edge of the lake and it seems it was sitting on a nest (see photo above). This is an introduced species in Australia and there are only a few feral populations away from farmyards. It is commonly kept on farms and in backyards as pets and are edible and are sometimes kept as meat birds. You can find out more about keeping them as pets by clicking here.
Nankeen Kestrels breeding
Nankeen Kestrel, Murray Bridge
A few days ago I wrote about two juvenile Nankeen Kestrels chasing after one of their parents, begging for food as they flew overhead. I been observing this family of birds ever since and have seen them land frequently on some nearby power poles. From the decorations on the post and cross rail, they use this viewing platform frequently. It gives an excellent view of the road and of the paddocks on either side of the road. It also has a good view of our mallee scrub.I hope they are catching plenty of the local mice.
Earlier last week I was having a mid morning coffee and doing a spot of reading in the lovely winter sun. I heard the plaintive begging call of one of the young and saw that it had landed in the favoured power pole. I had my camera at the ready and stalked through the trees to get a closer view – and hopefully a good photo.
I’m quite pleased with the results, as shown on this post.I didn’t manage to get the adults actually feeding the young because the one I did get was becoming agitated by my presence, so I backed off so it could feed in peace.
Nankeen Kestrel, Murray Bridge
Nankeen Kestrel, Murray Bridge