Australian Shoveller, Laratinga Wetlands

Australian Shoveller, Laratinga Wetlands, South Australia

Last Sunday I spent about three hours birding at the Laratinga Wetlands at Mt Barker in the Mt Lofty Ranges near Adelaide. It was a pleasant summer’s day with a cooling breeze. Overall I made quite a long list of birds seen. It was the first time I’d walked around all of the ponds in this wetland. The ponds drain the nearby treatment plant, purifying the water so it can be reused for nearby irrigation.

The wetlands are usually good for a large range of water birds, but the extensive planting of native Australian tree, bushes, grasses and water plants over the last 10 years has produced an environment suitable for many bush birds like wrens, honeyeaters and parrots.

On my visit earlier this week, possibly the best sighting was a solitary Australian Shoveller, a species of duck shown in the photo above. The photo also shows two Pacific Black Ducks in the background. The Australian Shoveller (also known as the Australasian Shoveller) is found in suitable habitats throughout eastern Australia and much of southern Western Australia.

Laratinga Wetlands, South Australia