Birding S.A.
No Comments »7th June, 2006; Category: General
There are many active birders in the state of South Australia where I live. We have an interesting cross section of Australia’s birdlife present in our state. We have a diverse range of habitats in South Australia too, which accounts for why we have well over 400 species.
In his website Birding South Australia Peter Waanders says this about our state and its birds:
South Australia contains a variety of landscapes ranging from the dry red interior deserts to the lush and green Mt Lofty Ranges. Wetlands and mangroves around Adelaide and estuaries in the Coorong, floodplains along the Murray River and vast expanses of mallee provide habitat to many interesting bird species, some of which are only found in this state. Over 430 species have been recorded here, and vagrants turn up regularly. Due to the small human population (1.5 million), large size (three times the size of Texas), and distance from the more populated centres in the eastern states, birding is generally low-key. Over recent years however an increasing number of Australian and international visitors have discovered the birding secrets SA has to offer.
Peter’s site offers a wealth of information about the birds of South Australia, including recent sightings, a checklist of the birds of South Australia, a very comprehensive list of good birding sites throughout the state, trip reports, a photo gallery and many links to other birding sites throughout Australia and some international sites.
Ben Cruachan – a blog about birds and nature
This is something I meant to do ages ago. Duncan on his blog called Ben Cruachan has a brilliant site that I visit regularly – usually every day now. Duncan lives in eastern Victoria on the south eastern coast of Australia. He must have a great camera and he shares his photographic skills with his readers. He must also have a great garden going by some of the flower photos he has posted.
To visit his blog click here.
Notorious UK Egg Collector Dies
The most notorious egg collector in the UK, Colin Watson, died when he fell out of a 12 metre tree. Egg collecting has been illegal in the UK since 1981 and offenders risk heavy fines if caught. Any activity near the nests of rare birds attracts immediate police attention.
It was the end of a life which saw a schoolboy hobby develop into a passion that made Watson the most notorious collector of wild birds’ eggs in Britain for two decades. He was convicted six times under wildlife protection laws, fined thousands of pounds and finally had virtually his entire collection – the largest in Britain – confiscated after a raid on his home by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
For the full story click here.
Update on Mallee Fowl
No Comments »31st May, 2006; Category: General
Just a short update on my previous post.
I have just opened my mail. Over lunch I read through this month’s newsletter of Birds SA (South Australian Ornithological Association). In it there was a report of recent sighting of a Mallee Fowl on the road at Ferries McDonald Conservation Park.
It is good to see that they are alive and well in this area.
What Kind of Duck was that?
3 Comments »30th May, 2006; Category: General
Last year we visited Mt. Boothby Conservation Park in the upper South East of South Australia. This park is about 20km south west of Coonalpyn where we were staying with friends of ours. We had experienced driving through some very interesting country to the east of Coonalpyn during the weekend, including Ngarkat National Park. This park had been severely burnt by a bushfire about six months previously, and the regrowth was amazing.
But I digress.
Mt Boothby Conservation Park is predominently mallee and banksia country. The “mount” is actually just a hill about 200 metres (a guess) above the surrounding wheat and sheep farming country. Two tracks lead to the summit, one from the south east and one from the south.
Good weekend
As I was driving slowly towards the summit – it is a very rocky 4WD track – friend John said, “A perfect ending to a great weekend would be if a Malleefowl were to come out on to the track in front of us.” I had to agree.
Right on cue, a malleefowl came into view and strutted along the track in front of us for some 200 metres before disappearing from view in the dense scrub.
Duck! Duck! Duck! (Goose???)
It was Julie, his wife, who saw it first. “Duck! Duck! Duck!” she shouted in excitement. Of course it wasn’t a duck – but that was the first thing to come into her mind! Now I need to explain several things here.
One, a Malleefowl is nothing like a duck! In fact, it is the size and shape of a small turkey.
Two, Julie had never seen a Malleefowl in the wild before, so she had no reference point for her possible identification.
Three, the Malleefowl is a rather rare, endangered species. In fact, in nearly 30 years of birding I had only ever seen about 6 of these beautiful Australian birds. Anticipation all weekend had been high; sighting one heightened the excitement level to fever pitch!
An Even Better Weekend
After we calmed down – and explained to Julie that it was NOT a duck and that she wasn’t even close with her ID – we stopped at the summit for a few minutes. The view was unspectacular, so we headed of down the south track to the boundary track. This took us along the farming country next door.
John commented, “Wouldn’t it be an even better end to the weekend if we saw another Malleefowl?”
You guessed it. As if responding to a director’s cue, said Malleefowl strolled casually out in front of the car! Whoopee! Two in ten minutes! Wow time!
The Best Ending
I do not to this day know what made me turn away from looking at the second bird and look over the fence into the adjacent paddock. Not thirty metres away, in full view, were another FOUR Malleefowls casually feeding.
Six in ten minutes!
It had taken me 30 years to see the other six – now six in ten minutes!
Wow! Wow! Wow big time!
The only downside was the resulting photos. It was a few minutes after sunset and the shots we took were all rather dark and a little blurry. Never mind! Next time, perhaps.
To see a photo (not mine) of a Malleefowl click here.
Update: Since writing this article I have taken the photo below which shows an active Mallee Fowl nesting mound. This nest is in Ferries McDonald Conservation Park near my home town, Murray Bridge.
Nest of a Mallee Fowl