Great Birding Moments # 28 Painted Button-Quail
This great birding moment was quite unexpected. A few days ago were invited over to our friends’ farm for a meal. We had just driven out of our driveway and headed up the hill towards their farm; it’s about a half hour’s drive. We’d driven several kilometres when I had to slow down for a sharp bend in the road. As we approached the corner I observed two birds sitting in the shade of a roadside tree. I didn’t immediately identify them but as I steered around them I was aware that it was a pair of Quail.
Now quails are a family of birds I don’t often see, so just around the corner I was able to do a quick U-turn and go back for a good look. This was quite safe as it is a quiet country road. They were still sitting there in the middle of the road and I was able to pull up about 2 metres from them. It was a male and female – I assume a pair – of Painted Button-Quail, only the third time I had ever seen this bird.
They stood there for about a minute before skulking off into the grass and undergrowth on the side of the road. This made us a few minutes late for our dinner engagement, but it didn’t matter as our hosts weren’t ready when we arrived anyway.
Of course I was annoyed I didn’t have my camera with me. Will I ever learn? So to see a photo of this beautiful species you will have to click on the link below.
Link:
- Photo of a Painted Button-Quail – from the Australasian Bird Image Database.
Great Birding Moments # 27 Wood Duck family
Vehicle Ferry crossing the River Murray
A beautiful spot near our home in Murray Bridge is the nearby town of Mannum. This pleasant community is also built on the banks of the River Murray. It is about a half hour drive from home. Mannum has several lovely picnic spots on the bank of the river. We had our picnic overlooking the river and all the bird life in a sanctuary near the caravan park.
Australian Wood Ducks with ducklings
Mannum has two vehicular ferries crossing the river at one end of the main street. These ferries are always on the go during the day. They offer a 24 hour river crossing service. While we were waiting to cross over to the other side we were delighted to see two families of Wood Ducks on the grass bank in a nearby park.
Australian Wood Ducks with ducklings
Great Birding Moments # 26 Red Browed Finch
Red Browed Finch
The Red Browed Finch is one of many beautiful species of finch found in Australia. It is always a delight to find a group of finches feeding on the grass, drinking from a pond or bird bath or visiting one’s garden. This species is found along the east coast through to much of Victoria and south eastern South Australia.
Red Browed Finch
Locally, we do not have them here in Murray Bridge but they are widespread in the nearby Adelaide Hills and part of the Adelaide metropolitan area. My most recent sighting of this delightful species was on a visit to the Cleland Wildlife Park. As I was about to enter one of the walk through aviaries I was entranced by a large group, perhaps as many as 30, Red Brows coming to a feeding tray. There was much excitement, because the feeding tray had just been replenished by the keeper.
On entering the aviary there were many more inside the cage. These were also quite used to people visiting their home so is was quite easy to take some good photos.
Related articles:
- Cleland Wildlife Park – photos of a visit to this lovely place in the Adelaide Hills.
Update: this photo above – and many other photos featured on this site – can now be purchased on a range of merchandise such as T-shirts, aprons, wall plaques, clocks and mugs. Go to my Trevor’s Photos site here.
Great Birding Moments # 25 Superb Blue Wrens
Male Superb Blue Wren
I love seeing the various species of wrens we have here in Australia. Possibly the species most commonly encountered would be the Superb Blue Wren. It is indeed superb. The male in his breeding plumage is magnificent.
This species can be quite tame where they become used to people. In parks, gardens and picnic areas they are quite at home hopping around your feet. They are even bold enough to join you on the picnic table looking for crumbs from your lunch.
On a recent drive along the Murray River upstream from Mannum we stopped to check out a lagoon near the road. I was looking for water birds. I had just pulled up by this post on the side of the road when a male and female Superb Blue Wren decided that they had better investigate what we were up to. They posed beautifully for several minutes, enough time to take some lovely photos.
Click on the photos to enlarge.
Superb Blue Wrens
Great Birding Moments # 24 Caspian Terns
Caspian Tern
A few days ago we were invited to the home of friends at Meningie, about an hour’s drive from here. Meningie is on the southern shore of Lake Albert and only a few kilometres from the world famous wetland, the Coorong. We decided to take a leisurely three hour alternative route and do some birding along the way.
This area has many dairy farms bordering the lake system. Swampy areas in this part of South Australia often have small lakes, lagoons and channels and this is a great place to see some of our water birds.
At one point we took a slight detour to a spot called Long Point in the Coorong National Park. This area is a favourite with those who like to go fishing in the Coorong and there is also a small camping area. No facilities other than toilets are present.
I was delighted to get some reasonable photos of a group of Caspian Terns resting on the beach. The wind was very blustery and bitterly cold, usually so for a few weeks from summer. Using my telescope was next to useless because of the vibration caused by the wind.
I normally see only one or two Caspian Terns at a time so it was a delight to see such a large group altogether in one spot. There were probably about twenty in all. There were also plenty of Whiskered Terns, Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls and Sharp Tailed Sandpipers present but none of these were close enough to photograph.
Caspian Tern