Birding around Guichen Bay, South Australia
1 Comment »26th July, 2007; Category: Darters and Cormorants, Ducks Geese and Swans, Gulls and Terns, Herons and Egrets, Lapwings, Seabirds, Shorebirds
Guichen Bay, Robe, SE South Australia
Last week we went for a short, five day holiday to Robe in the south-east region of South Australia. Robe is about a three and a half hour drive from home. This beautiful, historic seaside town is popular with tourists, with good reason. It is a quaint little fishing town catering well for the many visitors that flock there, primarily in the warmer months.
Being the middle of winter it was the off-season and that suits me fine, especially from a birding point of view. There are several downsides; the weather can be very dodgy and even bitterly cold. Another downside is the absence of wading birds; they all have better sense than us and head north for our winter. While the birding was quiet, I did record some good birds. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but satisfying nevertheless.
Guichen Bay, Robe, SE South Australia
During our stay I went on three quite long walks and several drives searching out the bird life of the region. I was also looking for some good scenery shots to include here and on my travel blog.
Twice I walked from the cottage we were renting past the Sea-Vu Caravan Park and then along the bay to the fishing boat harbour. Robe is situated on Guichen Bay. On my walks I went along the Town Beach, where the photos above were taken.
Birds seen:
Overall the birding was a little disappointing. We had a friendly Willie Wagtail in the back yard, along with Silver Gulls flying overhead and occasionally landing on the fence or the roof. Common birds around our cottage and in nearby streets included House Sparrows, European Goldfinches and Common Starlings.
The cottage backed on to the local golf course which was lined with trees. In these trees I saw Little Ravens and Grey Currawongs. Throughout the town there were many Little and Red Wattlebirds, New Holland Honeyeaters, Grey Fantails and Welcome Swallows. I also saw the occasional Common Blackbird.
Lapwings:
One noticeable species in many parts of the town was the Masked Lapwing. This species seems to enjoy feeding on the many spacious and very green lawns throughout the town. One pair even landed noisily on our back yard lawn, but they flew off again before I could fire up the camera.
Beach Birds:
On my walks along the beach I didn’t see many water birds. I did see two Black Oystercatchers on the rocks near the Town Beach, as well as Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants out in the bay. Silver Gulls were everywhere, but not in large numbers. I saw one Crested Tern. In the bushes fronting the beach there were many Singing Honeyeaters.
In the coming days I will write about other birds seen and other places visited while on my holiday.
Updated November 2013.
Waterbirds at Goolwa South Australia
2 Comments »13th May, 2007; Category: Darters and Cormorants, Ducks Geese and Swans, Gulls and Terns, Pelicans, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Waterbirds
Australian Pelican
On our recent visit to Goolwa in South Australia we went for a drive along the River Murray to the barrage near the mouth of the river. This barrage keeps the salt water from entering the river system at high tide.
This area is usually quite a good place for birding, though on this occasion there seemed to be just the usual birds one would expect. Nothing really exciting or out of the ordinary. Still, good birding days are usually like this. They make the really special days extraordinary.
Little Pied Cormorant
Along this stretch of the river we saw plenty of Australian Pelicans, White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Great Egrets, White-faced Herons, Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal, Little Pied Cormorants, Magpie Larks and Silver Gulls. Several Purple Swamphens stalked through the reeds while on the grassy areas a number of Masked Lapwings guarded their positions. Black Swans gracefully glided through the shallows and Singing Honeyeaters were the dominant species in the thick bushy areas along the sand dunes.
Australian Sea-lion – and a few birds
Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island
On our recent trip to Victor Harbor south of Adelaide I was able to do a little birding over the weekend. On the Saturday I went with two friends for a walk across the causeway to the nearby Granite Island. I only saw a few Silver Gulls and Pacific Gulls and Little Pied Cormorants. On the return walk I saw a Caspian Tern and several Crested Terns on the beach.
The walk to Granite Island is a very popular walk for locals and visitors alike. We were delighted to see a very relaxed Australian Sea-lion lolling around in the water near the jetty. The way it behaved it was almost as if it was showing off its swimming skills to all the humans watching only a few metres away. Perhaps someone had trained it to behave in this way.
Australian Sea-lion
Australian Sea-lions are relatively common along the southern and western coasts of Australia. It largely breeds on the many islands along these coasts and I know of only one mainland breeding colony near Streaky Bay in the far west of South Australia. This species rarely venture more than 20-30km from the coast while feeding. From the size and colour of this individual in was most probably a female. Females range from 1.3-1.8m in length; the males at 2-2.5m are considerably larger and paler around the head.
Reference: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia (by Menkhorst and Knight).
Australian Sea-lion
The Birds of Granite Island, Victor Harbor
Granite Island, Victor Harbor
Granite Island lies a short distance off the coast from Victor Harbor, South Australia. The island is one of several in Encounter Bay. It is possible to walk the short distance from the town to the island via a wooden causeway. It is also possible to take a ride on the historic horse drawn tram that operates every twenty minutes every day.
Pacific Gull
When I checked my birding database I was surprised that I don’t have any records specifically confined to the island. This could just reflect the way I have the database set up. Being an island there are quite a few sea birds one can see on a visit to the island. Just a quick list of the sea birds I have seen – and this is from memory:
- Little Penguin
- Silver Gull
- Pacific Gull
- Little Pied Cormorant
- Little Black Cormorant
- Great Cormorant
- White-faced Heron
- Sooty Oystercatcher
- Pied Oystercatcher
- Caspian Tern
- Crested Tern
- Red-capped Plover
- Australian Pelican
A few other species of birds can be seen on the island itself. There are a few trees and large expanses of grass on the top of the island. Here I have seen:
- Australian Magpie
- Little Raven
- Masked Lapwing
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Spotted Turtledove
- Welcome Swallow
- Willie Wagtail
- Singing Honeyeater
- Magpie Lark
- Common Starling
This is far from an exhaustive list and has been done from memory – a dangerous thing to do.
Little Pied Cormorants on Granite Island
Bird word: flight feathers
- Flight feathers: these are the well developed feathers on the wings and tail which are used in flight. The wing feathers consist of primaries, secondaries and tertiaries.
I have tried a number of times to capture the flight of various birds, generally with not much luck. In many cases the flight feathers show up brilliant colours or patterns not apparent when the bird is viewed sitting. I remember one attempt late last year when a number of Whiskered Terns were skimming low over us on the edge of Lake Alexandrina while we had a cuppa. For nearly an hour I tried to get a photo; only blurred images or cloud shots resulted. Very frustrating. With more time and experience – not to mention cooperative birds – I will succeed in capturing some great shots one day. In the meantime, you have to be satisfied with this photo of a Caspian Tern.
Caspian Tern
Updated November 2013.