Eastern Reef Egret, The Bluff, Victor Harbor
2 Comments »6th October, 2012; Category: Great Birding Moments, Herons and Egrets, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Waterbirds
Eastern Reef Egret, The Bluff, Victor Harbor
Last month we went on a day trip with friends of ours to Victor Harbor. We primarily went to see the whales but in that quest we were unsuccessful. Best thing we saw was several seals. It was a wild stormy day and I guess the whales used their common sense and stayed under water as much as possible.
During the afternoon we drove to the base of The Bluff, a prominent hill on the south western edge of town. On the short drive to the fishing jetty there are many rocky outcrops close into shore. I’ve always found this spot to be good for birding. I was not disappointed on this occasion either.
This solitary Eastern Reef Egret (also called Eastern Reef Heron) was busy feeding around the rocks, the photo above showing he has a “crest” – it’s actually the blustery wind giving the bird a “bad feather day”.
This species in interesting in that it can be found in both the dark morph, shown in these photos, and a white version. As far as I know this species is not very commonly seen in South Australia, so I have reported this sighting to Birds SA. In fact, I’ve never seen it in South Australia myself. I’ve only seen it twice before – both times in Western Australia many years ago.
This species is not to be confused with the White-faced Heron, shown in the last photo below.
Eastern Reef Egret, The Bluff, Victor Harbor
Eastern Reef Egret, The Bluff, Victor Harbor
White Faced Heron
Cattle Egrets and a little donkey
- Rural scene in Ethiopia with Cattle Egrets in the middle distance (click to enlarge)
During our visit to Ethiopia last December we hired a driver to take us through some of the rural areas north of Addis Ababa. We drove just over 100 kilometres to a locality known as Portuguese Bridge. On the way we only stopped once so the opportunities for birding were minimal and photography quite difficult.
The above shot was one taken as we were travelling along in the mini bus at about 90kph. It shows a typical rural scene in that part of the country. My attention was focussed on the birds in the scene, a small flock of Cattle Egrets feeding in the paddock. (Click on the image to enlarge.) Cattle Egrets seemed quite common in the areas we travelled in rural Ethiopia. Later we found this also to be true of Morocco and Spain.
A short distance further on we saw the small donkey shown below pulling an enormous load of grass. These amazing little beasts of burden are obviously very strong. Donkeys are common throughout this part of Ethiopia. Even in the city drivers must be on the lookout for them everywhere.
A rather loaded up little donkey in rural Ethiopia
Birding around Mannum, South Australia part 3
No Comments »18th November, 2011; Category: Bird Behaviour, Darters and Cormorants, Gulls and Terns, Herons and Egrets, Mannum, Waterbirds
Murray River at Mannum, South Australia
A few weeks ago I spent an enjoyable afternoon birding in and around Mannum, about 20 minutes drive north of home. It was a beautiful spring day with bright clear sky, a gentle breeze and plenty of birds. I sat for a while in the Mary Ann Reserve on the river front, watching and photographing the birds on, over and near the Murray River.
I was rather puzzled by the behaviour of several species of birds in and over the water. Several Little Pied Cormorants and Little Black Cormorants were swimming around in the one spot about 30 metres out into the water. I can only assume they were fishing but I didn’t actually see one catch a fish. Over head several White-necked Herons and one Great Egret flew around low over the water sometimes almost landing and snapping at the cormorants in the water. A Silver Gull even joined in, harassing the heron as they flew (see photo below).
Great Egret, White-necked Heron, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorants
White-necked Heron being harassed by a Silver Gull
Bogey bird
The White-necked Heron was an interesting sighting for me. It’s been one of my bogey birds over the last 25 years. I went from 1987 to 2001 without seeing a single one of them. Then only one – with another 6 year wait to see another one! Unbelievable. In fact in more than 35 years of birding I’ve only ever seen this species about 20 times. Then on this day at Mannum I saw 4 all flying around in close proximity. Unreal.
Birds along the Murrumbidgee River, Balranald
No Comments »17th October, 2011; Category: Darters and Cormorants, Herons and Egrets, Trip reports, Waterbirds
Darter, Balranald, NSW
Sydney Trip June 2011
On our journey home from visiting family in Sydney earlier this year we stopped for a lunch break at Balranald in far western NSW. After a few minutes in the local tourist information centre we drove down to the picnic area on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River (see photo below). While having lunch I made a modest list of birds seen and managed several interesting photos.
The Darter (shown above) was drying its wings after swimming in the river. This species is widespread along our waterways in Australia without being in large numbers anywhere. White-faced Herons, like the one shown below, are both widespread and common. This one looked like it wasn’t enjoying the cold weather. It seemed to be huddling up and trying to warm up in the weak sunshine.
White-faced Heron, Balranald, NSW
Murrumbidgee River, Balranald
Tubbo Station, central New South Wales
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
On the second day of our return trip from Sydney we drove through Tubbo Station country near Darlington Point which is between Narrandera and Hay in the Riverina region of New South Wales. This large merino sheep station extends over nearly 19,000 hectares in size and runs over 10,000 sheep plus cattle. It also has extensive irrigation areas.
As we were driving along I jotted down a list of birds seen as we travelled the highway through the station. This is not the ideal birding experience and I would love to have stopped a few times but we had plenty of ground to cover on the day. While my wife was driving I made the following list of birds seen:
Apostlebird
Galah
Australian Raven
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie Lark
Yellow Rosella
Spotted Harrier
White-necked Heron
White-faced Heron
Australian Wood Duck
Laughing Kookaburra
It’s not a big list but it has some interesting species in it. We saw very few Apostlebirds on our trip so it was good to see them feeding on the roadside. Yellow Rosellas, a sub-species of the Crimson Rosella, is always a delight to observe. Spotted Harriers are wonderfully majestic birds as the soar over the paddocks and the herons were obviously taking advantage of the fact that there were many irrigation channels in the area.
Probably the highlight for me was seeing three White-necked Herons flying together. This species has been something of a bogey bird for me. Although widespread and common in my home territory, I have observed this species on only a handful of occasions over the last two decades.
The photo below was taken only a few days ago at Mannum in South Australia.
White-necked Heron being harassed by a Silver Gull