Favourite Birding Spot #7 Ferries McDonald Conservation Park
Ferries McDonald Conservation Park
Ferries-McDonald Conservation Park is one of the closest large parks of its kind near where I live. It is about 20 km south west of Murray Bridge and about 60 km south east of our state capital, Adelaide.
The park has easy access from two good dirt roads; one road bisects the park, the other follows the southern boundary. Update 2015: a new sealed road bisects the park in a north-south direction. There are several walking tracks through the interior of the park, including one established by the Friends Group a few years ago. There are no toilets or camping facilities within the park.
The park is predominantly mallee habitat. Many small native bushes flower in the spring time making it an attractive place for birds and a good place for birders to visit. I have recorded quite a variety of honeyeaters in the park, including
- Singing Honeyeater,
- White-plumed Honeyeater,
- Yellow-plumed Honeyeater,
- Purple-gaped Honeyeater,
- White-eared Honeyeater,
- Brown-headed Honeyeater and
- Red Wattlebirds.
Other birds I commonly see in the park include:
- Superb Fairy-wrens,
- Golden whistlers,
- Rufous whistlers
- Yellow-rumped thornbills,
- Bronzewing pigeons,
- Crested pigeon
- several kinds of robin and
- White-browed Babblers.
The parrots include:
- Purple-crowned lorikeets,
- Musk lorikeets
- Galahs and
- Mallee Ringnecks.
In all I have recorded over 60 different species.
Nest of a Mallee Fowl
This park is one of only a few local sites for the highly endangered species, the Mallee Fowl. I have only seen this bird once in the park but I have found several active nesting mounds (see photo above). For more information about this bird click on the link below or click here.
Related Articles:
- Birds of Monarto Conservation Park – this park is about 5km north of Ferries McDonald CP
- What Kind of Duck was that? An amusing encounter with a Mallee Fowl
- Mallee Fowl – the Incubator Bird – lots of information about the Mallee Fowl and its habits, including its amazing nest.
This article was last updated in July 2015.
European Goldfinch
European Goldfinch
Finches are delightful little birds.
We have a great array of finches native to Australia, from the somewhat plain through to the amazing colours of the Gouldian Finch. There are also several introduced species including the ubiquitous House Sparrow, the rarer Tree Sparrow, European Greenfinch and the European Goldfinch.
This latter species has spread throughout south eastern Australia roughly south of a line from Adelaide to Sydney. Here in my home town of Murray Bridge they are present but not in large numbers. Their distribution around here seems to be a little sporadic. One reliable spot to see Goldfinches is near the local Post Office. I had an excellent view of one sitting on a power line, its tinkling call carrying quite a distance.
Our home is nearly five kilometres from the post office and I have recorded this species on only a few occasions over the years. It has never been resident in our garden, just an irregular visitor. That could be about to change. Over recent weeks I have seen two or three on an almost daily basis. They could very well be colonising this area. There certainly is sufficient feed around for them to survive here.
A delightful visitor to the garden
Mistletoebird
While gardening yesterday I was attracted to some familiar calls. Two Mistletoebirds were calling from the mallee scrub near the garden. I was able to steadily walk up to the male until I was merely four metres away. He was sitting in the sunshine with his brilliant red feathers shining like a beacon from the dead branch where he perched. By the time I went inside and collected my camera, he had moved on. Never mind, as I had already taken the above photo late last year.
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- My photo gallery
Black Swans at Rocky Gully Wetlands
I had some business to attend to in town this morning. On my way home I stopped at the Rocky Gully Wetlands. I often drive past this wetland area either going to or coming from the CBD of our town. As I pass the various stretches of water I carefully glance over to see if there is anything unusual about.
This morning I observed two Black Swans. I can’t recall ever seeing this species at this location before. They are present in the area but not numerous as they can be in some other parts of Australia. Of course I didn’t have my camera with me. The photo below was taken some time ago in a completely different location – the Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens.
Black Swan, Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
Other species seen included:
Black Winged Stilt, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Australian Pelican, Masked Lapwing, Eurasian Coot, Willie Wagtail and a male Superb Fairy Wren.
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A Walk of the Estate
From time to time I do a “Walk of the Estate.”
Translated, this means I wander around our five acre block of land on the outskirts of Murray Bridge in South Australia. This is about an hour’s drive SE of our state capital, Adelaide.
Our “estate” consists of mallee scrub, orchard, garden and an open paddock. Over the years I have recorded 113 different bird species, with over 30 of those breeding here. I have kept a monthly list of species seen or heard over the 22 years we have lived here.
The European Goldfinch is an introduced species in Australia and is common in many parts of Australia. It does not appear to have bred up in large numbers here in Murray Bridge, though I have seen a few from time to time, often near the Post Office. We have not seen them very often here on “the estate” until recently.
This morning I saw four of them out in “the paddock”. I’ve seen or heard them on three or four occasions in recent weeks. Perhaps they are seeking out new feeding grounds. Our winter has been abnormally dry so this may have forced them to seek food elsewhere.
Whatever the reason, I think they are a delightful species to have in our garden – despite being “foreigners.”
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