Pelicans at Mallacoota
Australian Pelicans, Mallacoota, Victoria
On our walk around Mallacoota in eastern Victoria in January we were pleased to get up close to a group of Australian Pelicans in the harbour. I was pleased to get some interesting close up shots of these lovely birds. Click on the photos to enlarge the images.
Australian Pelicans, Mallacoota, Victoria
Australian Pelicans, Mallacoota, Victoria
Australian Pelicans, Mallacoota, Victoria
Some light birding
Bateman's Bay, New South Wales
On our holiday last January we arrived in Bateman’s Bay soon after lunch. We booked into our motel, unpacked the car and went looking for a pleasant picnic area for afternoon tea and a time of relaxation. We found a lovely beach side picnic ground.
While we had afternoon tea my wife and daughter did some reading. They also debated the relative merits of several books they had both read over Christmas.
The birding was a little slow so after making a short list I wrote some poetry. You can read some of my poetry here.
On our return to the motel we were amused by an unusual perching spot for the local Australian Pelicans. Every street light along the foreshore had one or two pelicans perching or resting on it. This is somewhat unusual in my experience. It was so odd I stopped to take a few photos.
Unusual Pelican perch, Bateman's Bay
Australian Pelican, Bateman's Bay, New South Wales
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 Pelicans
Most people would be able to identify a pelican if shown a photo of one. In fact, most people really love pelicans and enjoy watching them on rivers, lakes, ponds and the ocean. Many would count them as one of their favourite birds. In Australia they would be instantly recognisable to most people because they are so common in many parts of the country where there is suitable habitat.
Samela Harris, a regular columnist for South Australia’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser, has compiled a lovely little site as a photographic tribute to the pelicans of Victor Harbor, the coastal town just south of Adelaide where she lives. She has included many beautiful photos as well as links to this popular coastal town and holiday destination.
Samela is the daughter of well known poet and former bookseller, Max Harris.
Links:
- Aussie Pelicans – with photos by Samela Harris
- Victor Harbor Tourism – plenty of information for the visitor.
- Granite Island Recreation Park – at Victor Harbor you can walk across a long causeway to Granite Island about one kilometre off the coast. Walking trails cover the perimeter of the island with spectacular views in all directions. Granite Island has a breeding colony of Little Penguins. This is a must if visiting Victor Harbor.
- Victor Harbor – a series of articles I have written about this lovely spot. I have included many photos as well.
- Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.
Australian Pelican
Pelicans, Shelducks and Teal
On a recent visit to Meningie, about an hour’s drive south of home, we passed a swamp area next to Lake Albert. The River Murray flows into Lake Alexandrina which in turn flows into Lake Albert. It is near the significant wetland called the Coorong.
In this swampy area we saw a large number of Australian Pelicans (about 40), hundreds of Australian Shelducks and several hundred Grey Teal (mostly out of the photo). This was probably one of the largest concentrations of shelducks I have seen anywhere. In my experience they tend to spread out over a wide area as they graze. On this occasion they were probably sheltering together from the wild, stormy, freezing wind on that day. I took this shot from the car. It was about 14 degrees but a week later it was 41 degrees!
If you click on the photo you might be able to see several Pacific Black Ducks, a few White Ibis, and at least two Black Cormorants (also called Great Cormorants). Behind me and a little down the road were about 40 Cape Barren Geese.
Alas – no Glossy Ibis.
This is turning out to be a real bogey species for me.
Australian Pelicans, Lake Albert