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
Turnstones take the easy way
Bird behaviour can often be a fascinating part of birding. Most of the time it is interesting, some of the time it can be amusing and from time to time it can be downright amazing. I recently was alerted to the amazing exploits of a pair of turnstones in England.
A pair of turnstones, birds that fly thousands of miles across oceans, are taking the ferry to save themselves a three-mile commute.They catch the 8.30am boat from Falmouth to St Mawes, where they are served a breakfast of breadcrumbs by the skipper. They land after 20 minutes then spend the day feeding, before catching the 4.15pm back across the River Fal.
To read the original article click here. The pair has been named Fred and Freda.
Favourite Birding Spot #5 St Kilda
1 Comment »9th September, 2006; Category: Favourite Birding Spots, Herons and Egrets, Migratory birds, Pelicans, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Spoonbills, Stilts and Avocets, Waterbirds
Black-Winged Stilt
I have only recently visited St Kilda and Barker Inlet north of Adelaide for the first time, but already it is becoming a favourite birding spot of mine. Access to the area is very easy being just a few kilometers off the main highway heading north from Adelaide (the Port Wakefield road). There is a large car parking area, a large lawned picnic area, an interesting Adventure Playground (for the ankle biters – teens might even like it), a fast food outlet, boat ramp and a well kept clean public toilet block.
At low tide the tidal mudflats stretch for many kilometres along the coast. On top of the rock wall protecting the boat channel out to deeper water is an excellent walking path. This enables one to walk far out from the beach, perhaps nearly a kilometre. This allows one to get close to the birds feeding on the mudflats.
On my few visits I have observed many Black Winged Stilts (see photo above), Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers, Australian Pelicans, White Ibis, Great and Little Egrets, Black Swans and Royal Spoonbills. On my visits I have seen, far out from the shore, what looked like thousands of Grey Teal. I also recorded several Chestnut-Breasted Shelducks.
An added bonus for the birder at St Kilda is the Mangrove Boardwalk nearby. I have written about this here. Of course, my visits have been in early spring. I dare say, as the weeks progress, many migratory waders will arrive here for the summer months.
Related articles:
Updated Nov 2013.
Birds of the Mangrove Boardwalk, St Kilda
On Saturday we had some business to attend to in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. After the business was dealt with we travelled the short distance to St Kilda. We had been intending to visit this area for many years and we were pleased to finally get there.
St Kilda Mangrove walk
After lunch in the picnic ground near the excellent Adventure Playground we went on the Mangrove Boardwalk. This boardwalk was established nearly 20 years ago, so our visit was well and truly overdue.
Mangrove boardwalk St Kilda
The Interpretive Centre is an excellent resource for visitors to the area. Leaving the centre one is immediately in the mangrove forest. This area, along with the nearby Barker Inlet tidal flats, is an excellent birding area. Over 200 species have been recorded here but I only managed about 30 in the short time there.
In the mangroves I recorded several Willie Wagtails, several very vocal whistlers, probably Rufous Whistlers, Spotted Turtle Doves, Grey Fantails and one Grey Butcherbird was heard but not seen. Near the visitor centre I saw and heard many Fairy-Wrens, but none of them were coloured males. They were most likely to have been Superb Blue Wrens, though I checked them out carefully because the beautiful White-Winged Wren has been recorded near here, a species more common much further north.
Barker Inlet, St Kilda, near Adelaide
On several occasions the boardwalk gives excellent views over the tidal flats of Barker Inlet. This is where the birding gets interesting. There seemed to be many hundreds of birds feeding or resting in the shallow water. Grey Teal were the most common bird present. Also present were Royal Spoonbills, White Ibis, Australian Pelicans, Great Egrets, Chestnut Breasted Shelducks, White-faced Herons, Black Swans and Sooty Oystercatchers. Far out over the deeper water I think I saw some Whiskered Terns.
This may have been our first visit to this area; it will not be our last.
Related articles:
- My photo gallery – photos of birds, my travels and much more
- St Kilda SA – on my wife’s blog
Great Birding Moments #8 Silver Gull
Silver Gull
I love it when birds allow me to come quite close to them in their natural habitat. And it’s even greater when they pose in such a way that they make it so easy to get a great photo. Earlier this year on a visit to Sydney we were walking along near Circular Quay when I saw several Silver Gulls up close. The above photo is the best of those taken at the time.
Now for readers who have never been to Sydney, Circular Quay is a very busy place on the harbour. Trains rattle overhead every minute or so. Ferries and other boats are coming into the dock or leaving every minute or two. People on foot are moving past in their thousands every hour. It is a hustling, bustling and noisy part of the city.
Silver Gulls seem to thrive here. That’s not surprising, because the outdoor restaurants and food outlets are everywhere. Our Silver Gulls seem to adore takeaway and fast food!
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