A Magpie comes to lunch
Australian Magpie near the Whispering Wall reservoir, South Australia
Yesterday I wrote about the birds I saw while having a picnic lunch on our way to a short holiday on Yorke Peninsula last week. We stopped at the Whispering Wall, the retaining dam of the Barossa Reservoir between Williamstown and Gawler in the Barossa Valley.While we were eating our lunch a male Australian Magpie came up quite close to us. I guess it was used to getting a free lunch from people using the picnic grounds. It was out of luck with us, however.
Australian Magpie near the Whispering Wall reservoir, South Australia
The Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
Birds at the Whispering Wall, Barossa Reservoir
Rock Dove at the Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
On our trip to the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia last week we stopped briefly to have lunch at the Whispering Wall. This popular name for the wall of the Barossa Reservoir between Williamstown and Gawler was built between 1899 and 1902. The retaining wall (see photo below) is parabolic in shape which has a unique property. Visitors can stand at one end of the wall, speak softly and can be heard quite clearly by others 140 metres away at the other end.
I was much more interested in the birds in the picnic ground, on the reservoir and in the nearby bushland. A large group of Eurasian Coots could be seen on the water but I didn’t see any other water birds (see photo below). A small number of Rock Doves were haning around the installation along the wall (see photo above) and dozens of Welcome Swallows swooped low over the water and came to rest on the railings. I tried to get close enough to photograph them but they flew off over the water again.
In the picnic area I recorded a number of bush birds, including:
- Red Wattlebird
- Noisy Miner
- Australian Magpie
- Rainbow and Musk Lorikeets
- Striated Pardalote
- Galah
- Adelaide Rosella
- Laughing Kookaburra
- White-plumed Honeyeater
- Willie wagtail
- Grey Fantail
- Magpie Lark
- Little Raven
This is not a long list, but we were only there for about 20 minutes and I didn’t search out other species in the surrounding bush. I was more interested in eating – and getting on with our journey.
Whispering Wall, Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
Eurasian Coots on the Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
Birding on Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
1 Comment »24th May, 2011; Category: Migratory birds, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Trip reports
Cape Spencer, Yorke Peninsula
Over the last weekend my wife and I had a short four day holiday on Yorke Peninsula. We stayed in a holiday unit at Edithburgh, about a four hour drive from our home. Edithburgh is a small town near the bottom of the peninsula, directly opposite Adelaide which is on the other side of Gulf St Vincent.
It has been far too many years since our last visit. The peninsula offers some interesting birding with mixed farming covering most of the region, mainly wheat and sheep. There are also remnant mallee scrub areas, particularly in the south and of course the long coast line offers good birding opportunities where there is access to the beaches. One major goal was to spend time in Innes National Park on the southern tip of the peninsula.
On this visit I didn’t anticipate making a long list of birds seen. Many of the migratory seabirds have long since flown to warmer parts in the northern hemisphere. In another blow, the weather forecast was far from promising good birding; gale force winds and rain. Still, we had a booking in one of the many holiday units and we were looking for a relaxing break regardless of what was thrown at us.
I didn’t see any of my target birds: Mallefowl, Western Whipbird and Hooded Plover, but I still managed some great birds, including Crested Bellbird, Blue Bonnet parrot, Rock Parrot and great views of Ospreys.
Over the coming days I will share some of my sightings, along with the usual photographs.
Haystack Island, Yorke Peninsula
Magpies nesting, Burra Gorge, South Australia
Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
A few months ago we travelled through the mid north of South Australia to visit family in Peterborough and Clare. Along the way we stopped briefly at the Burra Gorge, some 30km south east of Burra. This is a popular picnic and camping area with an ephemeral creek flowing through the gorge. There are no facilities except for some very basic public toilets.
We didn’t stay long enough to get a long list of bird species seen, but I did manage the following shots of an Australian Magpie near and on a nest.
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Magpie on nest, Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Magpie near nest, Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Galahs at Burra Gorge, South Australia
Galahs at Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Earlier this year we paid a quick visit to Burra Gorge in the mid north of South Australia. We were on our way to visit family in Peterborough and Clare. This gorge has a pleasant camping area and an ephemeral creek flowing through. This creek drains some of the ranges to the west.
I’ve only been to this spot a handful of times and can’t really say what birds could be possible. I would anticipate quite a long list as this gorge is in the zone between the wetter areas to the west – places like the Clare Valley – and the salt-bush plains to the east with a very low rainfall.
While we had lunch in the picnic area I managed several photos of this pair of Galahs. The many hollows in the trees in the gorge probably meant they regularly nest in this area.
The gorge is a popular picnic and camping area but the only facilities are several public toilets. Food, fuel and other supplies can be obtained from Burra about 30km to the north west.
Galahs at Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia