Birding in the Narrandera region
No Comments »29th September, 2011; Category: Waterbirds
Wetlands at Narrandera, New South Wales
Sydney Trip report June 2011
I’ve been really slow getting these trip reports written and posted here; life has been busy and demanding. (I’m supposed to be retired – whatever that means.)
On our return leg from a holiday in Sydney in June of this year we stopped for one night at Narrandera. It’s an area I’d like to stay in for a week or more. The caravan park looks very inviting; we stayed in a cabin but I’d like to take our caravan there and other places along the way. In the caravan park office I gathered together several free brochures on highlights of the area, including three on birding in the region. It has a very rich and interesting range of birds present.
One of the places mentioned on one pamphlet was the wetland area just off the main highway on the southern approach to the town. On our way out we spent about 20 minutes here but the bird life was not very forthcoming. It was very cold, overcast, threatening to rain and windy. The light was also very poor so I didn’t manage much in the way of bird photos. The list of birds was also rather poor:
Australian Raven
Galah
Little Pied Cormorant
Dusky Moorhen
Eurasian Coot
Australasian Grebe (see photo below)
Yellow Rosella
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Grey Fantail
Australian Magpie
Laughing Kookaburra
Rock Dove
Australasian Grebe, Narrandera wetlands, New South Wales
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
As I wrote yesterday, we stopped at Lameroo on the first morning of our trip to Sydney earlier this year. Lake Roberts on the eastern edge of town is a good birding spot with a mixture of bush birds and water birds inhabiting this artificial wetland area. On most of my visits I have seen at least two Masked Lapwings. They feed on the grassed area around the lake and picnic area. Behind me where I took these photos is the small caravan park which is also a grassed area. Last year we saw several chicks in the caravan park, running after the adults.
We stayed at this spot for about 20 minutes while we had a cuppa and morning tea. The following is a list of birds observed during that time:
- Black-shouldered Kite
- Brown Falcon
- Nankeen Kestrel
- Little Pied Cormorant
- Muscovy Duck (introduced species)
- Masked Lapwing
- Rock Dove (introduced species)
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Variegated Fairy-wren
- Red Wattlebird
- Magpie Lark
- Australian Magpie (both Black-backed and White-backed)
- Little Raven
- White-winged Chough
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Some of these were seen in the town or on the road leading into town and not at the lake.
Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Masked Lapwings, Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia
Birding Port Clinton Conservation Park, Yorke Peninsula
Little Egret, Pt Clinton Conservation Park
On our way home from our recent holiday on Yorke Peninsula we stopped for a lunch break at Port Clinton Conservation Park, just north of Ardrossan.This conservation park stretches along the eastern part of the peninsula, between the main road south and the waterline.
The wind was still cold and we were experiencing occasional showers. Once again we decided to eat our picnic lunch in the car. This was followed by a warming cup of tea. As we sat there, windscreen wipers activated every minute or so, I did a bird list of species present, either on the tidal mudflats, in the nearby mangrove trees or in the bushland nearby.
Many of the birds I saw appeared to be resting in a position where they minimised the wind. Very few of the water birds were actually flying or swimming. Once again the list of species is not great, but you have days like that. Pity, though, I’d had 4 days in a row like that!
- Little Egret
- Little Pied Cormorant
- Pied Cormorant
- Crested Tern
- Caspian Tern
- Red-capped Plover
- Silver Gull
- Pacific Gull
- Nankeen Kestrel
- Tree Martin
- Singing Honeyeater
- Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
- Grey Shrike-thrush
- Welcome Swallow
- Willie Wagtail
- Little Raven
- Common Starling
Little Pied Cormorants, Silver Gulls, Pt Clinton Conservation Park
Mangroves and tidal flats, Pt Clinton Conservation Park
A misty day at the beach
Crested Terns, Sheoak Beach, Yorke Peninsula
On our recent holiday on Yorke Peninsula we struck a weekend of wild weather. On Sunday morning the wind was blowing a gale and constant misty showers scudded across the sea and over the adjacent farmland. Undeterred we still went out for a drive knowing that this was the only way we would get to see anything. Walking was really not a pleasant option.
We stopped to have a cuppa at Sheoak Beach, parking the car so that we could sit in relative comfort out of the wind and rain – and yet be able to see the water and any birds on the beach. There was not much to see.
A few Australian Pelicans sheltered from the wind behind some seaweed tossed up on the beach (see photo below). A small flock of Crested Terns sat on the beach looking most uncomfortable in the atrocious conditions. Several Sooty Oystercatchers were hunched up against the wind too, and a few Silver Gulls valiantly tried to fly along the beach. A White-faced Heron also bravely battled against the wind.
Australian Pelicans, Sheoak Beach, Yorke Peninsula
As we drove off I opened the driver’s side window a little as it was on the leeward side. This was so I could add a few species I heard calling or saw as we drove along slowly. I saw several Singing Honeyeaters, Rock Doves and heard a Common Skylark calling out in a nearby field.
As you can see in the photos on this post, the conditions for photography were far from ideal, the misty rain making it impossible to get good shots.
Some birding days are like that.
Crested Terns, Sheoak Beach, Yorke Peninsula
Marsh Sandpiper
Marsh Sandpiper, Goolwa, South Australia
I meant to post this photograph a few months ago. It was taken at Goolwa in South Australia in January. This area is a wetland area near the barrage and only a few kilometres from the mouth of the River Murray.
I’m not at all confident in identifying many of our waders and shorebirds; their plumage changes from breeding to non-breeding can be challenging at best, and confusing most of the time. I think this is a Marsh Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage. If any of my readers disagree, please use my contact email form or leave a comment and I’ll make the necessary changes on the photo and this post.
Marsh Sandpipers are widespread summer migrant to Australia during their non-breeding phase, usually from about August through to April/May. They breed in places like Austria through to northern Mongolia. From there they disperse during migration to Africa, the Indian sub-continent, south east Asia and Australia and occasionally to New Zealand. They are one of those species who annually clock up many frequent flyer points.
I’ve seen this species on a few occasions before but never had the chance to photograph it. Thanks to Rod for stopping his vintage car long enough to get these shots.
Good birding.
Marsh Sandpiper, Goolwa, South Australia