Little Pied Cormorant, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Little Pied Cormorant, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Little Pied Cormorants are common throughout much of Australia, wherever there is suitable habitat. Their preferred habitats include coastal areas, islands, estuaries, rivers, lakes, farm dams, sewage ponds – in fact, almost anywhere there is water. We’ve even had one visit our swimming pool!
I can also remember being fascinated as a child by the occasional visit of a cormorant to our garden tank which was open at the top. My father installed this tank to store water for watering the vegetables because the mains water pressure on our farm was unreliable. Dad had also put a few small fish in the tank to eat any mosquito wrigglers, so I guess a visit was well worthwhile for a little snack. My father had a different opinion!
The birds shown in these photos were in a walk through aviary at the Adelaide Zoo. Below is one of the captive birds shown at a nest.
Little Pied Cormorant on nest, Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Great Egret at Adelaide Zoo
Great Egret at Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
I find that the identification of the Australian family of egrets can be confusing and difficult, even when you get a close up view like this one. I was photographing the birds in the Adelaide Zoo collection when this Great Egret posed nicely for me.
At least – I think it’s a Great Egret. Any readers who disagree with me can do so by leaving a comment. I can easily amend the captions on the photos. This individual was in the Australian Pelican enclosure but I’m not sure if it was part of the official zoo collection – meaning its wings had been clipped by the keepers – or it was just visiting in order to get a free feed. I suspect it was a visitor because I saw what I think was the same bird a short distance away a little later in the afternoon. That one was definitely free flying and probably came from the River Torrens which forms the northern boundary of the zoo.
Great Egret at Adelaide Zoo, South Australia
Crested Terns, Victor Harbor
Crested Terns, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Crested Terns are found in abundant numbers around the coast of Australia. They are one of our common terns and can gather in large numbers on beaches, islands, rocky outcrops, estuaries, tidal rivers and sometimes even some way inland along rivers.
They breed in large colonies, often on off shore islands. Their nest is a scrape in the sand or on rock.
In the photo above there is a single Australian Wood Duck perching on the rock on the far left hand side.
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Crested Terns, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Crested Terns, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Sooty Oystercatchers, Victor Harbor
Sooty Oystercatchers, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Seeing oystercatchers always delights me. In Australia we have two main species of this family of birds: the Sooty Oystercatcher shown here and the Pied Oystercatcher. There is a third much rarer species, the South Island Pied Oystercatcher, an occasional vagrant from New Zealand. This is one for the experts; I don’t have the skills to pick the difference.
Both species of oystercatchers are found around the entire coast line of Australia where there is suitable habitat. They prefer undisturbed sandy or pebble beaches, estuaries, mudflats and the like. They tend to be found only in small numbers; single birds, pairs or small loose flocks up to about 20 birds. They tend to be wary and not easily approached.
They make a nest on the ground, a shallow hollow in the sand or in in seaweed. I am not sure whether the bird shown below was nesting or just resting and sheltering from the cold wind. Like many oystercatchers they probably nest on the islands a short distance from this point on Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor.
Pied Oystercatchers are more common than their Sooty cousins in Australia.
Sooty Oystercatchers, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Sooty Oystercatchers, Victor Harbor, South Australia
A photographic study of Silver Gulls part 6
Silver Gull, Victor Harbor, South Australia
These photos of a small group Silver Gulls were taken recently on the beach of Encounter Bay near the Yilki store in Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia.
You can see more photos of Silver Gulls posted here on this blog in recent days.
Silver Gulls, Victor Harbor, South Australia