Ibis Rookery, Kerang, Victoria
Purple Swamphens, Kerang, Victoria
Whenever we travel through Kerang in north west Victoria we try to make time to stop at the Ibis Rookery. This is part of a series of lakes fed by the River Murray. It is an important wetland area and supports large numbers of water birds.
The rookery itself is a few kilometres north of the town on the way to Swan Hill. It is about a kilometre off the main road with easy access to the picnic ground. A short two minute walk from the car park gets one to the bird hide, complete with a telescope for birders – and the general public – to use.
Kerang Bird Hide, Victoria
White-faced Heron visits for a swim
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
Yesterday we were delighted to have a special visitor to our swimming pool. Mind you – it would have been rather cold going for a swim. Winter seems to have returned after some very hot weather. Summer is officially just over a week away, yet we have had several days in the mid teens.
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
This White-faced Heron wasn’t after a swim though. He was keeping a sharp eye on the frogs in our pool. Yes – you read that correctly. I’ve neglected the swimming pool for so long that the frogs have moved in. At least it’s getting some use.
The water level is down a metre too, and will take quite a deal of water to get it back to normal levels. Despite the current water restrictions, I feel okay about doing this. I haven’t added any water for several years now, relying only on rainwater from part of our roof.
White-faced Heron in our swimming pool
From memory, this is only the second time a White-faced Heron has landed in our garden in over 25 years. It’s about time the Little Pied Cormorant paid a visit.
You can enlarge the photos by clicking on the images.
Birds down by the river
Captain Proud at Sturt Reserve Murray Bridge
A few days ago we had some business to do in the CBD of our home town, Murray Bridge. We decided to take the makings for morning tea with us. After dealing with the business side of things we headed down to the river and parked in the shade of tree near Sturt Reserve on the banks of the Murray River.
I was able to get a good list of birds while we had our cuppa. There was nothing spectacular of course, just the usual species I would expect.
Captain Proud at Sturt Reserve Murray Bridge
Probably the most interesting bird seen was a Darter fishing quite close to the bank on our side of the river. Several Crested Pigeons came close to us investigating what we were up to. Three Willie Wagtails fluttered around and near the car. A beautiful Little Eagle soared on high and several Crested Terns patrolled the river looking for a feed.
In all I recorded 22 species, not bad for about forty minutes of birding.
Murray River near Sturt Reserve in Murray Bridge
The above photo shows the low level of the water in the Murray River at present. It is about 2 metres below its normal level and this is a direct result of the poor rainfall in the catchment areas in NSW and Victoria. Excessive use by irrigators in the eastern states is not helping the plight of this endangered river system either.
Read some of my bird poetry
6 Comments »20th April, 2008; Category: Waterbirds
Many of my readers come here to read about birds and see my photos of Australian birds.
That’s fine – and I appreciate all of my faithful readers and those who leave comments and questions.
What you may not be aware of is that I write for another blog which features more of my writings. Sometimes I feature poems or Haiku about birds.
To read one of my Haiku about birds click here.
To read more of my general poetry click here.
Black Swans in an unusual place
My wife and I join a friend on a morning walk every weekday. On our way home we pass a small dam about half a kilometre from our home. This dam was constructed on a vacant block of land by our local council several years ago. It stores storm water from the nearby streets. Some areas near here have a flood mitigation problem only discovered about five years ago during an extremely heavy downpour one afternoon. The council workers pump water from this dam to use in watering street trees and to dampen road works where necessary.
I’ve kept an eye on this small reservoir ever since it first contained water. Generally all I see is a few Pacific Black Ducks, Straw-necked Ibis and a collection a Masked Lapwings (which have been seen breeding there). Welcome Swallows are also regular visitors, and I am sure the local population of White-winged Choughs use the wet mud on the edge of the water to construction their mud nests. One one occasion I also saw several Black-tailed Native-hens.
A few mornings ago I was surprised to see several Black Swans gracing the water. This species is not all that common around here, though I have seen several recently at the nearby Rocky Gully Wetlands, about three kilometres to the east.
One day I will get around to making a list of all the species I’ve seen in this dam.
And then I will need to find a way of encouraging the swans to fly over our land so I can count them on my garden list.
Black Swan with cygnets, Canberra