Pelicans, Shelducks and Teal
On a recent visit to Meningie, about an hour’s drive south of home, we passed a swamp area next to Lake Albert. The River Murray flows into Lake Alexandrina which in turn flows into Lake Albert. It is near the significant wetland called the Coorong.
In this swampy area we saw a large number of Australian Pelicans (about 40), hundreds of Australian Shelducks and several hundred Grey Teal (mostly out of the photo). This was probably one of the largest concentrations of shelducks I have seen anywhere. In my experience they tend to spread out over a wide area as they graze. On this occasion they were probably sheltering together from the wild, stormy, freezing wind on that day. I took this shot from the car. It was about 14 degrees but a week later it was 41 degrees!
If you click on the photo you might be able to see several Pacific Black Ducks, a few White Ibis, and at least two Black Cormorants (also called Great Cormorants). Behind me and a little down the road were about 40 Cape Barren Geese.
Alas – no Glossy Ibis.
This is turning out to be a real bogey species for me.
Australian Pelicans, Lake Albert
Great Birding Moments # 24 Caspian Terns
Caspian Tern
A few days ago we were invited to the home of friends at Meningie, about an hour’s drive from here. Meningie is on the southern shore of Lake Albert and only a few kilometres from the world famous wetland, the Coorong. We decided to take a leisurely three hour alternative route and do some birding along the way.
This area has many dairy farms bordering the lake system. Swampy areas in this part of South Australia often have small lakes, lagoons and channels and this is a great place to see some of our water birds.
At one point we took a slight detour to a spot called Long Point in the Coorong National Park. This area is a favourite with those who like to go fishing in the Coorong and there is also a small camping area. No facilities other than toilets are present.
I was delighted to get some reasonable photos of a group of Caspian Terns resting on the beach. The wind was very blustery and bitterly cold, usually so for a few weeks from summer. Using my telescope was next to useless because of the vibration caused by the wind.
I normally see only one or two Caspian Terns at a time so it was a delight to see such a large group altogether in one spot. There were probably about twenty in all. There were also plenty of Whiskered Terns, Australian Pelicans, Silver Gulls and Sharp Tailed Sandpipers present but none of these were close enough to photograph.
Caspian Tern
Great Birding Moments # 23 Eurasian Coot nesting
Eurasian Coot on nest
Earlier this year on a visit to Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills I was delighted to see the nest of an Eurasian Coot in full view of the boardwalk through the wetlands area. From what I can recall, this is the first time I have ever seen a coot’s nest. It is quite an impressive structure.
Good Birding Spot: Tolderol Game Reserve
Whiskered Tern at Tolderol Game Reserve
Tolderol Game Reserve is something of a mecca for South Australian birders and often attracts interstate birders as well. I must admit that although it is only about an hour’s drive from Murray Bridge I have only been there a handful of occasions, and then only in the last few years.
Being a game reserve it has been set aside for shooters. The game shooting season in this state is restricted to only a few days annually, and on some years shooting is closed all year. In recent years this has been as a result of the extended drought we are experiencing.
Tolderol Game Reserve consists of a series of shallow ponds and connecting channels. Until recently there was usually water in the ponds at all times. At present there is very little water, even in the channels.
A wide variety of water birds can usually be found here: ducks, spoonbills, egrets, herons, ibis, swans, geese, grebes, darters, pelicans, dotterels, plovers, lapwings, crakes, rails, stilts and avocets.
Other species recorded include hawks, harriers, eagles, kites, terns, gulls, sandpipers, stints and other small wading birds.
The game reserve is next to the northern shore of Lake Alexandrina. On my last visit I didn’t take any photos of the reserve; without water and birds it was most uninteresting so I took the photo below of the lake. For those who aren’t familiar with the area, Australia’s largest river system, the Murray-Darling basin drains into this lake which in turn flows into the Coorong and the Southern Ocean.
Lake Alexandrina, South Australia
Some Ibis on High
Straw Necked Ibis
Yesterday morning while having a cuppa out in my wife’s native plant nursery I observed a small flock of eleven Ibises flying high above us. The flock consisted of ten White Ibis and one Straw-Necked Ibis. I have frequently observed flocks of several hundreds of Ibises flying over or near the river here in Murray Bridge but we rarely get them flying over our place.
Most of the time they are Straw-Necked Ibis but occasionally there will be a few White Ibis fly over. The Straw-Necked seem to be the more common of the two species here in this part of Australia, in my experience anyway.
I haven’t any really good photos of either species yet which is a little surprising as they are very approachable and can be quite tame. In fact in some of the eastern states of Australia they are a pest species in parks and gardens. They will aggressively approach picnickers and steal food, a somewhat frightening experience for small children. (Some of our bird species can develop aggressive tendencies. For more comments click here.)
The above photo is the best I currently have. It is a special one because it was taken some time ago and is a record of the very first Straw Necked Ibis that we observed to land on our five acre block of land in over twenty years.
Updated Nov 2013.