Trevor's Birding

A few birds in Peterborough, South Australia

No Comments »19th June, 2012; Category: General

Ducks on the lake, Victoria Park, Peterborough, South Australia

This post is long overdue. I’ve been busy.

Over the recent Easter long weekend we went to stay with our daughter in Clare in the mid-north of South Australia. On the Sunday we travelled further north to the town of Peterborough. This was where my wife grew up and in the intervening years we’ve visited many times, usually to visit family still living there.

On this occasion we also visited family and we went to see a number of exhibitions which made up a part of their annual arts festival. It left very little time for birding.

We did spend a few minutes driving through Victoria Park, an artificial lake (shown above) being the main feature of this picnic area. Due to time restraints I didn’t even have time to get out of the car, taking several shots through the window.

The photo above is unexciting as far as birds is concerned: a few Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal and introduced geese and mallards. The only bird of any interest was the solitary Black-tailed Native-hen feeding on the lawn. It partially disappeared from view before I could focus on it – see below.

It kind of summed up a rather poor birding day. Still, I shouldn’t complain; the art exhibitions were very interesting, and the dinner cooked by my sister-in-law was wonderful, so it wasn’t a wasted day after all.

Black-tailed Native-hen

Southern Whiteface, Peterborough, South Australia

No Comments »14th June, 2012; Category: Bush birds

Southern Whiteface, Peterborough, South Australia

Over the Easter weekend earlier this year we were staying with our daughter in Clare in the mid-north of South Australia. While there we took a day trip to Peterborough just over an hour north of Clare. This was to visit family living there.

On the northern outskirts of the town we visited the ruins of the first house my wife lived in when she was a little girl. Near to ruins I wandered through some of the nearby scrub, an area I did extensive birding in many years ago. I was delighted to get close-up views of several Southern Whitefaces (shown in the photos today).

Southern Whitefaces are widespread in the more arid regions of the southern half of Australia. They are widespread and can be locally common in some areas of suitable habitat.

Southern Whiteface, Peterborough, South Australia

Birding in Hale Conservation Park, Williamstown

No Comments »10th June, 2012; Category: Bird Behaviour, Bush birds, Honeyeaters, Plants

Hale Conservation Park, South Australia

Last Saturday I had a meeting in Gawler which is just over an hour’s drive from home. I had a little time on my way home, so I stopped for a hour at Hale Conservation Park near Williamstown in the Mt Lofty Ranges. We often drive past this park going to or from our daughter’s home in Clare, but we’ve only ever stopped a couple of times. This time I had a hour of birding on a lovely sunny winter’s afternoon.

The birding was a little slow with only a handful of species obvious, mostly calling. A few days ago I showed a photo of a Scarlet Robin (click here) that obligingly posed near me. I saw quite a few Yellow-faced Honeyeaters flitting around in the tree tops, but none settled close enough for a decent photo. The best of a poor set of photos is shown below. This is the best photo I have of this species, which probably means that I need to get out birding more often seeing it is quite a common species.

The final photo on today’s post is a close-up of some of the wildflowers growing in the park. I must visit again in the springtime when plenty of native plants will be in flower.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Hale Conservation Park, South Australia

Hale Conservation Park, South Australia

Some fellow writers and a Scarlet Robin

3 Comments »2nd June, 2012; Category: Bird Behaviour, Camera, Honeyeaters, Photos, Robins

Scarlet Robin (male) Hale Conservation Park

Today I attended the meeting of a writers’ group to which I belong. It was held in the home of a fellow writer who lives in Gawler, about an hour north of Adelaide and just over an hour’s drive from my home. It was an inspiring time hearing about the projects of my colleagues and the discussion lasted several hours – until the lunch food beckoned. The talk still continued over the meal.

On my way home I decided to do an hour of birding in Hale Conservation Park, just a few kilometres from Williamstown in the Adelaide Hills. It had been a few years since I’d walked through parts of the park. Despite the welcome sunshine, birdlife was a little slow. A few birds were calling but I didn’t see much. Eventually, just as I was about to turn back towards the car park, I saw a group of honeyeaters feeding in several trees near the path. They were Eastern Spinebills, New Holland Honeyeaters and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters. Most didn’t sit still long enough to focus my camera on them, though I did manage a few shots of the Yellow-faced.

As I was following them around, a male Scarlet Robin came and perched on a branch less than two metres from me. I had about three seconds to zoom, focus and press the shutter. The bird was gone just as quickly as it had come; I didn’t see it again. I’m so thankful that I managed to get it more or less in focus.

Sometimes you just get lucky!

Good birding.

Further Reading:

Red Capped Robin

Pigeons by the dozens (almost)

2 Comments »23rd May, 2012; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Pigeons and Doves

Crested Pigeon, Mildura

I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. Nothing major; just a check up.

As I was driving out of the driveway I noticed that one of the bushes in our garden had suddenly “sprouted” some extra colour. (Confession: the bush is actually dead – I just haven’t got around to removing it yet, or replacing it with something living.)

Eleven crested pigeons were sitting there all fluffed up against the chilly morning and enjoying the early morning sunshine. It wasn’t a very big bush, so it looked really great.

Crested Pigeons are very common in our area. I frequently see loose flocks of a dozen or more – sometimes as many as 30 or 40 – perched on power lines or fences. Once I even counted about 60 all in close proximity to one another. It was quite a sight.

Crested Pigeon, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia