Where’s my camera?
Last Friday my wife had a medical appointment in Adelaide. It was an early morning appointment which meant that we had most of the day to do other things. Instead of taking the quick way home via the south eastern freeway we took a far more interesting route home. We drove up through the Adelaide Hills (part of the Mt Lofty Ranges) via Gorge Road. Along the way we stopped for an extended cup of tea and delicious scones at the Big Rocking Horse at Gumeracha.
I was about to grab my camera to take some photos of the world’s largest rocking horse and some of the local bird life when I realised I had left my camera at home. I had remembered my note book and a pen to record what I saw, I had remembered my binoculars and a field guide resides permanently in the car so I don’t have to remember it. But no camera. Doh.
Oh well, I just had to be content with doing some birding via the naked eye. (Can one say “naked eye” when I do have the assistance of glasses?) Still, birding without either a camera or binoculars is good for honing one’s observation skills. I had also left the binoculars in the car while we sat in the warm restaurant having morning tea. The large picture windows make viewing the nearby landscape extremely easy and delightful.
So, without the help of any visual aids I managed to following list of birds:
- Common Blackbird
- New Holland Honeyeater
- Galah
- Little Raven
- Crimson Rosella (Adelaide Rosella)
- White Ibis
- Rainbow Lorikeet
- Australian Magpie
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
- Australian Wood Duck
That’s not a great list but the conditions were difficult for the following reasons:
- It was very cold and not many birds were active
- The weather was heavily overcast and gloomy
- The scones were delicious and needed my full attention
- My wife an I were in deep conversation for over an hour discussing an important life decision I need to make shortly.
Happy birding.
Trevor
Victoria Park, Peterborough
Black-tailed Native-hen
A few weeks ago we went on a short holiday to Peterborough in mid-north of South Australia. We were visiting relatives. Normally I try to get out into the surrounding countryside to do some birding, but on this occasion it was bitterly cold, overcast and not at all inviting outdoors. It was so much more inviting to stay by the fireplace with a good book, and the obligatory hot drink. This changed on the last day of our visit. The sun finally emerged – but it was still very cold. I braved the elements any way.
The only spot I went to was Victoria Park, an artificial lake and grassed area next to the local caravan park and swimming pool – I have included a photo below. The area has been planted up with a variety of native trees and shrubs and so it attracts quite a few of our native birds, including a variety of water birds. On this occasion I was pleased to see about 80 Black-tailed Native-hens feeding on the lawned area around the small lake. They allowed me to take a few photos of them from the car but became a little skittish when I emerged to get closer shots.
On a few occasions I have also seen Apostlebirds here, but not on this occasion. This is one species which is not common anywhere in South Australia. Peterborough township is one of just a handful of places where it can be reliably seen in this state. It is quite common in New South Wales and parts of Victoria, however.
Because it was so cold I didn’t see or hear many other birds, but some I did record include:
- Pacific Black Duck
- Mallard
- Australian Wood Duck
- Weebill
- Magpie Lark
- Crested Pigeon
- Red wattlebird
- Little Raven
- Australian Magpie
Further reading:
Victoria Park, Peterborough, SA
Black-tailed Native-hen
A family outing
No Comments »5th February, 2014; Category: Bird Behaviour, Botanic Gardens, Ducks Geese and Swans, Garden birds, Waterbirds
Australian Wood Ducks
It is quite a common sight to see small flocks of Australian Wood Ducks in many places around Australia where they occur. Sometimes they even gather in loose flocks of many dozens – even hundreds. They are often seen grazing on grasslands, ovals, lawned areas in parklands and along water courses, lakes and wetlands.
The group shown in today’s photos were seen near a watercourse in the Mt Annan Botanic Gardens in the Sydney suburb of Campbelltown. It appears to be a family group with the mother leading the way and all the offspring following. The gardens see many hundreds of visitors daily, so these birds – even the younger one – were not all concerned by our presence. I’ve experienced that lack of timidity in this species when visiting other parks and gardens. It certainly makes photography much easier when the birds hang around – almost as if they are posing deliberately for my camera!
Australian Wood ducks
On the road again
We are on the road again. To be more precise: we have been on the road and are now in Sydney for about a month staying with family for Christmas. We left just over a week ago and travelled from home in Murray Bridge, South Australia, to my son’s home in Artarmon in two days of many hours in the car. Although the distance is just over 1300km we enjoy the journey, taking note of the changing environments as we go.
All the way we are on the lookout for birds. At certain points along the way we stop for meal breaks, or to refuel. On these occasions I usually jot down the birds observed during our break. Additional lists are sometimes made as we drive along, usually when my wife is driving. If either of us sees something special or out of the ordinary I will make a note of that too.
During the morning of the first day we saw many of the usual species seen along the road from Murray Bridge to Ouyen in Victoria. This is predominantly mallee eucalypt country used for wheat and sheep farming. Along the way we saw several family groups of White-winged Choughs. It always amuses me that they do not merely walk or hop along the ground; it’s more of a swagger. If pressed hard they will fly off, their white wing patches showing up clearly. This easily identifies them from the many Australian Magpies and Little Ravens along this stretch of highway.
Also along this stretch I am also on the lookout for the way the magpies change from the white-backed sub-species to the black-backed. Intermediate hybrids are also worth looking for. As for the ravens it is a harder task. The further east one travels the more Australian Ravens can be found. The only sure way of telling them apart from the Little Ravens is to hear them call, not a practical solution driving at 110kph.
Along this first leg of the journey we also saw a few Grey Currawongs as they glided across the road in front of us, many Willie Wagtails fluttering around in search of breakfast, the occasional Nankeen Kestrel soaring or hovering over the fields, and flocks of Galahs glowing pink in the morning sun. A highlight was several brief sightings of Dusky Woodswallows, always a nice species to see.
Morning tea at Lameroo added Welcome Swallows, Australian Wood Duck, Crested Pigeon and Magpie Lark to the list. I didn’t add the feral domestic ducks which live around the artificial lake.
Coming into Ouyen for lunch I saw the only Brown Falcon sighted on the journey to Sydney. Typically, it was perched on the pole of a telephone line. While having lunch a female House Sparrow cheekily perched on the picnic table about 30cm from my lunch. It was close enough to get a few good shots with my phone (see below).
Female House Sparrow
Other species added to my growing list while we ate lunch included Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, European Blackbird, Common Starling, Yellow-throated Miner, Singing Honeyeater and White-plumed Honeyeater.
Tomorrow: from Ouyen, Victoria to Narrandera, NSW.
Birdcage Rest Area, central NSW
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
ON the second day of our journey home from a holiday in Sydney we stopped at the Birdcage Rest Area between Narrandera and Hay in the Riverina region. The sun was valiantly trying to disperse the clouds but the bitterly cold wind continued. We had a mid morning cuppa and snack and tried to enjoy stretching our legs briefly, despite the cold conditions.
The birding in this spot has been quite good other times we have stopped here, but I think that the birds were also discouraged by the cold conditions. The following list of species heard or seen is not long:
Australian Magpie
Australian Magpie Lark
Australian Wood Duck
Willie Wagtail
Yellow Rosella
Grey Shrike-thrush
Galah
Australian Raven
Laughing Kookaburra
Weebill
Pied Butcherbird
We were entertained by several little creatures hopping around the picnic table and near the car park. There had been a recent plague of House Mice in many parts of Australia and that is probably what they were. Interestingly, they were brave – or stupid – enough to come out into plain view in the car park, and while we watched, several were taken and eaten by the local Australian Ravens.
Yellow Rosella