There’s a kangaroo loose in the garden
Female Western Grey Kangaroo, Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Yesterday morning we had the delight of having a Western Grey Kangaroo in our garden for a few minutes.
I need to explain that our garden is rather larger than most; we live on a 5 acre (2 hectare) block of land on the outskirts of Murray Bridge in South Australia. This is not the first time we’ve had a kangaroo on our land, but it is unusual. It’s only happened on one other occasion over the last 25 years. Might have had others but my memory is fading. We’ve seen individuals along the road on other occasions, and sometimes we see one or two in the paddock opposite our driveway. They are far more common in the large tract of mallee scrub about a kilometre up the road from our driveway. Whenever I go birding up there I usually disturb several of them.
The species found around here is usually the Western Grey Kangaroo. It is theoretically possible to get Red Kangaroos here but I haven’t seen any; they tend to be found much further north in dryer parts of the state. I was not quick enough to get the camera to take a photo of the roo which paid us a visit. Instead, I’ve posted two photos I took recently on a visit to the local open range Monarto Zoo which is about a ten minute drive from our home. The zoo has many Western Grey Kangaroos within its boundaries. They naturally occur there and have remained within the confines of the outer perimeter fence of the zoo.
The two photos on this page are of the same female. In the photo below you can just see the joey’s face poking out of the pouch. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Female Western Grey Kangaroo with joey, Monarto Zoo, South Australia
The kangaroo we had visit us only stayed for a few minutes. When I tried to get a little closer it bounded off through our orchard, across our open paddock and then down the road along side our property. It jumped three 1.2 metre (four foot) fences so effortlessly they might as well not have been there. The route it was taking was an easy way back to the scrub area where it had come from – and away from the busy road in front of our place.
Related articles:
- Kangaroos and honeyeaters – a happy arrangement
- Australia Day
- Road kill
Brown Falcon at Monarto Zoo
Brown Falcon, Monarto Zoo
A few weeks ago we went with our family to visit Monarto Zoo near our home town of Murray Bridge. This open range zoo is a part of the Adelaide Zoological Gardens and being only a few kilometres down the road from our home we like to visit often. Being a Life Member I like to visit often.
One of the features of the zoo is the large tract of untouched mallee scrub where visitors can walk on the numerous walking trails leading from one enclosure to another. The regular shuttle buses moving around the zoo make this a very attractive part of the visit. All tracks are easily negotiated, even by wheelchair.
Walking through the mallee scrub is a good way to observe many of the local bird species abundant in the area. On this visit I had great views of this Brown Falcon. Normally a reasonable shy bird, this individual decided to pose nicely for a few photos.
Brown Falcon, Monarto Zoo
Related articles:
The Budgerigars are coming
Budgerigars, Cleland Wildlife Park
The much loved Budgerigar is one of Australia’s favourite birds. Many millions are kept as pets in Australia and in many other countries of the world. One of the most amazing wildlife scenes in Australia is to see a large flock of hundreds and even thousands of Budgerigars. I’ve only even witnessed this on one occasion; it’s marked in my memory as one of the special birding moments.
Over the last week or so there have been numerous reports of these beautiful birds moving into the southern parts of Australia, including close to my home here in Murray Bridge. I’ll have to keep a special lookout for any that come our way.
Reader activity:
If you have one of these beautiful Australian parrots as a pet, tell me about it in the comments section.
Budgerigar
Related articles:
- Adelaide Rosella comes to visit
- Great birding moments #20
- Great birding moments – archive of articles on a theme
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
- Australian King Parrot
Eastern Rosella – a new species for our garden list
Eastern Rosella
Eastern Rosellas are one of the colourful parrot species to be found here in Australia. It is a relatively common parrot found in south eastern Australia and Tasmania. It has been introduced into the Mt Lofty Ranges and Adelaide region of south Australia as well as New Zealand.
Here in Murray Bridge I’ve only recorded it once several years ago. On that occasion it appeared to be an aviary escape. The nearest naturally occurring birds are some 60 kilometres to the west.
Over recent days we have had a single Eastern Rosella flying around our garden. This is a new species for my garden list. It does not appear to be a cage bird as it is very flighty. I struggled to get close enough for a reasonable photo. The photos on this post have been enhanced – zoomed in and brightened to show the beautiful colours. Consequently they are not top quality shots.
Eastern Rosella
The behaviour of this individual was interesting. We have several Mallee Ringnecks resident on our property. Recently they produced two young ones that follow them everywhere and beg to be fed. The Eastern Rosella tried to adopt this family who were having none of it. They tried to chase it away but it was most insistent and would fly up and sit close to one of the ringnecks. The ringnecks would then attempt to chase it away again. This continued for about twenty minutes before the rosella gave and flew away. It has been back several times so I don’t know whether it intends taking up residence or not.
It would be a very colourful addition to our garden birds.
Eastern Rosella
Related articles:
Possible Galah nesting attempt
Galahs at nesting hollow
The beautiful Galah is a very common bird around where we live in Murray Bridge, South Australia. Flocks of several hundred are a common sight in the summer months.
Over the last few weeks two Galahs have been investigating a hollow in an old growth mallee tree near our house. This hollow is in clear view from where we often have meals on our new back veranda. The tree is about 30 metres away.
I hesitate to call them a “pair” because I haven’t actually seen them mating. I have strong reasons for calling them as such because one is a male and the other is a female and they are displaying typical nesting behaviour. (The female has a red eye, the male a dark brown eye.)
This pair has been hanging around this hollow for several hours every day now for many weeks. Both often go into the hollow to check it out. I can’t tell if they are actually enlarging it or not. They allow us to get quite close to the tree without flying off.
Then last week while we were having lunch they started breaking small leafy twigs off the tree and taking them into the hollow to line their nest. Seems fairly conclusive to me.
The only downside it that we will have to put up with some very noisy little neighbours later in the year. Baby Galahs can be very demanding and very noisy.
I’ve taken quite a few photos. Below is a selection of the best of them. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
Galahs at nesting hollow
Galahs at nesting hollow
Galah at nesting hollow
Galahs at nesting hollow
Galahs at nesting hollow