Lake Gilles Conservation Park

This weekend I decided to head north west to Lake Gilles Conservation Park which is approximately 6 hrs drive from Adelaide.

Adelaide to Port Augusta is an easy run but after that it's a game of dodge the suicidal Kangaroos at the moment. Due to the lack of recent rain the roos have come out and sit along side (and in the middle) of the road. I counted 17 between Port Augusta and Iron Knob, thankfully missing all of them. You really need to keep your driving speed down as they are difficult to see!
Unfortunately the weather was very overcast all morning which ironically was good for bird activity but lousy for photography. Finally the sky fell down and it has rained all night. Good for the Roo's who may now head back to the hills and can avoid getting hit by a truck, but not good for me who needs to head back to work...

Hightlights included numerous Western Yellow Robin which are right on the edge of their range here in western SA, along with a few Rufous Treecreepers. Various fairywrens were seen but only females, most being Splendid.

Other birds seen included Emu, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, White-winged Chough, Grey Currawong, Port Lincoln Parrot, Common Bronzewing, White-eared, Singing and Yellow-plumed, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird, Inland, Chestnut-rumped and Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Weebill, Striated Pardalote, White-browed Babbler, Golden and Gilbert's Whistler, Black-faced Woodswallow, Restless Flycatcher, Jacky Winter, Red-capped Robin, Galah, Australian Raven, Magpie, Silvereye, Willy Wagtail and White-backed Swallow.

Lake Gilles

Restless Flycatcher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western Yellow Robin

 

 

 

 

 

Western Yellow Robin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western Yellow Robin

 

 

 

 

 

Western Yellow Robin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Western Yellow Robin

Red-lored Whistler at Gluepot

What do you do when a friend asks you to join them for a morning at Gluepot to chase their bogey-bird?  Well you join them of course!  My friend wanted to get decent views of  Red-lored Whistler so that was our target. We found ourselves birding at sunrise after already viewing Spotted Nightjar, Owlet Nightjar and Tawny Frogmouths in the headlights!

During our search we met an interstate birder who also required the Red-lored Whistler as well as Striated  Grasswren so he joined us.

Not long into the search we heard a few short calls from the "Jules" the Red-lored Whistler but this bird is well known for not being very co-operative. He made us work for our reward. However perseverance is the key and we finally got a distant view. My friend was happy but obviously it would be better for him to get decent photos so we decided to keep trying with the hope that Jules would perch close by.

While we continued to search we were rewarded with 4 Fork-tailed Swifts and a Black Falcon.

We found our interstate birding mate a Striated Grasswren which was great and he was all smiles.

Finally Jules decided to come and say hello which made both my companions very happy campers indeed!

Jules - Red-lored Whistler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fork-tailed Swift

Port Augusta - Arid Lands Botanical Gardens

This morning I visited the Arid Lands Botanical Gardens in Port Augusta. This is a great location and excellent for birding. They recently produced a bird book, 48 pages on the birds you may see while visiting the park. Many of the photos were provided by the photographers of  www.bushpea.com and you can obtain it at the visitor centre for a gold coin donation.

This place is well worth a visit next time you are passing through, but be sure to allow enough time to explore!

 

 

White-fronted Honeyeater

 

 

There are a variety of tracks to explore on foot and great birding opportunities occur on all of them!

 

Visitor Centre

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zebra Finch

 

 

 

Singing Honeyeater

 

 

 

 

 

White-plumed Honeyeater

 

 

 

Birding in the Southern Flinders Ranges

This weekend I decided to head north to try and photograph a bird that although I've seen a few times I've never managed a photo.

The Southern Flinders are easily accessed being only 4 hours from Adelaide.

A hike into a gorge this morning was rewarded with ongoing views of Grey-fronted Honeyeaters. I could hear them before I could see them. Being canopy dwellers and with poor light in the gorge I knew photography would be a challenge, but a few photos, even if grainy, are better than no photos!

Many of the gorges in this area are home to the endangered Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby. Sadly the feral goat population is out of control and today I say 7 goats and no rock wallabies. Very sad...

Grey-fronted Honeyeaters