Wildflowers at Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia

Over recent days I have been sharing some photos of Australian native flowers taken at one of our favourite places to visit. Pangarinda Arboretum near Wellington is about a half hour drive from home in Murray Bridge and just over an hour SE of Adelaide.

The arboretum is a large collection of native plants from all over Australia. In my many visits there I have always found a good variety of plants flowering, so my camera always gets a good workout.

It is always open to the public for free. All we ask is that you make sure the gate is closed after you drive through. This is to keep the rabbits out.

Wildflowers at Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia

Wildflowers at Pangarinda Arboretum, Wellington, South Australia

Farming land and wheat silos near Palmer, South Australia

Palmer is a small town about 20 minutes’ drive north of where I live. The main crop in the district is wheat which accounts for the storage silos shown in the photo above. After being stored here for a while, the grain is then transported to flour mills like the one in nearby Murray Bridge, to other mills elsewhere or to Port Adelaide for export.

Palmer is only a short distance from the River Murray town of Mannum, a centre for the river boat trade in a bygone era and now a top tourist destination. It doesn’t show up in the photo above, being slightly to the right of the frame.

The area around the lookout is quite rocky, as shown in the photo below.

From a lookout near Palmer, South Australia

Chukar Partridge, Taronga Zoo, Sydney

The attractive Chukar Partridge is a bird found across Asia and parts of Europe. It is considered a good game bird and belongs to the pheasant family. There are feral introduced populations in North America and New Zealand, being released as game birds for shooting. A small population also existed for a while in New South Wales though the latest edition of the Simpson and Day Field Guide suggests that this population is now extinct. It is the national bird of Pakistan.

The bird in the photo above was taken in a walk through aviary at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. Much closer to home, however, my cousin recently had one in his garden here in Murray Bridge in South Australia. He sent a photo of it for identification wondering what it was. I guess someone is missing a beautiful bird from their aviary here in my home town.

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

Stage 2 of this year’s Tour Down Under came through Murray Bridge this morning. Click back through recent posts to read more information, and to see more photos.

The stage started at Tailem Bend before travelling through Murray Bridge, Kanmantoo, Birdwood, Mt Pleasant and finished at Mannum. This race is the last appearance of Tour de France seven times winner, Lance Armstrong, in a race outside of the United States. The race also features most of the leading European pro-teams in their only appearance outside of Europe.

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

The 2011 Tour Down Under cycling race came through my home town this morning on its way through the Adelaide Hills and finishing at Mannum. See my previous post for more details. Here’s a few more photos I managed.

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

Race director's car 2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

A short time ago I drove across to the main road leading out of my home town Murray Bridge to see the cycle race, the 2011 Tour Down Under, pass through town. I just only made it; the cyclists were about 4 minutes ahead of schedule. This is the only race outside of Europe featuring all the top professional cycling teams, a major coup for our little state of South Australia.

The race features many of the leading riders in world cycling, including Lance Armstrong in his last appearance outside the United States, Stuart O’Grady, Robbie McEwen, Mark Cavendish and a host of other riders, about 130 in total.

Stage 2 today travels from Tailem Bend through Murray Bridge and up through Nairne, Birdwood, Mt Pleasant, Tungkillo, Palmer and finishes at Mannum.

This is being posted before the end of the race.

Leading group, 2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

2011 Tour Down Under, Murray Bridge

Striped Honeyeater, Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney

Australia has many dozens of different honeyeaters. In my home town of Murray Bridge we have at least 12 different species, most of them resident year round.

The Striped Honeyeater is one of them, but it is a breeding migrant in this area, arriving in the spring and leaving late summer. Only on one occasion over the last 26 years has it actually nested in our garden.

The bird shown in the photo above was in an aviary at Taronga Park Zoo where we visited on a holiday earlier this year.

Chapman's Zebra, Monarto Zoo, South Australia

Our local Monarto Zoo has a small herd of Chapman’s Zebra on display. On my recent visit I had trouble getting good photos of these lovely animals due to the reflections of the sunlight on the windows of the shuttle bus. These buses take visitors on guided tours  throughout the open range zoo, and the public is allowed to alight from these buses at many points and take the walking trails through the mallee scrubland between enclosures.

Further reading:

• Archived articles - there are many links to previous articles about my visits to zoos.
• ZooChat Forums – my son’s web site about nearly 1000 zoos from around the world, including over 100,000 photos of animals and zoos.
• Monarto Zoo – more information from their web page.

Chapman's Zebra, Monarto Zoo, South Australia

White Rhinoceros at Monarto Zoo, South Australia

The White Rhino is the largest animal on display at Monarto Zoo near Murray Bridge in South Australia. This is an open range zoo, the largest of its type in the world and only a ten minute drive from my home.

Monarto Zoo is a part of our state’s major zoo, the Adelaide Zoo. Many improvements have been made since it came into being in the early 1990s. There are many walking trails through the mallee scrubland surrounding the enclosures, and shuttle buses ferry visitors from one exhibit to the next, or take them on guided bus tours through the park.

Further reading:

• Monarto Zoo its web page with details of location, entrance fees and details of the animals.
• Adelaide Zoo - its web page with plenty of details.
• White Rhinoceros – page from the zoo web page with pages of information about this animal.
• ZooChat Forums – my son’s web page featuring nearly 1000 zoos from around the world. It includes over 100,000 photos.
• Archived stories - more articles from my archives.

White Rhinoceros at Monarto Zoo, South Australia

Mongolian Horse, Monarto Zoo, South Australia

The Mongolian Wild Horse, or Przewalski’s Horse was once very common throughout much of central Asia. It is thought that they became extinct in the wild, but conservation efforts by zoos like Monarto Zoo in South Australia have been instrumental in reintroducing this species back into its natural habitat.

The breeding programme here at Monarto just a few minutes’ drive from my home has been very successful, and quite a few horses from the zoo herd have been returned to Mongolia. It is conservation efforts like this that make me pleased to be a supporting member of the zoo.

Further reading:

• You can read more about this horse by clicking here.

• To read more about zoos around the world, go to my son’s web site called ZooChat Forums. It features almost 1000 zoos and over 100,000 photos of zoos and animals.
• To read more about my visits to zoos, click here.
• To read about birds in zoos, click here.

Mongolian Horses, Monarto Zoo, South Australia

Mongolian Horses, Monarto Zoo, South Australia

Mongolian Horses, Monarto Zoo, South Australia