Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Penguin Point is a well visited tourist destination in the small holiday town on Marion Bay at the southern tip of Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Just to the south east of the town – perhaps a 5 – 10 minute walk from most places in the town – there is a car park with board walks through the sand dunes leading out to Penguin Point. From the headland one has excellent views over Marion Bay to the north and towards Rhino Head to the south west (see photos below).
While I’ve never seen a penguin here it is entirely possible that Little Penguins do visit this area, and may even nest in the region. I didn’t record many birds on this most recent visit because the wind was near gale force by lunch time and they were all keeping low in the coastal bushes. I did manage several good shots of an Osprey soaring overhead on the wind as well as a Rock Parrot walking along the path in front of me.
Rhino Head near Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
On the second day of our recent short holiday on Yorke Peninsula here in South Australia we drove from Edithburgh where we were staying to the town of Yorketown. Here we refueled and also visited a local nursery. My wife has a small nursery of her own and is always on the lookout for native Australian plant nurseries to visit, just like I’m always on the prowl for bookshops.
We then drove to Marion Bay near the heel of the peninsula. Many years ago we had several very enjoyable beach holidays in this small town. It had been quite a few years since our last visit, so we were interested in seeing what changes had occurred in recent years. The original beach shack area in the old part of this beach village had changed little, but there has also been considerable building going on to the south with many new – and expensive looking – houses. Many of them were obviously holiday homes and not permanent dwellings.
We stopped in the car park at Penguin Point. We had to sit in the car to eat lunch as the wind had intensified during the morning and was by then almost gale force. Not at all pleasant to be sitting outside. In fact, I tried to take a few photos of two Ospreys soaring on the wind above the bay and had terrible trouble keeping on my feet to take the shots.
Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Wool Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Port Giles grain silos, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
On our short holiday on Yorke Peninsula last week we diverted from the main route to Edithburgh, travelling though the small coastal settlement of Wool Bay. This small town has a few homes and holiday units. It also boasts a good jetty (see photos below) which is great for fishing. Just south of Wool Bay is Port Giles with its huge grain silos and jetty reaching out into deeper water.
Port Giles is just a grain port with no town or houses. This part of the peninsula is an excellent grain growing area and this port is one of the main shipping ports for grain – mostly wheat. As we drove along the coast road we could see four ships anchored in the bay. When we left four days later there were six ships riding at anchor. When I arrived home I checked the schedule of arrivals and departures and, as I write this, one was loading and the others would load in the coming two weeks. It’s a busy port.
Wool Bay jetty (foreground) and Port Giles jetty (background)
Wool Bay and Port Giles, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
Birds near the Barossa Reservoir, South Austalia
Australian Magpie, Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
On our short holiday on Yorke Peninsula last week we stopped briefly at the Barossa Reservoir for lunch. We had enough time for me to take a few photos of the dam and some of the birds seen in the picnic grounds and on the reservoir. I probably heard far more birds than I saw, and certainly didn’t have time to search out more birds.
The Australian Magpie in the photo above sat in the tree above us and sang to us but we didn’t give it a treat from our lunch as it probably expected. The Rock Dove in the photo below was one of several inhabiting the installation halfway around the dam wall. The last photo shows a large group of Eurasian Coots feeding in the shallows of the reservoir near where we had lunch. For a more comprehensive list of birds seen, go to Trevor’s Birding.
Rock Dove, Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
Eurasian Coot, Barossa Reservoir, South Australia
Birds of Burra Gorge, South Australia
Galah at Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Burra Gorge in the mid north of South Australia is an interesting location for birding. This gorge marks the boundary between the hills further west and the dry plains to the east. It is therefore a transitional zone between the birds of the wetter parts to the west, especially around the Clare Valley about 40km away, and flora and fauna of the saltbush plains immediately to the east.
On my most recent visit last spring, the bird life was not very prominent because it was midday on a rather warm day. It would be good to camp here for several days because I believe I’d get quite a good list of birds, especially first thing in the morning. Several Galahs looked like they were preparing to breed because they were investigating hollows in some of the trees in the picnic ground.
Nearby an Australian Magpie was already sitting on a nest and others were feeding recently fledged young begging to be fed.
Magpie on nest at Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia
Burra Gorge, mid north of South Australia