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
Birds of Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor
Silver Gulls, Victor Harbor
The Victor Harbor area is an excellent place to observe birds.
The beaches and islands and rocky outcrops along the coast afford good views of many species.
The river corridors leading through the town have a completely different set of birds while the hinterland areas of farming, scrublands and open woodlands reveal yet a different set of species.
Here I have featured photos of just three common species.
For more information about birds, and the birds of Victor Harbor in particular, go to my Birding Blog here. The posts include photos of many more species.
Further reading:
Sooty Oystercatcher, Victor Harbor
Australian Magpies, Victor Harbor
Some birds of Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
Australian Magpies (Black-backed)
Two days after Christmas we had a family picnic in Lane Cove National Park in Sydney. This was also a family get together. Before lunch some of us went on a hike for one and a half hours. My son and I took our cameras, hoping to get some bird photos. It was hot and humid and in the middle of the day so we did not see all that many birds.
Some of the birds seen include Brown Thornbill, Pied Currawong, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Little Black Cormorant, Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Forest Raven, Superb Blue-wren, Crimson Rosella and Rainbow Lorikeets.
Laughing Kookaburra, Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
While eating our lunch – delicious Christmas lunch leftovers – a Laughing Kookaburra came to a nearby branch and watched proceedings closely. I guess he was waiting for us to be inattentive for a moment. I’ve known kookaburras to snatch food from one’s plate as they fly past during a moment’s inattentive on the part of humans.
Laughing Kookaburra, Lane Cove National Park, Sydney
This one, shown in the series of photos on this page, was obviously used to being fed by humans. He allowed me to approach to within two metres taking photos as I came.
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.
Laughing Kookaburra, Lane Cove National Park, Sydney