UK Holiday

I'm just back from a holiday in the UK to catch up with family and friends.  First stop was Plymouth, to spend time with Mum and my brother and his family.   I took mum out everyday, and spent plenty of time together.

One day we went across the River Tamar to Cornwall.  We used the Torpoint Ferry, a chain driven ferry that takes about 10 mins to cross the river. This is us enjoying some fresh air at Hannafore Point, Looe

Another day we went to Kingsbridge and Salcombe on the South Devon Coast and enjoyed fish and chips and ice cream in the sunshine.  

One afternoon we went up to Plymouth Hoe (where Sir Francis Drake is reputed to have played bowls before defeating the Spanish Armada) and had the cobwebs well and truly blown away!   Well is is summer in England! 

After about 10 days I left Plymouth and headed east to spend some time plane spotting and visiting some aviation museums.   More of that in my plane spotting blog.  On the way to one museum in Norfolk I came across This lovely little church in the village of Roydon.

I ended the holiday in Northampton, with Ileana, Mark and the grandkids.  We had a big day out in Southend-on-Sea, borrowed Poppy the boxer for a long walk at Daventry Country Park (Where I used to volunteer), and also went tree climbing.   Well the kids did, I resisted the urge.

A busy Easter

This Easter I spent some time on the Fleurieu Peninsula and at the Kite Festival at Semaphore.

First point of call on the Fleurieu was one of my favourite stops, the Nangawooka Flora Reserve.  This is a lovely little spot just outside Victor Harbor.  Lots of trees and shrubs here, all labelled by the volunteers, and a small hide with a bird table and a small pool of water.  From the hide I saw New Holland Honeyeater, Little Wattlebird and White-naped Honeyeater as well as a Monarch butterfly.

Next was a 20km cycle ride along the Encounter Bay Cycleway.  There were lots of families out and about watching the surfers.

Final stop of the day was at Goolwa, where I went past the River Murray barrage to see what birds I could find.  The tide was in so they were pretty few and far between.   I did see some Welcome Swallows, Australian Pelican, Little Pied Cormorant and Purple Swamphen.

On Sunday it was trip to Semaphore for the Kite Festival.  Unfortunately, the wind was very light and the flyers struggled to get many kites up.   There were a few though.  While I was there the shark patrol and Westpac helicopter flew past.

Happy Easter everyone!

Laratinga Wetlands

This morning I went to Laratinga Wetlands in Mount Barker to catch up with a couple of friends, and also to try out the Canon RF1.4 Extender.  The extender worked well with my RF 100-400 mm lens.  The auto focus was slightly slower, and the focus a little softer, both of which are to be expected.

Here are some of the shots I took.  Pacific Black Duck and Grey Teal are both common here

There was also a couple of very confiding Australian Spotted Crakes.   I took plenty of photos of them along with some video.

Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary

This morning i paid a visit to Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary, in the Adelaide Hills near Stirling.  This is a small privately run sanctuary with a mix of captive and wild animals and birds on site.

I was one of the first through the gate and was "mugged" by the Emus as I entered the enclosure LOL!

There were plenty of Kangaroos, mostly very chilled and not bothered by visitors

They have three dingoes on site.  This is Cletus 

The only birds I got photos of were the Rainbow Lorikeets.

A nice place to spend a couple of hours.

Cleland Wildlife Park

I volunteer one day a week at Cleland Wildlife Park, and today was the volunteers AGM and Christmas Barbeque.  After business (and lunch) was over I took a stroll around the park with my camera.

This Red Kangaroo didn't seem too impressed having his photo taken, but the Koala was pretty chilled. (Aren't they always?) 

I went to the newly refurbished woodland aviary and got photos of a cute Zebra Finch, a Banded Lapwing and its week old chick, a beautiful Princess Parrot, and a Bar-shouldered Dove taking in the sunshine.

My next stop was going to be the forest aviary, and on the way I passed through the Emu and Yellow-footed Rock Wallaby enclosures, and almost tripped over a Southern Brown Bandicoot.

In the aviary I saw Australian King Parrot, Musk Lorikeet and Buff-banded Rail.

On the way back to the car, I heard, then saw a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, and got a close up of one of the Tasmanian Devils.