Spring has Sprung.

I am very busy in the house at the moment, but this morning was such a nice spring day that I decided to take a "quick" walk around Kaurna Wetlands Park. Well, as we birdwatchers and photographers know, rarely is a quick walk quick. This 2Km (1.2 mile) walk ended up taking over 2 1/2 hours! There is a lot of water in the park at the moment, and suprisingly still not many waterbirds. I guess it's because there is a lot of water everywhere, so thay have a great choice. There were lots of passerines though, with New Holland Honeyeaters the most common by far. I heard them calling, and saw them chasing each other throughout the walk. This one did stop and pose for me though. Next most numerous was the Red Wattlebird, one of the largest Honeyeaters. This one was taken right at the end of the walk, opposite my house on Wattlebird Drive!! Many of the euclypts are in flower at the moment, so the honeyeaters and lorikeets have an abundant source of food. Eucalypt flowers come in a great variety of shapes and colours. Here are a selection from this morning's walk. I added a new bird to my park list this morning - Rufous Songlark. This bird has a lovely almost metalic sounding song, and a whipcrack like call so it's very easy to identify by sound. Though easy to hear, I always have trouble seeing them - I cannot get a direction on their song. After about ten minutes I finally tracked him down but only managed this poor record shot. At the top end of the park is a small reedbed, and whilst listening to Australian Reed Warblers singing I couldn't help but notice a very unhappy pair of Willie Wagtails. No wonder!! I was only a few yards from their nest, a neat cup stuck on to a branch hanging out over the water. So as not to disturb them, I moved to the other side of the reedbed and settled down to wait for a glimpse of the Reed Warbler. Eventually patience paid off, though they didn't come particularly close. Finally, another unidentified flower - this one is very common along roadsides and in fields. It reminds me of Mallow in the UK. Tomorrow is a public holiday in South Australia so I shall be out birding again, and hopefully get some more shots to post.