Yesterday I headed north to check out Bald Hill Beach for migrant waders. Unfortunately, the armaments testing range was active so the road was closed. Plan B was to visit the boat ramp and seasonal wetland at nearby Port Wakefield.
The tide was just ebbing as I got there, and I soon found a Common Sandpiper fossiking along the exposed mangrove margins. There was also a single Black-tailed Nativehen there - not something I expected - they usually prefer fresh water. There was a Spotted Dove perched on the railing, and as I was leaving I heard the strident call of a Sacred Kingfisher perched in the mangroves. In the town were plenty of White Ibis, and a single Masked Lapwing.
At first glance, the wetlands was fairly quiet, so I settled myself down in the samphire and waited. Soon, an immature then an adult Red-necked Avocet came within range, followed by White-headed Stilt and Red-kneed Dotterel.
Then some smaller waders appeared from the other direction, a migrant Red-necked Stint, and a pair of resident Red-capped Plovers, first the bright male, and then the female.
I headed back through the backroads of the Adelaide Plains, stopping for a couple of Brown Falcons, an older lighter bird, and then a darker bird that I thought might have been a Black Falcon. At another stop I heard and soon tracked down a Brown Treecreeper.
I also spotted my first Bearded Dragon of the summer, warming on a concrete fence post.
This weekend I had a chance to get out for a whole day, so I decided to head east, to the Riverland, and visit a couple of parks I had not been to before. First stop was Moorook Game Reserve, part of the River Murray flood plain.
Almost immediately I spotted some Tree Martins, very busy around some holes in a dead gum tree branch. They kept nervously looking up, and above was a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.
There was not much else going on, so I continued on to Murray River National Park. Many of the tracks in the park were closed due to flood damage, but on one I heard lots of birds calling, so I went to investigate. I found a group of about twelve Brown Treecreepers. After waiting a while they came closer allowing some good shots.
There were lots of parrots in the park, Yellow Rosellas were everywhere. There were also Red-rumped Parrots, and closely related, Mulga Parrots. The immature/female types can be difficult to tell, but I'm pretty sure the 2nd pic is a Red-rumped due to the white undertail coverts.
On the way back, I spotted a Pacific Heron, but it flew before I could get too close, so I only managed to grab a shaky flight shot. Much more helpful was this Hobby, perched on a power line.
