New toy

I treated myself to a new toy yesterday - A new camera.   and of course, I had to try it our, so I took it with me on Kobe's walk to see if we could get some interesting photo.  It was a bit later than we normally walk, so there were very few birds around.  There weren't many flowers either, so I made do with some blossom, and gum tree bark, and Kobe of course!!

Back home in the garden, the Hebe's are flowering well, and the bottlebrush is just starting to bloom again

And then the afternoon Qatar Airways flight from Doha passed overhead on its way to the airport

Local Birding

Earlier this week, I took my camera with me on Kobe's walk in the wetlands,.  I photographed three different heron species, Pacific (also called White-necked) Heron, Great Egret and White-faced Heron.

Yesterday I had a couple of hours birding the backroads between St Kilda and Port Gawler.  It was very windy, so most of the birds kept well hidden.   Mr and Mrs House Sparrow were busy, so hardly noticed me when I stopped the car.

This Singing Honeyeater was perched strategically in the lee of a bush.

The Silver Gulls were enjoying a puddle in the car park.

There were a few waders, but no summer migrants yet.  Sooty Oystercatcher, Masked Lapwing and a young White-headed Stilt were all I managed to photograph before the heavens opened and I headed for home.

A Wet Kaurna Wetlands Park

We have had a very wet end to winter in South Australia, and the wetlands has been steadily filling. So I took my "point and shoot" along for Kobe's regular Saturday morning walk around the park to see what we could find.

Around 9 months ago a Fluker Post appeared at the wetland. The Fluker Post Project is a "citizen science" project where members of the public put their camera or smartphone on the post and take a photo.  These photos are then used to track how the environment changes with time. More details on the project can be found here. This is what a post looks like, along with my contribution.

Recently, the council also replace some of the bridges here with new bridges. All of the new bridges are underwater at the moment.

The wetland is full to overflowing at the moment so there are lots of opportunities for photographing reflections, and the wildflowers are really starting to show their beauty.

 

On the bird front, the summer visitors are beginning to arrive, and in the last week I have heard Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo, Rufous Songlark and Australian Reed Warbler. No chance of photos with my point and shoot, though I did manage a photo of Pacific Black Duck and a female Superb Fairy-wren (100% crop).

At last another post.........

For the first time since I started blogging I have missed a month - in fact two!  I have been struggling with my health for about three months now and so don't get out happy snapping so much.

This is a collection of shots from the few trips I have made. They are mostly from short walks with Kobe around "our" wetlands at Kaurna Park.

Early in spring the wetlands were full, and on calm clear days the reflections were wonderful.

By far the most common breeding bird this year is Red Wattlebird.  The chicks look so funny with no tail, but they soon grow one!

This is a Little Raven - it looks like a young bird to me, but I am not 100% sure.

This spring I added a new bird to the park list - Barbary (or African Collared) Dove.  There is a growing population of escaped aviary birds in Adelaide, but up till now the closest I had seen them was at Greenfields, about 10 kilometres (6 miles) away. I first noticed it on call, obviously a dove, but very different from Spotted Dove.

Waterbirds were loving it - lots of ducks around, especially Pacific Blacks.   As the water level dropped, more wading birds turned up. As usual, Australian Ibis was first, closely followed by Great Egret, Royal Spoonbill and White-faced Heron.

On a quick visit to Belair National Park, the only thing of note was a very confiding Koala, sitting low in a gum tree by Playford Lake.

A springlike winter walk around Kaurna Wetlands Park

Maryann and I have been super busy over the past few weeks so we have had no time to get out.

Sunday morning dawned bright and still, so I took Kobe in one hand, and my camera in the other, and took a walk around Kaurna wetlands.    Even though we are still in winter here, the morning had a definite springlike feel to it.   It was very still, and the reflections on the main inlet pool were beautiful.

Lots of birds were singing, some common others not so.  Red Wattlebird is very common here, as is Crested Pigeon.  Magpielark is here all year round, and I have found quite a few of its mud bowl nests, though rarely with Mum in situ!

A common bird two kilometres (1 mile) away, but less common in the park is Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.  Australian Pelicans are often seen soaring over the park, so it was a nice surprise to see this one land and rest a while. 

I took a long shot of some ducks roosting, thinking they would be Pacific Black Ducks, but on closer inspection, I think they may be Freckled Duck, an irruptive species that I haven't seen here before.  It's always great to get a new bird on your local patch!

The "heron tree" had a Great Egret, but he flew to the middle of the wetlands before I got there.   Also on the tree was an Australian Darter, only the second I have recorded here in almost five years.

On the way back, a small group of Purple-crowned Lorikeets entertained, feeding busily on the Eucalyptus blossoms.