Showing posts with label Riverland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Riverland. Show all posts

Friday, August 26, 2011

Skywatch Friday

Riverland Sunrise, South Australia

Sunday, July 24, 2011

South Australia's Riverland

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.