It is something of a curiosity that both Adelaide and Melbourne have suburbs named St Kilda. The name itself is also something of a curiosity as there is no
record of any saint called Kilda and it has been speculated that the name is a corruption of a Norse _expression_. The islands to the north-west of Scotland lost their small human population in the 1930s.
The relevance to the concerns of this chatline is that those islands are noted for their seabird population. A website guide offers these comments –
If you can believe Wikipediat the bird connection was responsible for the Adelaide St Kilda
I suppose the Melbourne St Kilda might once have been more birdy than it is now. You used to be able to walk past the kiosk to the end of the groyne where Little
Penguins hid among the rocks, but I think that part is now closed to the public.
Sorry that’s not going to be much help Julie (for this particular trip).
g
From: Martin Butterfield [
Sent: Saturday, 23 June 2018 8:18 PM
To: Julie Clark
Cc: COG Chatline
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Seeking Out-of-Area Advice
Brookfield is excellent for dry country birds - they have a very good loop track. St Kilda to Thompson's Beach is excellent if you have a telescope or get the tides right - I'd suggest getting
to them at high tide would concentrate the birds closer. I would bother with the mangrove walk at St Kilda, but go out on the breakwater and walk around the outside of the playground.
On 23 June 2018 at 18:56, Julie Clark <> wrote:
I will be in Adelaide for a few days early in July and have two days free for birding. I'm thinking of day trips, no more than about 90 minutes' drive from the Tea Tree Gully area
and possibly two or three locations for each day. (An overnight trip further afield is also a possibility.)
I have done some research and have possible locations but would appreciate first-hand knowledge from anyone who has been over that way recently and can recommend places that are
easy to find and that may produce some species not found in our local area.
Some of my possible locations include Brookfield Conservation Park, several spots in the Monarto/Murray Bridge area and coastal and wetland spots around St Kilda ... up to Thompson's
Beach.
Any advice/information would really be appreciated.
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