Hi all,
Philip Griffin and I managed two birding trips during my recent visit to
Adelaide.
On the 16th of September we headed out to the Brookfield Conservation Park
(between Truro and Blanchetown).
The weather forecast looked bad but we managed to get to 23 species on the
trip out from Adelaide. At Brookfield itself we started with an Australian
Raven and Whistling Kite flying over when we arrived at the gate as well as
hearing Grey Currawong and followed that with three species of parrot in the
first half an hour, including Mulga Parrot and Mallee Ringneck feeding on
the ground as well as Galahs flying over. A short walk near the road added
Southern Whiteface, another Mulga Parrot and Brown Treecreeper as well as
hearing a Crested Bellbird. From the car on the way further in to the park
we got good views of Blue Bonnet, a single Black-faced Woodswallow and the
first of many White-winged Chough. Our next stop was at the beginning of the
Mallee Trail with the wind starting to get up. We found Grey Shrike-thrush
and Singing Honeyeater. We flushed a bird from the ground but couldn't get a
decent look at it. The best guess was a Pallid Cuckoo. We also found
Variegated Fairy-wren, a Striated Pardalote apparently feeding on the ground
and Weebill feeding at the base of the understorey bushes along with others
higher up in the mallee. I think the little birds sticking so close to the
ground was the warning sign that our promising start to the day was about to
disappear in some really bad weather.
Back on the track we added several groups of Chestnut-crowned Babbler and a
single Yellow-plumed Honeyeater but then followed about an hour of driving
through the mallee without adding another species. The expected Jacky
Winters, Red-capped Robins, Hooded Robins and Chestnut Quail-thrush were
nowhere to be seen. In fact the highlight of this even more windy stretch
wasn't a bird but four Sleepy Lizards within about 100 metres. On the way
out we added Tree Martin and Kestrel but that was it. When we got back onto
the highway it started to rain heavily as well. Considering what we have
previously seen at Brookfield it was a fairly disappointing trip.
On the 18th of September we headed to Barker Inlet wetlands and racked up 33
species in 25 minutes including three species of tern (single Caspian and
Gull-billed Terns and a pair of Whiskered Tern), a Swamp Harrier, a
Whistling Kite and a Red-kneed Dotterel and three Australian Shelduck.
Neither of us have seen Gull-billed Tern around Adelaide before, although
they do occur from time to time apparently. The highlight though was a flock
of about 30 Fairy Martin picking up mud and grass from the road side and
then disappearing to add it to their nests (possibly under a nearby bridge).
It was interesting to see that the flock was sticking together, arriving
en-masse for a mud picking session and all heading off at once before
returning about twenty minutes later.
We moved on to Magazine Road wetlands where we saw 39 species in just over
an hour and a half with the highlights being very close views of some
Red-capped Plover, several Black Swans with cygnets, about 15 Sharp-tailed
Sandpiper, 4 Wood Sandpiper, lots of Black-winged Stilt, Grey Teal and
Hardhead and a 'lutino' Cockatiel that had doubtless escaped from someone's
aviary. There were also two close encounters with Eastern Brown Snakes
including a spectacular pair of males intertwined in combat next to the car
at the end of the walk.
_________________________________________________________________
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