April 23, 2005
One of the highlights of our trip to Australia was a week spent on a houseboat on the Murray River. We started at the Liba Liba base in Renmark, South Australia, and headed east, which took us through a bit of New South Wales and Victoria, too. It was a WONDERFUL week, with nothing to do all day but relax on the boat and look at birds. I took a few photos, too (somewhere in the vicinity of 3,000).
After grocery shopping for the trip and getting up to speed on how to drive the boat, it was around 4:00 p.m. before we headed east, on our way up river. I was enthralled by the scenery – it was just gorgeous, and we hadn’t even come to the prettiest parts yet – and there were loads of birds. Whistling Kite and flocks of Little Corella were perched on bare trees, while Australasian Darter and Australian Pelican flew lower to the water. Black Swan, Mallard and Pacific Black Duck swam on the river, which was edged by Weeping Willow and Southern Cattail.
One of the things I loved about this trip was the freedom to go at our own pace and stop wherever we wanted to stop. There were a few places along the river that had signs saying not to tie off boats, but mostly, anywhere we saw a spot where we could pull up next to the riverbank, we could stop and stay as long as we liked. There were other boats on the river, but not so many that it felt crowded. It was very peaceful, and we had the river mostly to ourselves. No noisy neighbors (except the birds, haha). As we rolled along, we saw Southeastern Australian Swamphen and Eastern White-backed Magpie. Willie Wagtail and Magpie-lark were seen near the riverbank, and every so often we’d float past an Australasian Darter nest with juvenile birds. Small flocks of White-winged Chough flew across the river.
We didn’t get very far along before the sun set, and we had to stop for the night. Our last birds of the day were a couple of Eastern Galah, and a gorgeous Nankeen Night Heron. The sunset was gorgeous as the full moon rose in the sky. We were off to a great start.
Species List
Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius eximius), Eastern White-backed Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen tyrannica), Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena neoxena), Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus), Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala), White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster), Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus), Australasian Darter (Anhinga novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus haematonotus), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Black Swan (Cygnus atratus), Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa superciliosa), Rock Dove (Columba livia domestica), Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea gymnopis), Yellow Rosella (Platycercus elegans flaveolus), Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos platyrhynchos), Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes), Eastern Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla albiceps), Australasian Coot (Fulica atra australis), White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos), Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae), Tree Martin (Petrochelidon nigricans), Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa tenebrosa), Southeastern Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus melanotus), Willie-wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys), Pacific Black Duck x Mallard (Anas superciliosa x platyrhynchos), Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca cyanoleuca), Eastern White-backed Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen tyrannica), Yellow-billed Spoonbill (Platalea flavipes), Nankeen Night-Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus), Weeping Willow (Salix babylonica), Southern Cattail (Typha domingensis)
Let me know what you think!