Off the Edge of the Map
April 22, 2005
Afternoon
Today was relatively quiet, but we did go for a short afternoon walk in the botanical garden near Vicky’s house. Not as grand as the garden in Sydney, but nice. Before our walk, we had lunch at Vicky and Mark’s church, where we did make one new friend – an enormous Cinnamon Huntsman that was clinging high up on the wall, right out in the open.
Continue reading “Wittunga Botanical Garden and Flagstaff Hill”
April 21, 2005: Kangaroo Island, South Australia
This subspecies is only present on Kangaroo Island, and is larger and darker than birds on the mainland. These photos do not do this bird justice – they are so bright and gorgeous.
Continue reading “Kangaroo Island Crimson Rosella”
April 21, 2005
Our second day of the tour took us to more wildlife-friendly places. (YAY)! I did start the day, however, with a morning walk along the beach, like I’d done the previous day.
Continue reading “Kangaroo Island”
April 20, 2005: Kangaroo Island, South Australia
I was hoping to spot one of these birds on the island, thinking it would be my last chance to see them on this trip, and I wasn’t disappointed. After looking at a LOT of pied cormorants, I finally spotted at least one of these birds, flying across the bay. Saw a few of these cormorants along the coast, although the larger Pied Cormorants were more abundant.
Continue reading “Black-faced Cormorant”
April 20, 2005: Kangaroo Island, South Australia
Spotted a few of these from the bus – fortunately, they’re big enough and distinctive enough to be able to ID on the fly. Also saw several at the Parndana Wildlife Park. I’m not entirely sure whether they were wild or part of the collection, but they were foraging around in with the kangaroos. Introduced to the island but established, so countable.
Continue reading “Cape Barren Goose”
April 20, 2005
The day after arriving in Adelaide, we took a little side trip to Kangaroo Island – a large island 12 km off of the southern coast of Australia – in search of wildlife and birds we hadn’t seen before. We spent two nights at the Ozone Hotel in the Kingscote, and booked two full days of sightseeing tours, to make the most of our time on the island. On April 19, we took a bus from Adelaide to the coast, and then a ferry out to the island. It was getting dark when the ferry arrived at Kangaroo Island and we arrived at our hotel just in time for dinner, about ten minutes before the restaurant closed. From what we could see, though, the island and hotel looked lovely. I was looking forward to seeing it all in the daylight!
Continue reading “Kangaroo Island”
April 19, 2005: Flagstaff Hill, Onkaparinga, South Australia
Spotted two of these gorgeous birds in a tree in the yard of one of the homes in Mark and Vicky’s neighborhood.
Continue reading “Eastern Rosella”
April 19, 2005
Morning
Before leaving for our trip to Kangaroo Island, I had a couple of free hours, so I spent the morning walking around Mark and Vicky’s neighborhood. I saw a nice variety of birds, including Grey Currawong, White-plumed Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, and Crested Pigeon.
Continue reading “Flagstaff Hill, South Australia”
April 18, 2005: Flagstaff Hill, Onkaparinga, South Australia
First spotted this Crimson Rosella subspecies in the yard of Mark and Vicky’s home.
Continue reading “Adelaide Rosella”
April 18, 2005: Subiaco Park, Subiaco, Western Australia
Spotted from the window of H & D’s home, on our last morning in town. I was happy to see these birds, having missed a flock of some sort of black-cockatoo only a few minutes earlier. The photos aren’t great, and I originally called them Western based on the size of the bill, but in retrospect (and trusting iNaturalist), I think they’re actually Little. Either way, YAY! I love cockatoos.
Continue reading “Little Corella”
April 17, 2005: Lake Monger Reserve, Western Australia
These are wonderfully colored birds, similar in profile to our NA shoveler, but completely different plumage. Very pretty.
Continue reading “Australasian Shoveler”
Threskiornis spinicollis
April 17, 2005: Swan Valley, Western Australia
Spotted these birds from the car while we were driving around to visit wineries in Swan Valley (only Kevin and Helen were actually doing any wine tasting). Fortunately, I was able to hop out and get some decent photos. They almost look like the negative of the Sacred Ibis – dark bodies and light-colored necks. Very cool birds.
Continue reading “Straw-necked Ibis”
April 17, 2005: Swan Valley, Western Australia
Spotted this bird while waiting outside one of the wineries. As with the kite, I never got a close look at this bird, but suspected it was a kestrel when it started kiting over the nearby field (from a high altitude). Again, my photos were good enough to make the ID, but I hope to see another at closer range.
April 17, 2005: Lake Monger Reserve, Western Australia
A very strange-looking duck. First spotted in a large flock flying out over the lake. Fortunately, later I saw a pair of them closer to shore and was able to get a decent photo. A shoveler, but even stranger in appearance than our North American variety. Sort of cool, though.
Continue reading “Pink-eared Duck”
April 17, 2005
Late morning/early afternoon
Sunday morning, after I returned from the park, and everyone else was up and about, we all headed to the Swan Valley for lunch. Then, we stopped at a couple of wineries. Kevin and Helen went in and tasted a few wines, and Daniel, Eclipse and I stayed outside. Eclipse played a bit while I looked at the birds I could see while supervising Eclipse. I didn’t see a big variety, but I did see a couple of very cool new birds, including the first birds of prey I’d seen in Australia.
Continue reading “Swan Valley”
April 17, 2005
Afternoon
After the wineries, we stopped at Lake Monger, very near Helen & Daniel’s home. There, we discovered a big lake just PACKED with great birds. OMG so many birds, including several new species for me!
Continue reading “Lake Monger”
April 16 and 17, 2005
On Saturday, Eclipse and I woke up early (as usual, since arriving in Australia), and no one else was up yet, so we snuck out of the house and took my camera down to the park where we’d had our barbecue. Eclipse headed straight to the playground, while I kept my eye out for birds. As we left the house, I spotted a few Black Swan flying past. I’d very much wanted to see these birds and was thrilled about the sighting, even though I only caught a short glimpse. They looked gorgeous flying through the sky – the contrast of black and white is lovely.
Continue reading “Subiaco, Western Australia”
April 15, 2005: Perth, Western Australia
Spotted one of these beautiful birds while driving into King’s Park to have breakfast – a subspecies of the Australian Ringneck. A bit later I saw a couple more up in trees near the road. Very pretty!
Continue reading “Twenty-eight Parrot”
April 15, 2005: Rottnest Island, Western Australia
The primary reason we’d gone to the island was to see the wildlife: birds, of course, but also a tiny wallaby called the Quokka, which lives on Rottnest Island and almost nowhere else. It didn’t take us long to find our first one, browsing on some low-growing vegetation. So small and adorable! By the end of our visit, we’d seen four of them, including one that was wandering around the cafe where we ate lunch before taking the ferry back to the mainland. I really enjoyed these little friends, and it was well worth the trip to the island to see them.
Continue reading “Quokka”
April 15, 2005
Early morning
Our primary destination for today was Rottnest Island, but before we got on the train to where we’d catch a ferry, we had breakfast with Helen and Daniel at Kings Park. Of course, I spent a few minutes wandering around outside looking for birds.
Continue reading “Kings Park, Perth”
April 15, 2005: Kings Park, Perth, Western Australia
I just caught a glimpse of these birds flying past the car, as we drove from the park to the train station. Need to get a better look!
Continue reading “Galah”
April 15, 2005: Rottnest Island, Western Australia
Spotted several of these birds foraging along the edges of the lake. Very small, only about five inches long. They didn’t have a whole lot of color, so they were difficult to ID at first, but as I studied the photos later I did see some reddish color on a few of the birds. CUTE!
Continue reading “Red-necked Stint”
April 15, 2005: Rottnest Island, Western Australia
Spotted this bird near the road, and had no idea what it was at first. A female bird, and much less brightly colored than the male bird would have been, but after a minute with the field guide I figured it out. Adorable.
Continue reading “Red-capped Robin”
April 15, 2005: Rottnest Island, Western Australia
I noticed a couple of people peering into a tree near the road, and then one of them pointed out the bird – one of the most beautiful birds I’ve ever seen! What gorgeous colors, and it was posing just perfectly. One of my favorite birds of the day! About half an hour later, I spotted a second one, also perched in a tree.
Continue reading “Sacred Kingfisher”
April 15, 2005
After breakfast, Eclipse, Kevin and I rode the train down to Fremantle, where we caught the ferry to Rottnest Island, a small island about half-an-hour’s trip from the mainland. The Indian Ocean is absolutely beautiful, and we saw bunches of great wildlife. My first bird of this trip was a really good look at an Australian Pelican at the jetty when we arrived at the island. Sadly, though, by the time we’d gotten off the boat, I couldn’t re-locate it to take a picture.
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