Alysse's Travel and Birding Adventures: Monarto

Showing posts with label Monarto. Show all posts

Monday, 7 January 2019

Monarto and Laratinga Jan 2019

This morning my dad and I went for a drive to the woodlands on Browns Road at Monarto. We have been there several times before, with mixed results, but there is usually at least a few birds around that we don't get closer to home. We didn't get there until about 9am - after bird rush hour, but there was still a bit of bird activity, and I soon picked up Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Peaceful Dove, Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Brown Treecreeper, Grey Shrikethrush, Diamond Firetail and Purple-backed Fairy-wren (formerly Variegated - still getting used to this name!).

Rufous Whistler, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

Diamond Firetail, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

We were there for over an hour, and still hadn't seen my favourite bird that I had hoped might be there, so we drove a bit further down the road to a creek where we have seen them previously. Luckily, we found a pair - of Rainbow Bee-eaters. This guy was particularly obliging and posed for a while. lunch in beak, and allowed me to snap away.

Rainbow Bee-eater, Frahns Farm Road, Monarto, SA

After spending a bit of time with the bee-eaters, we headed to Laratinga Wetlands at Mount Barker. There I spotted a few new ducks for the year - Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Chestnut Teal - as well as Australian (Spotted) and Baillon's Crakes.

Australian Reed Warbler, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

Several duck species were seen, including: Grey Teal, Hardhead, Pink-eared Duck, Australasian Shoveler, Pacific Black Duck and Chestnut Teal.

Assortment of ducks, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

Chestnut Teal, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

Baillon's Crake, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

I think this one knew I was watching!

Australian Spotted Crake, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

Monday, 26 February 2018

Monarto Tawnys

Just a quick post this time. I went for another night-birding session with Teresa last week. We drove around the Monarto area and found five Tawny Frogmouths, heard another two, and had a glimpse of a possible Owlet-nightjar. Here are a couple of photos from the night.

Tawny Frogmouth, Monarto, SA

Wednesday, 31 January 2018

January 2018 Wrap-up

Already one month into 2018! January has been a good start to the year overall. Aside from work, I've the time to head out and do some birding at various locations, including Byards Road Wetland, Tolderol, Laratinga Wetlands, Monarto, Belair NP, and Cox Scrub CP. So far this year I've seen 126 species, including 4 lifers, without going too far away from home. I've been keeping a closer eye on the changes occuring at my local wetland on Byards Road and helped form a "Friends group" for the site. I've seen some nice birds around, including my favourite Rainbow Bee-eaters, and FINALLY a Southern Boobook again - hadn't seen one for a few years! Here are some shots from January :-)

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems that there are a lot more Long-billed Corellas in my area than there have been in recent years. Previously I have noticed large groups of Little Corellas, and a few Long-billed in a small group or mixed in with the Littles, but lately I have been seeing large groups of both species.

Long-billed Corellas, Byards Rd Wetland, SA

Grey Currawong, Byards Rd Wetland, SA

Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo, Cox Scrub CP, SA

One day I took my sister Erin for a walk in Cox Scrub CP to look for birds and geo-caches. We took the wrong trail and ended up walking a lot further than we meant to, and it was quite a hot day, but at least I saw a lifer - Brush Bronzewing!

Brush Bronzewing, Cox Scrub CP, SA

Later that same day, I took Erin to see a Tawny Frogmouth family at McLaren Vale - the same family from my earlier January post. They were a bit less accommodating this time, on a branch hidden behind some foliage, but they were just as cute as ever!

Tawny Frogmouths, McLaren Vale, SA

More recently, my dad and I went up to Browns Rd, Monarto for a look around. There are quite a few species there that I don't see closer to home, so it's a great area to visit. I saw my first Rainbow Bee-eaters for the year, and added quite a few year ticks that day!

Rainbow Bee-eater, Browns Rd, Monarto, SA

Red-capped Robin (immature), Browns Rd, Monarto, SA

A few days later I revisited Browns Rd in darkness with Teresa. We were quickly rewarded for our drive out there with a sighting of a Southern Boobook. Later we also saw a few Tawny Frogmouths and a couple of Barn Owls, and Teresa heard an Owlet-nightjar. We couldn't find him though, so I will have to find one another day!

Southern Boobook, Browns Rd, Monarto, SA

Tawny Frogmouth, Monarto, SA

Monday, 6 November 2017

Spring 2017

At the start of the year I set myself the goal to see 200 species in South Australia in 2017. In the middle of October with the end of the year and the start of summer fast approaching, I found myself sitting on 193 species - so close! Since our Gluepot trip at the end of September I'd been a bit slack and hadn't been out birding much and hadn't seen anything new.

And then something happened that piqued my interested and got me going again - a group of 4 Painted Snipes popped up at Whites Rd Wetland! We headed out there the next day, stopping at Greenfields Magazine Rd Wetland on the way, where we dipped on a Black-tailed Godwit that had been seen, but I picked up Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Wood Sandpiper for my year list. The swans seem to be doing well there at the moment!

Black Swans, Magazine Road Wetlands, SA

At Whites Road we met up with our neighbour and friend Teresa, and after some directions from another birder on his way out, we set up and waited. After a while Teresa got a glimpse of one so we knew we were in the right spot. Then we could both see one, and just make out another next to it. Eventually they moved off and there were three of them! Lifer :-D

Australian Painted Snipe, Whites Road Wetland, SA

A couple of weeks later I had another go at finding the Black-tailed Godwit and had success! No decent photos, but another life tick! We saw a lot of Royal Spoonbills around, including this one with a fancy, windswept hair-do.

Royal Spoonbill, Magazine Road Wetlands, SA

There were a lot of waders around, so I hurried back to the car for my scope. Most of them turned out to be Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, or too far away to tell, but there were a couple of birds in with the Sharpies that looked a bit different. Later, upon viewing the photos and showing to Teresa, I discovered they were Curlew Sandpipers! Year tick :-) After this I was sitting on 198 species - so close!!!!

Curlew Sandpiper and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Magazine Road Wetlands, SA

A week later (today - 6 November) I was ready to head out again! I had been meaning to head out to Monarto for a while, but a sighting over the weekend made me even more keen to go. We headed for a creek on Frahn's Farm Road, where this uncommon visitor had been reported. We walked along the top of the bank for a short distance and heard a familar and welcome call, and soon saw their beautiful colours flashing through the air - Rainbow Bee-eaters! Not our first for the year, but our first for the season. We watched them for a while before continuing our search for our main target of the day.

Rainbow Bee-eater, Monarto, SA

After no sign of our target we crossed the road, and I played the species call back on my phone, saying to my dad, "it probably won't be calling out since it seems to be the only one here, but just in case we will know if we hear one". Immediately it started calling back (I don't know anything), and I checked my phone to make sure the playback wasn't still playing. It wasn't. And then we looked up and saw this little Red-backed Kingfisher sitting up in the tree calling out to us! LIFER!

Red-backed Kingfisher, Monarto, SA

I was already happy with that, but we had plans to go on and check out some other spots. After chatting to some other birders for a while, we headed to Browns Road. I'd seen photos of Restless Flycatchers hanging around there maybe a month ago, and it turns out I left my visit too late to see them, BUT it didn't take long before I saw my second lifer of the day - White-browed Woodswallow!

White-browed Woodswallow, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

We saw quite a few of these little cuties, and then some Dusky Woodswallows. Then I noticed a few different looking ones - Masked Woodswallows - Year Tick! I was excited to see both of these species here because I didn't even realize they visit this region so I wasn't expecting to see them.

Masked Woodswallow, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

We spotted an owlet-nightjar emerging from a hollow and taking flight, too quick for a picture! I also accidentally flushed what looked like some sort of quail at one point. We saw a few Variegated Fairywrens, a Rufous Whistler, a few Diamond Firetails and several other species.

Variegated Fairywren, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

Rufous Whistler, Browns Road, Monarto, SA

For me, no trip to the Monarto area is complete without a stop at Mount Barker on the way home to visit the Laratinga Wetlands. There was only one species I knew of that had been seen here recently that I needed for my year list, one of my favourites. We had a nice walk around, examining the trees for these little birds, but no luck. We saw quite a few baby Australasian Swamphens, and the usual variety of ducks, and a pair of Australian Spotted Crakes.

Australasian Swamphen, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

We had walked around most of the wetland, and I had pretty much given up hope of seeing my little favourites. But then we walked past a couple wearing binoculars, and they told me they had seen a little family of birds further along. Eventually (after further instructions from the couple) I found them... Crested Shriketits! There were two young ones being fed by one adult that I could see. So cute!!!

Crested Shriketit, Laratinga Wetlands, Mount Barker, SA

After the adventures of the last few weeks I am now on 202 species for 2017! Goal achieved :-D New goal... 220 by the end of the year?

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

Birding in winter

Winter isn't my favourite season to go out birding - freezing wind, walking through wet grass that soaks through my shoes within minutes, and getting caught in unexpected rain showers... But when there is a nice sunny day, or at least not rainy day, that happens to fall on my day off, I like to get out there and see what I can find. At the start of this month I set myself the challenge to see 100 different species in August (before the 28th when I'll be going away on a birding trip!), so that I wouldn't succumb to the temptation to stay indoors on my days off, and I would have to go further afield than my local wetland to get to 100.

So far I have been to my local wetland a few times, as well as a day spent down at Goolwa and the Murray Mouth on Hindmarsh Island. Then today I went to Browns Road, Monarto and the Laratinga Wetlands at Mount Barker. At Monarto there was plenty of action and birdsong, including a lot of Striated Pardalotes, Diamond Firetails, Brown Treecreepers, Red-rumped Parrots, Hooded Robins. Altogether I added 10 species to my August month list, plus one year tick - Purple-crowned Lorikeets.

Laratinga was, as always, excellent for ducks! I spotted 10 different species of ducks, as well as both Spotted and Spotless Crakes - better views than last time and even photos! - and lots of the usual honeyeaters, rosellas, and other common birds. I added another 8 species to my month list, bringing me to 78 species for August and 163 for the year to date in SA. I'm hoping my Eyre Peninsula trip at the end of the month will bring me a lot closer to my year goal of cracking 200! Seeing other birders' photos and bird lists from various locations keeps me excited and motivated to keep exploring and looking for birds!