South East Adventure Days 2 & 3 - Bool Lagoon to Salt Creek and the Coorong

 Another early start on Tuesday morning as we wanted to get down to Bool Lagoon to have another look around. We didn’t do the full lap around, but drove slowly along the road, seeing plenty of water birds and some whistling kites and a swamp harrier soaring around.

Whistling Kite, Bool Lagoon, SA

Swamp Harrier (juvenile), Bool Lagoon, SA

Then we went along to Hacks Lagoon and spent a while watching some magpie geese, welcome swallows, tree martins and yellow-rumped thornbills.

Magpie Goose, Hacks Lagoon, SA

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Hacks Lagoon, SA

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Hacks Lagoon, SA

Welcome Swallows, Hacks Lagoon, SA

We left and headed for Salt Creek, passing back through Naracoorte, Lucindale, and Kingston where we stopped for an early lunch. We arrived at Salt Creek by 12:30 and checked into our cabin, then went for a look around. We drove around Salt Creek Road and found an entry gate to Martin’s Washpool Conservation Park, so we went for a walk in there. We didn’t reach the lake, but saw a few birds, including my first spiny-cheeked honeyeaters and brown thornbills for the year. I also got a glimpse of a southern emu wren flitting across the path after listening to a pair call to each other for a while. We left the park and drove further around the road to Messent Conservation Park, but found the road to be quite rough, and no visible walking trails. We drove back to Salt Creek, noting another entrance gate to Martins Washpool, but didn’t bother going in.

We went along the Salt Creek Loop Road and found the malleefowl mound right where another birder from Facebook (thanks Jenni Anne) said it would be, but no malleefowl (unsurprising as it was afternoon by this stage). 

Malleefowl mound, Salt Creek Loop Road, SA

We didn’t bother waiting around, and instead did the Ngrugie Ngoppun walk (which means ‘good walk’ in Ngarrindjeri. We didn’t see a lot of birds, but it was a nice walk and we got some good views of the lagoon.

The Coorong, SA

The Coorong, SA

The Coorong, SA

Back at the Heart of the Coorong Roadhouse where we had dinner and stayed overnight, the owner Adam sussed out that we were here to see birds, and told us that second gate to Martins Washpool Reserve was the one we should’ve gone through, and that we could see malleefowl in there too, but also that we should let our tyres down to do the whole track. Since we didn’t bring a heavy duty compressor to pump the tyres back up, we decided the plan for the morning would be to drive along the track for a short distance and then walk in further to where Adam had seen plenty of malleefowl previously.

We did just that, and walked a long way in, but didn't come across any malleefowl mounds or the lake, however I did add emu and Australian ringneck to my year list, and there were a lot of kangaroos around. 

Martins Washpool Conservation Park, SA

We returned to the roadhouse where we had amazing egg and bacon sandwiches for breakfast, before heading back home via several lookout points along the Coorong. We went to Jacks Point to view the largest pelican breeding colony in Australia, and we could see hundreds of them across the lagoon on an island. The breeding colony is protected, and anyone going within 150m of it gets a big fine. The best spot we stopped at was Parnka Point, which juts out so far that it is the narrowest point of the Coorong and separates the northern lagoon from the southern lagoon. 

Parnka Point, Coorong, SA

Parnka Point, Coorong, SA

Parnka Point, Coorong, SA

I ended up seeing 59 species over the three days, including 19 additions to my 2017 SA list, and 3 lifers. Checklists for each site were submitted to eBird.org

SPECIES LIST

Emu

Magpie Goose

Black Swan

Australian Shelduck

Pacific Black Duck

Australasian Shoveler

Grey Teal

Chestnut Teal

Hardhead

Blue-billed Duck

Musk Duck

Hoary-headed Grebe

Little Pied Cormorant

Little Black Cormorant

Australian Pelican

White-faced Heron

Glossy Ibis

Australian White Ibis

Straw-necked Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Wedge-tailed Eagle

Swamp Harrier

Whistling Kite

Australasian Swamphen

Dusky Moorhen

Eurasian Coot

Brolga

Black-winged Stilt

Australian Pied Oystercatcher

Masked Lapwing

Red-capped Plover

Latham's Snipe

Silver Gull

Whiskered Tern

Crested Pigeon

Brown Falcon

Galah

Australian Ringneck

Crimson Rosella

Rainbow Lorikeet

Southern Emu-wren

Superb Fairy-wren

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater

Red Wattlebird

Singing Honeyeater

White-fronted Chat

New Holland Honeyeater

Brown Thornbill

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

White-browed Babbler

Australian Magpie

Willie Wagtail

Grey Fantail

Magpie-lark

Little Raven

Welcome Swallow

Tree Martin

Silvereye

European Goldfinch

South East Adventure Day 1 - Brolgas of Bool Lagoon

My dad and I left home at 6AM this morning and headed for Bool Lagoon in South Australia's south east. The main aim of the trip was to seek out a lifer for me - Brolgas! Originally we were only going to go overnight, but then we thought we may as well make the most of it and visit another awesome birding spot - Salt Creek - so I asked a friend to cover my Wednesday shift and got a whole extra day for birding! 

We were in Naracoorte by 10:30AM, and from there it took about another half hour to get to Bool Lagoon. If you're planning to visit, you do have to pay for an entry permit ($10 per vehicle per day online through DEWNR), but if you're like me, it's worth it! This place is a huge (31 square kilometres) seasonal freshwater wetland, where over 150 different bird species have been recorded. It is recognised under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands as a Wetland of International Importance, and is an important habitat for migratory waders. The main lagoon is joined by Hacks Lagoon Conservation Reserve and Little Bool Lagoon. 

We visited all three areas today, but due to the vast extent of the wetlands it is impossible to see everything! Unfortunately when we got there the Tea Tree boardwalk was closed off due to a safety issue, but that didn't stop us from seeing hundreds of birds and having a great time. We drove slowly along the road viewing the main lagoon, seeing my first lifer of the trip Magpie Geese x 100 at least!!! At Hacks Lagoon Conservation Reserve we were greeted by a Brown Falcon, who was happy to sit on it's branch while I snapped away.

Brown Falcon, Hacks Lagoon Conservation Lagoon, SA

Brown Falcon, Hacks Lagoon Conservation Lagoon, SA

We saw some blue-billed and musk ducks, which was great for me as I haven't seen them much before, as well as many other water birds, and what seemed liked hundreds of straw-necked ibis!

Next we headed towards Little Bool Lagoon, where the brolgas had been photographed a week earlier, inspiring our trip. On our way north along Moyhall Rd we saw several large grey birds fly over and disappear along a water way, and my heart sank thinking we had missed them, and had no way to follow them. But then... a little further along the road I saw some more large grey birds hanging out in a field and yelled 

            "STOP STOP STOP THE CAR .... YES BROLGAS!!!!!" 

Brolgas, Moyhall Rd, Bool Lagoon Game Reserve, SA

Brolgas, Moyhall Rd, Bool Lagoon Game Reserve, SA

I leaped out of the car while it was still moving and ... OK no the car had stopped by the time I got my binoculars and camera untangled and my seat belt off. Anyway, I was able to view these beautiful birds for a minute or two before they took off, and it was fantastic!  

We headed around to Little Bool Lagoon after that, but by that point it had started raining, and I got soaked watching some shelducks and whiskered terns. We went for a drive as far as we dared go before the track got a bit rough looking and we began to worry about getting bogged. We drove back along the track in reverse for a while before finding a place to safely turn around, and even then we were thankful for the all wheel drive because we were on an awkward hill. Eventually we got back onto Moyhall Rd and thought we would have a look at some nearby ponds on the map, and Old Kingston Rd which had been recommended as another potential brolga spot by the original brolga photographer Luke Leddy. We stopped by a pond on Charlie Smith Rd and as I got out of the car a bird flushed out from the side of the pond. I managed to catch a glimpse and saw that it was a Latham's Snipe! I had a look around and found it nearby and was able to get a few photos.   

Latham's Snipe, Naracoorte, SA

All up it was a great first day on our mini birding trip to the South East. A total of 36 species, including 14 additions to my 2017 year list, and 3 additions to my life list. Year total now at 108 species, Life total for SA: 199, Aus: 266.

More Info on Bool Lagoon:

https://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/Find_a_Park/Browse_by_region/Limestone_Coast/bool-lagoon-hacks-lagoon#maps

Belair National Park Jan 2017

This morning I went for a long walk in the Belair National Park, just to see what I could find, no particular target species. I saw my first Grey Currawongs for the year, another white-naped honey eater and 3 striated pardalotes which I only just ticked off yesterday. I walked along the Microcarpa track and then the Waterfall Hike. I saw a total of 25 bird species, and several kangaroos and koalas.

My favourite sighting of the day was a pair of Tawny Frogmouths! I haven't seen any for ages, so it was really great to see these two, especially since they were clearly visible and not too high up in the the tree.

2017 so far...

2017 Birding goals!

1. Beat my last year total species seen in SA (150)

2. Aim for 200 species in SA this year, and 

3. Just get out as often as possible now that I have less distractions!

So far I've been out nearly every day, whether it's a walk around my local wetlands, or a half- or full- day outing visiting several different spots within a region. So far I've been to Laratinga, Kyeema CP, Nixon-Skinner CP, Myponga Beach, Aldinga Beach, Mt Compass wetland boardwalk, Nangawooka Flora Reserve, Goolwa Barrage, Hindmarsh Island, and Currency Creek Gorge.

As of today (Jan 9) my year to date total is 83 species, including one lifer.

I didn't get any amazing photos from previous days so I'm just going to post from today. The plan was to head down to Goolwa and Hindmarsh Island to see some beach birds. On the way I thought why not pop in to the Mt Compass wetlands to have another go at looking for Southern emu wrens, which have evaded me several times there before... but today was my LUCKY DAY!! We saw a pair of them, sticking fairly close together as they hopped through the bushes, and were able to watch them for a minute or two before they disappeared. Unfortunately no photos except a fuzzy back view that is not worth posting. So that was my first lifer of the year :-) we also saw 3 more firsts for the year: white-browed scrubwrens, European goldfinches, and silvereyes. 

We stopped at Nangawooka but didn't see a whole lot, but spent a little while watching the fairy-wrens, and viewing a pair of red-rumped parrots in a tree.

We went around to the Goolwa Barrages and saw my first Caspian Tern and Royal Spoonbill for the year, plus hundreds of Great Cormorants! They were sitting right along the barrage and on the buoy ropes. The barrage was open letting out flood water, so they were probably hanging around for the fish!

Caspian Tern, Goolwa 

Great Cormorants, Goolwa

Next we went around to the Murray River Mouth lookout on Hindmarsh Island, where we saw pied oystercatchers and red-capped plovers to add to the year list, plus a pair of wedge-tailed eagles on the way to the lookout, and a nankeen kestrel across from the Sugars Beach carpark.

Red-necked Stint, Hindmarsh Island SA

On the way home we stopped to have a look at Currency Creek Gorge as I hadn't been there before since I was very young. We did the creek side walk as far as we could go before the reeds became a bit close together and we decided not to risk it in case of snakes! There was a lot of bird activity, but only a few different species, including honeyeaters, goldfinches, and greenfinches.

Train bridge over Currency Creek Gorge