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