Coorong in June

On Monday morning I took advantage of a couple of days off work and nice weather, and headed down to Salt Creek with my dad. The drive down there was through thick fog, which lasted until after 9am when we were well on our way! We stopped at Parnka Point where we saw three Great-crested Grebes, my first lifer for the trip! We also saw several flocks of Red-necked Avocets flying over, a year tick for me.

Red-necked Avocets, Parnka Point, Coorong, SA

 We arrived at Salt Creek by about 10:30am, had a quick early lunch and checked into our cabin at the Heart of the Coorong Roadhouse. From there we headed around to the Martin Washpool Conservation Park. Not too far in, we spotted a bird fly low across the track, another lifer for me - a Southern Scrub-robin!

Southern Scrub-robin, Martin Washpool Conservation Park, SA

We drove our way around the boundary track, spotting some deer and a few birds here and there, and were about 2km away from the lake when we had a bit of trouble getting over a hill, as the car's wheels couldn't grip the sandy soil. While trying to maneuver the car up the track, we somehow went a bit crooked and rolled backwards into a tree! After a while struggling to get the car away from the tree and up over the hill, we eventually were on our way again!

Deer, property next to Martin Washpool Conservation Park, SA

Wedge-tailed Eagle and Little Raven, Martin Washpool Conservation Park, SA

 Eventually we got to the edge of the lake, and it's massive! There weren't many birds around, just a few black swans and grey teals, but I'm sure in shorebird season this place will be buzzing! I plan to head back there in late spring or summer with a fieldscope! Nearby i saw my third lifer of the day - a Beautiful Firetail! I waited for a while and saw a few more flying back and forth over the water - no photos unfortunately. On our way out of the park we saw an echidna creeping across the track, and caught up with it just before it disappeared into the scrub.

Martin Washpool, SA

Echidna, Martin Washpool Conservation Park, SA

 From Martin Washpool Conservation Park we went straight across into Messent Conservation Reserve. We hadn't been brave enough to attempt Messent previously without a 4WD, but we had especially gone down in the Kia, so in we went! The map we had showed a track going in from the western boundary and another going in from the southern boundary, which meet up somewhere in the middle of the park. We drove for about 15km, passed a sign-posted track going off to the west, the opposite side to what we were looking for, but never found the track we were looking for! (A later look at satellite imagery on Google Maps shows it where we must have driven past it, but it can;t have been signposted, we sure didn't see it!) Eventually we decided we were over it, we hadn't seen many birds at all, and we decided to turn around and go back the way we'd come. Suddenly, only a few minutes later, I saw something darting off the side of the track into the bushes that looked like a Malleefowl! This is a bird that I have been wanting to see for a long time, and have looked for them all over the place. I jumped out of the car and managed to catch another glimpse of the back of it as it disappeared into the scrub. I played a Malleefowl call from the birdguide app on my phone, and heard a Malleefowl call back, but from the other side of the track! After a few minutes I got a glimpse of one through the grass on that side, but it disappeared before my dad saw it. I was just saying to him, I was sorry that he had missed seeing it, when one casually strolled across the track ahead of the car! We continued slowly along the track, and saw another two a bit further ahead, and managed a couple of blurry photos. My fourth - and most exciting - lifer of the trip!

Malleefowl, Messent Conservation Reserve, SA

Malleefowl, Messent Conservation Reserve, SA

Tuesday morning we got up and had a quick look around near the roadhouse before breakfast. We saw plenty of Eurasian Coots, Chestnut Teals, Welcome Swallows, as well as three Spotted Crakes hanging out in the water next to the 'for sale' bus at the roadhouse.

Chestnut Teals, Salt Creek, SA

 After breakfast we took off along the Salt Creek Loop Road, and it wasn't long before I spotted my fifth lifer of the trip - a purple-gaped honeyeater. It took some waiting before one sat still for long enough to get a photo! We went for a walk along the Lakes Nature Trail, and saw a group of 14 Hooded Plovers! This was a fantastic sight for me, as they are endangered on the Fleurieu Peninsula and I have only ever seen a pair with a couple of chicks, never a huge group like this!

Purple-gaped Honeyeater, Salt Creek, SA

Hooded Plovers, Salt Creek, SA

 We drove along the whole of the loop road, and then on to Chinaman's well, one of several wells along the Coorong used by Chinese gold diggers in the 1800s on their trek from SA across to the Victorian goldfields. After that it we headed back towards home, stopping at a few spots along the way for more birding! Total number species seen on the trip was 67, including 5 lifers and an extra 2 ticks for the year list, bringing me up to 159 species for SA so far this year!

View of the Coorong from Tea-tree Crossing

Chinaman's Well, Coorong, SA

SPECIES LIST

Emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae)

Black Swan (Cygnus atratus)

Australian Shelduck (Tadorna tadornoides)

Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)

Grey Teal (Anas gracilis)

Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea)

Musk Duck (Biziura lobata)

Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata)

Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae)

Hoary-headed Grebe (Poliocephalus poliocephalus)

Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)

Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus)

Great Egret (Ardea alba)

White-faced Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae)

Little Egret (Egretta garzetta)

Australian White Ibis - Threskiornis moluccus

Straw-necked Ibis - Threskiornis spinicollis

Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia)

Black-shouldered Kite (Australian) (Elanus axillaris)

Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax)

Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus)

Australian Spotted Crake (Porzana fluminea)

Australasian Swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus)

Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa)

Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)

Red-necked Avocet (Recurvirostra novaehollandiae)

Australian Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris)

Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Hooded Plover (Thinornis cucullatus)

Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae)

Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia)

Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii)

Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes)

Peaceful Dove (Geopelia placida)

Nankeen Kestrel (Falco cenchroides)

Brown Falcon - Falco berigora

Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla)

Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea)

Australian Ringneck (Barnardius zonarius)

Crimson Rosella - Platycercus elegans

Red-rumped Parrot (Psephotus haematonotus)

Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)

Purple-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus cratitius)

Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala)

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (Acanthagenys rufogularis)

Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)

Singing Honeyeater (Gavicalis virescens)

White-fronted Chat (Epthianura albifrons)

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater (Gliciphila melanops)

New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae)

White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis)

Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)

Yellow-rumped Thornbill (Acanthiza chrysorrhoa)

Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus)

Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)

Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)

Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)

Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)

Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca)

Little Raven (Corvus mellori)

Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang)

Southern Scrub-Robin (Drymodes brunneopygia)

Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)

Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)

Beautiful Firetail (Stagonopleura bella)