Wool Bay and Port Giles, Yorke Peninsula
New Holland Honeyeater at Wool Bay, Yorke Peninsula
On our short holiday on Yorke Peninsula last week we stopped briefly at Wool Bay to take a few photos of the bay (see photos below). The New Holland Honeyeater shown in the photo above popped up and posed nicely for me in the Templetonia retusa plant near where we parked. The last rays of the setting sun washed over the bird and the bush.
Templetonia retusa at Wool Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Wool Bay is a small coastal settlement with a popular jetty often used by locals and visitors as a good fishing spot. In years gone by the jetty was a safe port for ships loading the wool produced on local farms.
Wool Bay jetty with Port Giles wheat silos in the background
Port Giles has a group of large grain silos where it is stored until ships come to the long jetty to load up the wheat for export. The whole peninsula is known for its excellent grain yields, so this is a busy port all year. In fact, as we passed the port we saw four ships at anchor out in the bay and another two arrived during the weekend. I’ve just checked the shipping schedule and one is currently berthed and loading, while the others will load during the next two weeks.
Port Giles wheat silos, Yorke Peninsula
Rock Parrot, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Rock Parrot, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
While we were at Penguin Point at Marion Bay on Yorke Peninsula just over a week ago I braved the wild gale force winds and went for a short walk along the ridge top. As I was returning a green parrot landed on the well made path. It walked a few metres in front of me then stopped to chew on a flower on the edge of the path. I took a few photos and then attempted to get a little closer, but it flew off into the sand dunes and I didn’t see it again.
Rock Parrot, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
I’d seen over a dozens Rock Parrots in this spot on my last visit some years ago. The sight of so many together was unforgettable. This time I had to be content with a brief view of just one. The poor weather probably had something to do with only seeing one, so I considered myself lucky to have seen any at all.
Rock Parrots are one of a family of parrots known as Neophemas. The group also includes the Blue-winged Parrot, Elegant Parrot, Orange-bellied Parrot (endangered), Turquoise Parrot and Scarlet-chested Parrot. The Rock Parrot is generally a bird of coastal regions, its preferred habitat includes granite outcrops, islands, headlands, coastal dunes, scrubs and grasslands near the coast.
Coast dunes at Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Rock Parrot habitat, Penguin Point, Marion Bay
Birding at Penguin Point, Marion Bay
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
On the second day of our short holiday on Yorke Peninsula last week we drove from Edithburgh to Marion Bay before lunch. The weather was turning bad with strengthening northerly winds ahead of a cooler change from the south.
On arriving at Marion Bay we drove slowly around the older part of town noting things we could remember from holidays there in the 1980s. Little had changed in that part of town but we also noted many new and expensive looking homes in the newer parts of town. We parked at Penguin Point overlooking the bay. As the wind had turned almost gale force we had to stay in the car to eat our lunch as it was too unpleasant outside. It was not good birding weather.
Penguin Point is obviously named after the bird of the same name, probably the Little Penguin which is seen regularly along the coast of South Australia. I can’t find any references in my library but I would expect that some Little Penguins actually nest along this part of the coast. I didn’t see any penguins on my visit but this is not surprising as most Little Penguins spend most of the winter at sea.
While the Little Penguin is the most frequently seen species along the southern coast of Australia, several other species are occasionally recorded, including the Rockhopper Penguin, Fiordland Penguin and the King Penguin.
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
Penguin Point, Marion Bay, Yorke Peninsula
A missed birding opportunity
Over the years I have found that there are three basic types of birding while on holiday trips: planned, opportunistic and downright unlucky.
Planned birding:
When I plan a holiday I will often factor into our itinerary places where I can stop and do some birding. These stops usually coincide with meal breaks, changes of drivers, or overnight stays. I look for places where I have a good chance of seeing a good variety of birds. Sometimes the birds do not cooperate but often I’m rewarded with good sightings and even good photos.
Opportunistic birding
This is far more exciting. You never know what is going to turn up, sometimes in unexpected ways and places. Chance sightings, rare or uncommon species, birds way out of their normal range or birds doing unusual things. Some of my best photos are totally unplanned, making the most of an opportunity presented unexpectedly.
Missed in action
On our short holiday last week on Yorke Peninsula we were almost at our holiday unit. The sun was setting, we had about 8 kilometres to go when my wife exclaimed, “Three quail on the roadside.”
But of course I didn’t see them! Checking the mirror I quickly did a U-turn and head back down the road. They’d gone into the bushes. Drat!
On reflection, the most likely species was Stubble Quail, a common bird in this cereal growing region of the state. Reluctantly I added this sighting to my trip list but felt just a little cheated.
Next time.
Good birding.
An efficient mouse catcher
No Comments »2nd June, 2011; Category: Animals, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs
Australian Magpie, Victor Harbor, South Australia
A few days ago we were having lunch on our back veranda. When the weather is fine we often do this and we enjoy watching the garden birds going about their daily routines. They bring us great joy and much entertainment.
Things were a little different the other day. I’d just finished coking the BBQ and we’d already sat down to eat. Without any warning or fuss, one of our resident Australian Magpies swooped down from a nearby tree into the grass nearby. (I must get around to mowing it soon.) Next thing it emerges with a House Mouse firmly gripped in its mouth. We cheered. That’s one pest that made it into our home.
Over the next ten minutes while we enjoyed our food, the magpie repeatedly banged the captured mouse on the paving bricks until it was either dead – or very concussed. It then proceeded to use its beak to tear off bits of the mouse to eat. At one point another magpie tried to steal a bit of the tasty lunch but the successful hunter kept guard over his prize.
It made me think. I often observe the diggings of mice in the garden and in our paddock, especially when I’m mowing the grass. I guess many of these mice become magpie delicacies. They are doing us a service by dispatching them. I also know that they must eat an incredible number of bugs, beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers and other garden pests. More power to the magpies, I say.
Good birding.