Australian Pelicans
Most people would be able to identify a pelican if shown a photo of one. In fact, most people really love pelicans and enjoy watching them on rivers, lakes, ponds and the ocean. Many would count them as one of their favourite birds. In Australia they would be instantly recognisable to most people because they are so common in many parts of the country where there is suitable habitat.
Samela Harris, a regular columnist for South Australia’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser, has compiled a lovely little site as a photographic tribute to the pelicans of Victor Harbor, the coastal town just south of Adelaide where she lives. She has included many beautiful photos as well as links to this popular coastal town and holiday destination.
Samela is the daughter of well known poet and former bookseller, Max Harris.
Links:
- Aussie Pelicans – with photos by Samela Harris
- Victor Harbor Tourism – plenty of information for the visitor.
- Granite Island Recreation Park – at Victor Harbor you can walk across a long causeway to Granite Island about one kilometre off the coast. Walking trails cover the perimeter of the island with spectacular views in all directions. Granite Island has a breeding colony of Little Penguins. This is a must if visiting Victor Harbor.
- Victor Harbor – a series of articles I have written about this lovely spot. I have included many photos as well.
- Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.
Australian Pelican
Good Birding Sites
Here is another list of links to excellent birding sites:
- Earth, Wind and Water – this site has some articles and photos about birds but its real strength is in the amazing photos of sea life. The writer is a scuba diver and photographer.
- Search and Serendipity: a Birder’s Blog – David J. Ringer’s blog about birding inTexas and other parts of the USA. He has also blogged his birding experiences in Papua New Guinea, where he lived for some time, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Once again, beautiful photography.
- Journey Through Grace – Jayne’s observations of birds in her life in Georgia. Again, plenty of beautiful photos to enjoy.
- Bird Ecology Study Group – Nature Society, Singapore – more stunning photos abound on this blog site.
Good Birding Sites
Here is another list of birding sites that are worth a visit.
- Abberton Birding – this site features hundreds of wonderful photos taken by Bill Jolly in the heart of Queensland’s bird-rich Lochyer Valley.
- Birdfreak Birding Blog – building a conservation community one birder at a time.
- Pohanginapete – this is a blog with a difference. New Zealander Pete McGregor writes about birds, wildlife, mountains, photography, people, travelling and a whole range of other topics. The photography alone is worth a visit, but try to stay a while and savour some of his brilliant writing.
Good Birding Sites
Quite often I come across a good birding site that just cries out to be shared with others. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while – I just haven’t got around to it. So here we go.
I’ve used some basic criteria for selecting those sites I link to in this way:
- The site must be mainly about birds (but this is a flexible rule).
- The site ideally features photos of birds.
- The writing must be interesting and complement the photos.
- The site must be updated relatively frequently (at least weekly).
Here are this week’s links:
- Natural Visions – nature and photography with Kevin Doxstater.
- Ben Cruachan Blog – birding and nature observations in Victoria, SE Australia.
- A Snail’s Eye View – another blog from Victoria, Australia, but with an interest in many things, not just birds.
- Charlie’s Bird Blog – amazing photos from Charlie – his job with an airline takes him all over the world.
- Peregrine’s Bird Blog – this one comes from Northern Ireland and features many photos too. An added bonus on this blog is the incredibly long blogroll; this list could provide weeks of happy surfing.
Enjoy.
Favourite Birding Spot # 6 Cleland Wildlife Park
14 Comments »16th September, 2006; Category: Aviaries, Birds, Bush birds, Favourite Birding Spots, Garden birds, Good Birding Sites
Entrance to Cleland Wildlife Park, South Australia
I love travelling so I can go birding in a new area. Last week I visited Cleland Wildlife Park in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. This park is run by the National Parks and Wildlife of South Australia. It is a small part of the Cleland Conservation Park.
It has been quite a while since my last visit. In another life I had taken many groups of primary school children to this wonderful park. On quite a few of these occasions the visit was a part of a school camp at the nearby Woodhouse Scout Camp.
Southern Brown Bandicoot, Cleland Wildlife Park
The beauty of this wildlife park is that one gets a very close up look at many of the birds and animals native to Australia. These include a range of different species, including kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, echidna, bandicoots, potoroos and bettongs. In one spot you can have your photo taken with a koala. A feature of my recent visit was the absolutely gorgeous four dingo pups. They were about four weeks old.
Dingo pup, Cleland Wildlife Park
The main attraction of Cleland for me is the birdlife. The area is well wooded and so there are many native birds resident in and around the park. There are two walk through aviaries which enable one to get up close to many bird species. This is just great for photography. There is also a large wetlands area for all the water birds.
Over coming weeks I will feature some of the photos I took of the birds there. If you are impatient you might want to visit my photo gallery (sorry this gallery has been removed). I took over 200 photos that day, so you will have plenty to look at!
Happy Birding.
Trevor
This article was updated in August 2015.