Ferries McDonald Conservation Park
Ferries-McDonald Conservation Park is one of the closest large parks of its kind near where I live. It is about 20 km south west of Murray Bridge and about 60 km south east of our state capital, Adelaide.
The park has easy access from two good dirt roads; one road bisects the park, the other follows the southern boundary. Update 2015: a new sealed road bisects the park in a north-south direction. There are several walking tracks through the interior of the park, including one established by the Friends Group a few years ago. There are no toilets or camping facilities within the park.
The park is predominantly mallee habitat. Many small native bushes flower in the spring time making it an attractive place for birds and a good place for birders to visit. I have recorded quite a variety of honeyeaters in the park, including
- Singing Honeyeater,
- White-plumed Honeyeater,
- Yellow-plumed Honeyeater,
- Purple-gaped Honeyeater,
- White-eared Honeyeater,
- Brown-headed Honeyeater and
- Red Wattlebirds.
Other birds I commonly see in the park include:
- Superb Fairy-wrens,
- Golden whistlers,
- Rufous whistlers
- Yellow-rumped thornbills,
- Bronzewing pigeons,
- Crested pigeon
- several kinds of robin and
- White-browed Babblers.
The parrots include:
- Purple-crowned lorikeets,
- Musk lorikeets
- Galahs and
- Mallee Ringnecks.
In all I have recorded over 60 different species.
Nest of a Mallee Fowl
This park is one of only a few local sites for the highly endangered species, the Mallee Fowl. I have only seen this bird once in the park but I have found several active nesting mounds (see photo above). For more information about this bird click on the link below or click here.
Related Articles:
- Birds of Monarto Conservation Park – this park is about 5km north of Ferries McDonald CP
- What Kind of Duck was that? An amusing encounter with a Mallee Fowl
- Mallee Fowl – the Incubator Bird – lots of information about the Mallee Fowl and its habits, including its amazing nest.
This article was last updated in July 2015.
