Cruising Grey Teals, Laratinga Wetlands
Grey Teal, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker
A few days ago I featured a Pacific Black Duck I saw at the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker.
Today it is the turn of another common species, the Grey Teal.
This great birding site is just over half an hour’s drive from my home in Murray Bridge here in South Australia. I don’t get to visit often enough. I know of birders who visit this place almost every day. The birding is usually very good with many opportunities for bird photography.
The ponds making up these wetlands have wide tracks along their edges and many locals and visitors use these tracks on a daily basis for walking, cycling and jogging. The adjacent picnic grounds are also very well set out and maintained.
On a recent visit I took these photos of some Grey Teal cruising along across one of the ponds. Many birders and photographers probably overlook this common species. It can be found in many parts of Australia wherever bodies of water exist.
I have seen lakes where there were thousands of these ducks. Just because they are common does not mean that they cannot be photographic. I like the photo above, but the one below is something special, in my opinion. The photo has only been cropped a little and has not been enhanced in any other way.
For more photos and further reading about the birds of Laratinga, click here.
Good birding.
Trevor
Grey Teal, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker
Pacific Black Ducks, Laratinga Wetlands
Pacific Black Duck, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
Pacific Black Ducks and Grey Teal are probably the most common and well known ducks found in Australia. They are very common in parks, on lakes, rivers and reservoirs and can even be found in private gardens. More than once we’ve had ducklings in our swimming pool.
They are one of most recognisable birds and are very popular in public parks and gardens where people love to feed them. I don’t encourage this practice as the food – often bread – is not only unsuitable for ducks, it is potentially harmful to them.
Pacific Black Ducks are generally quite unafraid of people, especially in public places like the Laratinga Wetlands in South Australia. This makes them excellent subjects for photography.
Further reading:
Pacific Black Duck, Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker, South Australia
Young Ducks, Laratinga Wetlands
Grey Teal with ducklings, Laratinga Wetlands
On my visit to the Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker earlier this week I was pleased to see how many birds were breeding, or had young. Many of the water-birds had young in various stages of dependence, including this family of Grey Teal swimming on one of the ponds.
These wetlands are on the eastern side of Mt Barker in the Mt Lofty Ranges about a half hour drive from Adelaide, South Australia. The series of ponds have been made next to the treatment works and they purify the water which is later used in irrigation projects nearby.
Grey Teal are a very common duck, being found throughout Australia where there is suitable habitat. They usually respond quickly to flooding and heavy rainfall, breeding up in large numbers. I didn’t see as many Grey Teal on this occasion. Many have probably flown to more northern and inland parts of Australia where there has been extensive flooding in recent months.
Related Articles:
- Australian Shoveller, Laratinga Wetlands
- Australasian Grebe
- Pacific Black Ducks breeding
- Australian Wood Duck family
- White-eyed Duck
Grey Teal with ducklings, Laratinga Wetlands
Waterbirds at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Grey Teal, Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Monarto Zoological Park is just a few minutes’ drive from my home in Murray Bridge. We try to visit several times a year because I have a membership card which allows free entry. One of the interesting things about this open range zoo is the waterhole in the giraffe enclosure. This is actually an artificial dam which fills during and after good rains. The creek which runs into this area is an ephemeral water course. When there is water, there is always a small collection of water birds attracted by the water.
On our visit late last year observed a few Grey Teal (see photo above) and some Black-winged Stilts (photo below). The Black-winged Stilts are found over most of Australia where there is suitable habitat, including swamps, lakes, shallow river edges, dams, salt-fields, estuaries and mudflats. Their nest is often made of weeds or other plant materials on the ground or raised up a little off the ground or can even be a plain depression on the ground with little or no lining.
Grey Teal are one of the most abundant and widespread of the waterfowl species in Australia. Their preferred habitat includes rivers, lakes, swamps, reservoirs, estuaries, waterholes and even small farm dams – in fact, where ever there is some water.
Not far from this waterhole I photographed a Masked Lapwing sitting on eggs right next to one of the tracks taken many times every day by the visitor buses. You can read about that and see a photo by clicking here.
Black-winged Stilt, Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Grey Teal and Black-winged Stilts, Monarto Zoo, South Australia