Emus at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Male Emu with chicks at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
When the open range zoo at Monarto near Adelaide was established, the perimeter fence enclosed some Emus inside them. These have now bred and are quite numerous in the various areas not inside the animal enclosures. I guess they wouldn’t last long in the lion or cheetah enclosures!
On our last visit we were delighted to see the male shown in the photo above. He is looking after a small group of chicks, resplendent in their striped plumage. On the bus tours we took through the zoo I took the photos below. At least one of them was taken while we were hiking from one exhibit to another.
Emu at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Emu at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Emu at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia
No Comments »4th March, 2010; Category: Beaches, Birds, Caravanning, Holidays, South Australia, Victor Harbor
Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Probably the best known feature of Victor Harbor is Granite Island, shown in the photos on this post. Victor Harbor, on the south coast of South Australia, is about an hour’s drive south of the state capital, Adelaide. It is a favourite day trip from the capital as well as being a popular destination for interstate visitors.
These photos were taken while we had a weekend there last year. we stayed in one of the excellent caravan parks, ours being right on the foreshore of Encounter Bay (see yesterday’s post for more photos).
Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia
Granite Island is joined to the mainland by a causeway. It takes less than two hours to walk out to the island, around the walking track that circumnavigates it and to return to the town. You can linger longer of course for there is a fine restaurant near the jetty as well as some excellent fishing spots.
Granite Island, Victor Harbor, South Australia
A highlight of a visit is to see the Little Penguins which feed out to sea and return to the island to nest and feed their young.
Little Penguins, Adelaide Zoo
Further reading:
Tintinara in the SE of South Australia
Playground, Tintinara, SE South Australia
I took this photo of the playground in the picnic area in the main street on a recent visit to Tintinara because of the piece of equipment in the foreground. It’s in the shape of a kangaroo, though I can’t recall if you get “red” kangaroos in the Tintinara region. (I just checked my field guide to Australian mammals – Red Kangaroos are found much further north.)
Old steam train water bowser, Tintinara
Next to the playground is this old water bowser (or water tower), a relic of a by-gone era when the steam trains would stop here to replenish their water tankers. In the background you can see the railway line which is the main line between Adelaide and Melbourne. The Overlander passenger train came through as I had my morning cuppa. It rarely stops in Tintinara these days, whereas in a the steam age there would have been several passenger services daily. Now the line is used mainly for heavy interstate freight traffic, mixed with one daily express passenger train daily.
Galah at Tintinara, SE South Australia
While I was in Tintinara I managed to get a few good photos of some of the local bird life. More photos can be seen here and here.
Bird aviaries in Pinnaroo
Red-winged Parrot in aviary, Pinnaroo, South Australia
I have recently written a series of articles on my birding blog (Trevor’s Birding) about the aviaries at the Pinnaroo Caravan Park. Instead of repeating all that information here, I will just link to the relevant articles below. Click on the link to read the article and see the photos I took of the beautiful birds seen there.
- Bird aviary, Pinnaroo Caravan Park
- Red-winged Parrot
- Cockatiel Parrots
- Two Galahs and a Corella
- Emus
- Pink Cockatoo
- What parrot was that again?
While you are there, have a good look around. You will find over a thousand articles, most with photos, about Australian birds.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens
1 Comment »15th January, 2010; Category: Birds, Botanic Gardens, Holidays, Parks and Gardens, Victoria, Zoos
Bendigo Botanic Gardens
On my last visit to Bendigo I had a brief visit to the Bendigo Botanic Gardens. We had on previous occasions stopped here for either morning tea or lunch. Some years ago this was a very pleasant, well mantained park with a pleasing collection of native and exotic plants.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Swamp Wallaby enclosure
A feature of the gardens was the large pond – a small lake really – filled regularly by the nearby Bendigo Creek. This lake was home to a wide range of native and introduced water birds, adding to the attractiveness of the park. On this visit however, the lake was completely dry, with no birds.
Centrally located were also several large aviaries containing a range of native and exotic birds. By stretching one’s imagination and generosity of spirit, one could consider calling this a very small zoo. A more accurate description would have been to call it a small fauna park.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Swamp Wallabies
On this latest visit I was very disappointed at the poor state of the whole gardens, and the deplorable state of the animal collection. Either you have animals and birds on display in an attractive way – or you have none at all. The sad, run-down condition of the wallaby enclosure spoke volumes. Whoever is in charge either has no interest in the display or no budget to improve things – probably both.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Bird aviary
The large ugly looking aviary in the photo above shows the cockatoo enclosure. It was once a monkey cage. at least that would be mildly interesting. The poor parrots in it were quite bored and most of the species represented could easily be seen outside in the natural environment by any amateur birder.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Bird aviary
To be fair to the local authorities, the region has been undergoing severe drought conditions over the last decade. The drastic water restrictions meant that the lake could not be filled, nor could the exgtensive lawns be watered much. Many of the exotic plants were showing signs of stress.
Bendigo Botanic Gardens - Sulphur-crested cockatoos
Since my visit the local city council has announced a total revamp, extension and upgrading of the botanic gardens. This is long overdue. The plans can be seen here.
Further reading:
- White Hills Botanic Gardens Bendigo – plenty of background information and photos of the gardens.
- A visit to Bendigo – article on my birding blog