Travelling South Australia
Last Friday evening we had a meeting to attend in the South Australian country town of Coonalpyn, about an hour’s drive from home and two hours South East of Adelaide. We decided to take the day off from work. My wife works in her native plant nursery most days and I on my writing.
How Park
The weather forecast was not looking good, but the start of the day was quite pleasant. We travelled via Tailem Bend to the small mallee community of Peake, nearly an hour east of Murray Bridge. Here we turned north for a few kilometres to a picnic ground called How Park. This small community park is now very run down with a dilapidated toilet block and club rooms, a strip of concrete formerly used as a cricket pitch and an open area previously used as a football oval.
Uninvited lunch guests:
This park would have been much used in earlier times, say in the 1950s and 60s, but its condition is now quite derelict. Some of the beautiful pine trees planted by early settlers are magnificent still; others have either died through the drought or been ravaged by storms. Despite this we still had our picnic lunch there. The numerous uninvited bush flies decided to join us. I only recorded a few birds in the park and didn’t take any photos. One notable sighting was of several Peaceful Doves who serenaded us while we dined.
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
Jabuk to Geranium:
After lunch we travelled to Jabuk and then on to Geranium. By now the hot north wind was increasing and the cloud cover intensifying. It was not a good day for birding and I saw very little of interest except for four Western Grey Kangaroos. On previous occasions I had seen many birds on this stretch of road. Today was a very poor birding day though I did see a family of White Winged Choughs.
Banksias
One Tree Hill:
A few kilometres south of Geranium there is a locality known as One Tree Hill. It has many trees there so I don’t know why it is called that. Nearby is a soak used by the Aborigines in earlier times; it would have been one of the few places where there was fresh water in the district. There is no surface water now; the local farmers and their bores have lowered the water table. One feature of this locality is many hundreds of trees planted by a local grower, especially many kinds of Banksias (see photo). I was only able to get several photos before beating a hasty retreat to the car for shelter. From that point on it rained steadily all the way to our friends’ place in Coonalpyn.
While the rain was very welcome, the birding was disappointing. Next time we will pick better weather.
Australia Day
January 26th is celebrated throughout Australia as our National Day. It was on this day in 1788 that this new country was founded by the first European settlers to arrive here. I thought I’d share a few images of things that are quintessentially Australian as my way of celebrating Australia day, and sharing something of our country with others.
Western Grey Kangaroo
Australia is known for its wonderful wildlife. The kangaroo would have to be one of the most recognisable members of our fauna. The cuddly look of the Koala would also be recognised world wide.
Koala and Magpie
Australia is also known for its amazing array of plants and wildflowers. Probably the most easily recognised tree would be the eucalypt (or gum) tree. There are hundreds of different species; I will show only one here. This scene, taken in the mid north farming area of South Australia, is typical of many parts of our land.
Balaklava Plains near Blyth South Australia
Of our stunning array of wildflowers, the banksia is easily recognised by many Australians. These magnificent plants give an amazing display when in full flower. The birds go crazy feeding on the nectar and seeds they produce. Photographers, artists and gardeners go equally crazy over them
Banksia flower
Now we turn to the birds. With about 800 species Australia is a plentiful land for the bird lover. Our vast range of parrots and honeyeaters, blue wrens and emus, waterfowl, waders, bush birds and sea birds attract birders from the world over. I’ve just chosen several to feature here.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Australia has so many beautiful birds it is hard just to show only two. Many more are featured in my photo gallery here.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Sydney Opera House
Travels in Nepal # 67 Rural Life in Southern Nepal
Rural scene near Chitwan
On our ox cart ride through the rural area near Chitwan National Park in southern Nepal we were able to get a close up view of life in the raw. The houses were basic with few facilities, though I did notice quite a few houses had electricity and television. I was somewhat amused to see that, on average, every third or fourth house boasted a sign advertising that the occupants offered both STD and ISD telephone services available.
During the ride we stopped for a while to visit a local historical museum. This gave a very good picture of life in rural Nepal in years gone by and gave a good appreciation of the heritage of the local people. We also saw some well dressed children in their uniforms heading off to the local school. Our guide told us that only the privileged few went to school. Many farmers are not rich; they rent from the wealthy land owners. Only the well to do are able to send their children to school. This is the general picture throughout Nepal; only the well off can afford to send their children to school. This accounts for a literacy rate of about thirty percent, and far less in rural areas.
Most farmers also rely heavily on animals on their small farms. The move the mechanical help, as in the tractor in the photo below, is slowly becoming common. It was the dry season when I was in this area so we didn’t see much being grown in the fields.
Despite the very foggy conditions well into the day, I was able to identify a few more birds during our ox cart ride. Our guide, a professional birding guide, was able to help me greatly in this.
Related article:
- Rural life in Nepal – taken from my travel journal written during my travels.
Rural scene near Chitwan
Travels in Nepal # 66 Ox Cart Ride
Ox cart ride in rural Nepal
After our fairly unsuccessful birding activities we walked a short distance to meet one of the local farmers. He had been organised to give us a two hour ox cart ride through the local farming areas. The fog was still quite thick and this did not make photography easy. In fact, I took very few photos on this morning. Despite the fog the journey through the farming area near Chitwan was very interesting.
The farms here a generally quite small and grow a variety of things, mainly vegetables. The farm houses are small and very basic when compared to what we are used to in Australia. Every farmyard seems to have a large collection of cattle, goats, dogs, ducks and chickens. We passed many of the women and children squatting around smoky fires in the farmyard.
Rural scene near Chitwan
Travels in Nepal # 65 An Early Morning Birding Walk
Baby elephant
Next morning we were up early to go on a birding walk straight after breakfast. When our guide found out I was really interested in birding he made this special arrangement for us. On this occasion I was rather doubtful whether we would actually see anything, let alone some birds. The foggy conditions had worsened over night and visibility was down to about thirty metres at best.
Soon after leaving the hotel grounds we visited the Royal Chitwan National Park headquarters where I did manage to see and identify several species of birds new to me. Actually, Kamal, our guide, identified them for me. I could barely see them in the fog.
A little distance on we visited another elephant enclosure complete with several baby elephants. While the mothers were still tied up the babies were free to roam. One of them took a liking to us and in his curiosity he sniffed all over us. My coat still had baby elephant slobber on it when it was washed back home several weeks later.
Jade, the woman shown in the photo, wanted to take this little elephant home to Darwin with her. They are rather endearing at this age, I must admit.
How does one smuggle a baby elephant back to Australia? In your trunk, of course.