Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Blackwood, South Australia
Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Blackwood, South Australia
On my visit to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens late last year I enjoyed strolling around the various paths taking photos of the garden beds, the plants that were flowering and looking for birds to photograph. Sadly I didn’t see many birds; this is usually a good birding spot.
Never mind. I really enjoyed the wonderful spring day with a gentle breeze. Look back over recent days where I shared more photos, and stay tuned for more in the coming days.
Information:
Fore more information about the gardens – location, opening times, facilities – click here.
Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Blackwood, South Australia
Wittunga Botanic Gardens, Blackwood, South Australia
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
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
Pelicans at Mallacoota
Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria
On our evening walk around Mallacoota we saw several Australian Pelicans cruising around near the jetty. They seemed to be quite unafraid of humans.
Several fishermen were cleaning their catch nearby, so I guess they have become used to having leftovers thrown at them from the fishermen and so they hang around for a free handout.
It was just on sunset, and the last soft rays of the setting sun lit up these beautiful birds to show off their lovely markings.
Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria