Waterbirds near Goolwa in South Australia

Australian Pelican

On our recent visit to Goolwa in South Australia we went for a drive along the River Murray to the barrage near the mouth of the river. This barrage keeps the salt water from entering the river system at high tide.

This area is usually quite a good place for birding, though on this occasion there seemed to be just the usual birds one would expect. Nothing really exciting or out of the ordinary. Still, good birding days are usually like this. They make the really special days extraordinary.

Little Pied Cormorant

Along this stretch of the river we saw plenty of Australian Pelicans, White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Great Egrets, White-faced Herons, Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal, Little Pied Cormorants, Magpie Larks and Silver Gulls. Several Purple Swamphens stalked through the reeds while on the grassy areas a number of Masked Lapwings guarded their positions. Black Swans gracefully glided through the shallows and Singing Honeyeaters were the dominant species in the thick bushy areas along the sand dunes.