Trip Report: Kangaroo Island, South Australia

It's a bit flawed and sloppy, it's the Kangaroo Island Trip Report! Including tales of Glossy Black-Cockatoos and Cape Barren Geese.

Eastern View, Victoria

Sulpher-crested Cockatoo, New Holland Honeyeater, Unidentified Moths (please comment)

We've just returned from a couple of days at our beloved friend, Cassandre's beach house. The place is surrounded by Sulpher-crested Cockatoos, Superb Blue Wrens and New Holland Honeyeaters with regular fly-overs by Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos. A short walk in the neighbouring hills also returned my first White-eared Honeyeaters and a Spotted Pardalote.

Eltham Parks, Melbourne

I took myself for a spin around the Eltham parks today. Here's some shots and a full species account.


L to R: Superb Blue Wren male and female, Galah, Eastern Grey Kangaroo, White-winged Chough, Sacred Kingfisher

Others seen in order of appearance: Wood Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Magpie Lark, Australian Magpie, Noisy Miner, Eastern Rosella, Starling, Spotted Turtle Dove, Masked Lapwing, Australian Raven, Common Myna, Little Corella, Crested Pigeon, Red Wattlebird, Grey Butcherbird, Dusky Moorhen, Laughing Kookaburra, Common Bronzewing, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian Darter, Straw-necked Ibis, White-faced Heron, Little Black Cormorant, Nankeen Night Heron, Sulpher-crested Cockatoo, Willy Wagtail, Welcome Swallow, Crimson Rosella... and yesterday night a pair of red-rumped Parrots.

Blue Tongue, Melbourne

I was just strolling through the local park (Candle Bark Park, Eltham) when this Blue Tongue slipped out from under the walkway. It was about the size of a baby's arm – pretty small by australian standards, pretty big by mine.

Little Pied Cormorants, St Kilda, Melbourne

Little Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Others seen today: Little Black Cormorant, Welcome Swallow, Grey Butcherbird, Striated Thornbill, Crested Pigeon, Pacific Gull.

Tawny Frogmouth and Friends, Melbourne

Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides


left: Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala,
right: Red Wattlebird fledgling Anthochaera carunculata

Whenever we land in Melbourne we always go for a walk around Maranoa Gardens (a native gardens within Beckett Park) to stretch our legs. That's where Tamara found this Tawny Frogmouth. It isn't the first time we've encountered this stunning bird on arrival day, indeed the very first entry in my very first bird diary was a frogmouth here in April 2006. But this time it was daytime and I had my scope (Nikon ED50) and camera (Ricoh GRDII).

Other birds seen so far today were, in order of appearance:
House Sparrow, Common Myna, Magpie Lark, Australian Magpie (white backed form), Feral Pigeon, Silver Gull, Australian Raven, Common Starling, Spotted Turtle–Dove, Sulpher-crested Cockatoo, Blackbird, Galah, Brush Wattlebird, Rainbow Lorikeet, Eastern Rosella.

Rossi

Rossi the Ring-billed Gull was, once again, loyally sitting–out–the–tide opposite his favourite ice cream parlour this afternoon. A surprisingly late Swallow was also heading west along Southend seafront.

This is my last post before upping sticks and moving to Australia but, like Rossi, I'll be flying back every year for my dose of the Essex riviera.

In the meantime The Dartford Warbler will return to its original ethos: two brothers in two different places sharing their birding exploits.