Richard Hall Photography

I organised a day trip with Peter to visit a few localities along the south coast around the Goolwa area. We set off about 7am and made our first brief stop at Mount Compass to look specifically for Southern Emu-wren around the boardwalk/wetlands area. Unfortunately we neither saw nor heard any of our target species but we did get some nice close-up views of a pair of Grey Fantails that were in the area and as inquisitive as ever.

Apart from a few European Goldfinches, New Holland Honeyeaters and some very vocal Brown Thornbill there was little else of interest so we jumped back in the car and headed down to Waitpinga Beach. We were hoping there might be some Hooded Plovers around but we dipped out once again, so we turned our attention to the small gathering of Crested Terns that were resting on the beach. They were quite approachable if you kept low, so we belly-slid our way towards them and fired off a few frames as they went about their business.

Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) at Waitpinga Beach, South Australia

Aside from the Crested Tern there was only a few Silver Gull present on the beach so we decided to have a look behind the dunes where the creek opens out into a flat swamp. I was surprised to see 40+ Black-tailed Native-hen (Gallinula ventralis) here, feeding in the open. It looked too difficult an area to access so we let them be and made our way down to Goolwa. Pulling in to the bird hide we could see several Whiskered Terns cruising above the shallows, occasionally turning acrobatically before diving down for food. Also present were a few Hardhead but little else of interest except for a lone Little Egret in the distance. We drove on down the road to the boat ramp. Along the way we observed a dozen or so Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and six Common Greenshank feeding on the mud flats alongside the road. A pair of Caspian Tern were at the end of the small island east of the barrage and were joined by a juvenile before they took off to look for food.

There were a few Crested Tern taking up positions on the poles at the boat ramp, but as the tide was out it made getting close enough for a good photo opportunity impossible. I decided to try my luck with the juvenile Pied Cormorant that was on the walkway alongside the boat ramp. It was quite relaxed and with the bright but overcast conditions, made for a rather high-key photograph!

We left the boat ramp and headed to Hindmarsh Island to look amongst the samphire for chats or Neophema and for waders on the mudflats. No Neophema were sighted but we did see a couple of small flocks of White-fronted Chats. They proved extremely difficult to approach and no photographs were taken... as usual! There were a few Caspian Terns cruising overhead and with their raucous calls and characteristic flight, they really reminded me of how Pterodactyls are depicted in the movies.

As for waders, only a pair of Red-capped Plover were sighted so we left Hindmarsh Island and made our way back to Goolwa where we saw a couple of White-fronted Chats in one of the local parks, which seemed a bit odd. A pair of Black Swan and their five fluffy cygnets emerged from the water and proceeded to feed on the grasses giving us opportunity for some close up photos. Red-rumped Parrots were also feeding on the grass so I moved in close and captured some images of the female doing what grass parrots do best!

Red-rumped Parrrot (Psephotus haematonotus) at Goolwa, South Australia