| Lowan Conservation Park |
| Written by Richard |
| Saturday, 19 November 2011 21:44 |
|
Headed out with Peter to Lowan Conservation Park today, a nice patch of remnant mallee woodland approximately 45 kilometres north east of Murray Bridge. We arrived about 8am into some absolutely awful weather, the thick grey clouds that greeted us stayed throughout much of the day and the odd spot of rain made for some dashes back to the car for cover. Despite the conditions we made the most of it and soon found a large flock of woodswallows at the eastern end of the park. There must have been 200+ birds in total, most of them White-browed Woodswallows, though I did spot a couple of Masked Woodswallow mixed in amongst them. They would gather at the top of several mallee eucalypts feeding on insects only to suddenly take to the air en masse, circle around and then land nearby on another set of trees. It was quite a sight to behold and rather loud too! I found a lone pair of White-browed Woodswallows nesting and when they took to the air with the flock I was able to move in close using my camo netting and a nearby tree as cover. They seemed oblivious to my presence and happily went about feeding, sitting on and tidying up after their chicks. A male White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) on its nest
A male White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) feeding one of the chicks
A female White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) on its nest
A female White-browed Woodswallow (Artamus superciliosus) removing a fecal sac from the nest
Also present at Lowan were a couple of flocks of Budgerigars, I hadn't seen wild Budgies for many years so it was quite a buzz to see them once again in their natural environment. They were always in close proximity to the woodswallows and when the woodswallows took to the air, so too did the Budgerigars. They would both circle together before landing, the woodswallows into the trees and most of the time the Budgerigars would land on the ground to look for food. I counted approximately 120+ birds in total, they would split into two or three smaller flocks but still land back together as one group.
A few of the Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus) observed
Mallee Woodland and Spinifex habitat at Lowan Conservation Park, South Australia
Jacky Winter were also present in large numbers with a new pair to be found every couple of hundred metres. We took opportunity on several occasions to photograph these birds as they are relatively easy to approach. Pishing can sometimes illicit a very strong response from this species, they appeared to become aggressive a couple of times when I made some squeaky noises, so it was used sparingly and if it seemed to distress the birds I ceased using it.
Jacky Winter (Microeca fascinans) at Lowan Conservation Park, South Australia
An immature Jacky Winter (Microeca fascinans) at Lowan Conservation Park, South Australia
Spotted Pardalote were present in quite large numbers and you could hear their soft calls throughout the park. Striated Pardalote were less common and we stumbled upon a pair nesting low down in a mallee eucalypt. We stood nearby and they would regularly come and go delivering a variety of insects, so it was safe to presume chicks were in the nest.
Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus) bringing in food at its nest hollow
Plenty of White-winged Chough were found in the park and alongside the roads in the surrounding areas. We found a family group attending a nest, though they didn't appear to be sitting on eggs or attending young. Their calls range from a melancholic whistle to a rather more raucous alarm call. They're certainly amusing and interesting birds to observe with their unusual behaviour of eye-bulging, tail wagging and wing-waving.
White-winged Chough (Corcorax melanorhamphos) looking somewhat manic with eyes bulged!
Despite the poor weather we had a good trip with some interesting birds observed and photographed and I look forward to heading back under more favourable conditions. |
| Last Updated on Monday, 21 November 2011 14:08 |