Tag Archives: billabong

Houseboat Reflections Kings Billabong, Mildura part 1

21 Aug

Dear Reader:

With the houseboat safely secured and lunch over; it is time for a walk into the bush.

Camouflage
Australian Painted Lady
Australian Plague Locust

I scan the dry leaf litter for signs of life. A locust moves just enough for me to locate it while a colourful butterfly lands amongst the leaves. It is well camouflaged when still with wings upright, easily seen when it spreads them.

Male Red-rumped Par

Following the track across an open space I hear the call of Red-rumped Parrots up ahead. They are gathered around a depression filled with water from recent rains. As I approach, they fly into the trees.

Classic channel in Kings Billabong wetland

The track meets one of King Billabong’s many channels then branches along the waterway in both directions. I turn right scratching a marker into the soft earth. It is easy lose direction in this kind of environment.

Brown Treecreeper

A Brown Treecreeper moves quickly along the branches of a nearby tree probing the bark for insects. The little bird scurries down the trunk and peers at me for a few seconds before taking flight.

White-plumed Honeyeaters

I sit for a while and watch the grassy scrub. There is a small group of White-plumed Honeyeater flitting around between the branches and I manage to catch one feeding a juvenile while another watches from the trees.

Pied Cormorant
Darter, Anhinga, Snakbird

There is enough water in the billabong for both Anhingas (Snakebirds, Darters) and Pied Cormorants to fish for Carp, Frogs and other aquatic prey. Both species must leave the water periodically to dry out their wings as they do not have the protective oils that many seabirds possess.

Native flower along the track (Wahlenbergia species)

Along the edge of the track there are a few native flowers blooming and I stop to photograph a small purple blossom which I later identify as a Wahlenbergia species………………….to be continued

Cheers

Baz

Additional notes

Other animals seen, heard but not photographed: Raven, Laughing Kookaburra, Bronzewing

The camera used for this post is a Nikon Coolpix P900

This is an easy walk which is quite suitable for families and seniors

Please pass on this blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying wildlife in SA.

Click on these links and see more South Australian stories and pictures in my Weekend Notes articles as well as locating similar blogs on Feedspot’s top 20 Australian wildlife blogs

https://www.weekendnotes.com/adelaide/writer/452

https://blog.feedspot.com/australian_wildlife_blogs

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An Urban Billabong

29 Sep

Dear Reader:

The word billabong looms large in Australian folklore. It is where ‘a jolly swagman’ met his untimely end and mythical beasties called ‘bunyips’ supposedly emerge from the water to devour unwary campers. In reality, billabongs are freshwater wetlands that flood when river levels are high then become more isolated in the dry season. They are essentially backwaters that provide a refuge for many different species of animals as well as being popular locations for camping and fishing.

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Still, dark waters of an urban billabong

 

In South Australia the lower reaches of the Murray River has many lovely billabongs that have provided me with many a peaceful afternoon’s wildlife watching and photography. However, the trail that runs along the banks of Adelaide’s Torrens River also incorporates a little billabong which is tucked behind the upmarket suburb of St Peters, just a stone’s throw from the CBD. It was rehabilitated in the mid eighties and over the intervening years various community and government groups have overseen its care and maintenance.

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A mosaic of the rainbow serpent reflects the importance that Aboriginal people attached to billabongs

 

Last weekend, I packed my little super-zoom camera, hopped on the bike and pedalled up to the billabong to take stock of the wildlife. It has been a long wet winter and I was hoping that the warmth of the first few weeks of spring would stimulate some wildlife activity. I was not entirely disappointed. As I approached the little wooden landing that fronts the water, a pair of amorous crested pigeons pranced and displayed to each other. Close to a patch of reeds a mother black duck was tending a pair of fluffy little ducklings.

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Courting crested pigeons

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A pair of black swans nibble the water side vegetation

 

During the winter months the landscape may be verdant but few of the native shrubs flower and the insects that rely on the blossoms are rare. Now the billabong was clearly beginning to emerge from its winter blues and life was starting to reassert itself. As well as the hormonal pigeons and baby ducks a colony of colonial spiders had constructed a silken trap in an acacia bush and delicate little purple chocolate lilies were emerging from their winter dormancy.

chocolate lily

Chocolate lily

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Colonial spiders construct a complex web in a wattle bush

 

As spring turns to summer I am sure the wildlife will continue to flourish and I look forward to revisiting and reporting back to you.

Cheers

Baz      

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