Dear Reader:
Two Mallee Ringneck Parrots are perched high in a spindly eucalypt. Bracing the camera against a tree, I focus on the nearer bird to better illustrate its glorious colours.
Malle Ringneck Parrot
First sighting of Parrots
The Ferries McDonald Conservation Park is in the Monarto area about an hour’s drive from Adelaide’s CBD. It is a ‘dryland’ park dominated by Mallee trees and typical of the area before European settlement.
David entering the park
In the spring there is an abundance of blossoming shrubs and understory wildflowers, including numerous orchid species.
Eremophila Species
Peaflower species
We move along the narrow track slowly and listen carefully for a tell-tale rustle in the undergrowth or bird call. It is the former that announces my next encounter as a Shingleback Lizard heads for cover, abandoning the open, sunny area where it is basking.
Shingleback in cover
I’d prefer not to have my photograph taken
The occasional raptor, and small groups of cockatoos fly overhead. However, it is a diminutive, female Spotted Spotted Pardalote that catches my eye.
Spotted Pardalote
During the next hour of gentle walking we encounter a lone Western Grey Kangaroo near a fence-line which separates the park from nearby pastureland and numerous bird species. Most are tiny birds such as Silvereyes and honeyeater species which are feeding high in the canopy. In addition, there are Little Ravens, wattlebird species and Black-faced Cuckoo Shrikes in the area.
Western Grey with joey
The day is quite warm and the trek has taken a couple of hours which includes numerous stops to stand, watch and listen for wildlife. It is time for a leisurely drive home while still scanning for wildlife as we negotiate the initial section of unsealed road. However, it is a very rare sighting of a monitor lizard crossing the sealed road that really excites us.
Goannna crossing the road
I slow the car and cut the engine, gliding to a stop where the Goanna (the general term for all Australian monitors) pauses on a slight embankment. I power the windows down and we manage a few close ups before the lizard heads back into the scrub. An extraordinary way to round off our day.
Sand Goanna or Sand Monitor
Cheers
Baz
Additional notes
The camera used for this post is a Nikon P900
This is an easy walk/drive which is quite suitable for families and seniors.
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