Tag Archives: wasp

Aldinga’s Temperance Precinct

13 Oct

Dear Reader:

There is a sizeable group of Short-billed Corellas in the eucalyptus trees flanking the street. They exhibit a range of behaviours ranging from preening each other to nibbling branches and feeding on gum nuts. Some of the cars parked under the trees or nearby have also suffered some paintwork indignities due to the sheer number of birds.

Little or Short-beaked Corella

Corellas in tree

I am enjoying the ambience of the Temperance Precinct. A group of shops, restaurants, a pub, and other organisations situated on Port Road, where it intersects South Road leading into Aldinga. It is an area that has developed significantly over the last few years.

An interesting name

A little footwear style

So many colours to choose from

Perhaps the most iconic of these outlets is Miss Gladys on Sea which specialises in ‘well made’ clothing, shoes and accessories. Next door is a deli with organic foodstuffs and across the road, a bakery. Further down the street, there is an old church and graveyard as well as some fine period homes. Intermingled with the buildings are gardens, trees and bushes and the animals and plants which inhabit them.

A bit of everything

Heading for home

Collecting nectar

I sit on a stone wall, which borders a garden, waiting for a friend to do some shopping and notice a large native wasp fly into a gap in the stonework. In the garden I observe the same species feeding on several different kinds of flowers. With my attention focussed on these small invertebrates, I scan the plants for more species and spot: a diminutive flower spider, several Hoverflies, numerous Honey Bees and a cluster of tiny Aphids.

Not a gardener’s best friend

Shopping completed, it is time for lunch, but first I take a short stroll down to the churchyard where I can see some birds flitting between the branches of a red flowering gum. They are wary and in shadow. However, I recognise both Little Wattlebirds and New Holland Honeyeaters.

New Holland Honeyeater

Little Wattlebird

I finish the day with a wonderful steak and kidney pie washed down with a bottle of local fruit juice. In truth, a very satisfying low-key jaunt to one of my favourite coastal towns and I haven’t even taken the short drive to the beach with its fringing reef. An adventure I will leave for another day.

 Cheers

Baz

Additional notes

This is an easy walk and drive which is quite suitable for families and seniors with public toilets, parking and other facilities nearby. It is dog friendly.

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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Thompson Beach Safari

5 Aug

Thompson Beach Safari

 Dear Reader:

I leave the Port Wakefield Road at the Dublin Hotel and head towards the little coastal settlement of Thompson Beach travelling along a well graded unsealed road. Although the International Bird Sanctuary is my final destination, the rural track which passes through wheat-fields, grazing land with remnant scrub and trees on its edges, provides numerous wildlife viewing opportunities. There are parrots, magpies and many smaller bird species in the trees. In the distance, I catch a glimpse of several different kinds of raptors hovering above the plains. I suspect they are Nankeen Kestrels and Black-Shouldered Kites.

 

Enjoyable contrasting colours and textures on the drive in

 

I liked the look of magpies against the grey sky

I am exploring the International Bird Sanctuary at Thompson Beach, a small township around a forty-five-minute drive north of Adelaide. Established in the 1980’s and named after a family who farmed the area in the late 1800s, it is a well-known fishing, crabbing and bird watching destination on the Samphire Coast. Samphire is a low growing coastal plant that is often found in close proximity to mangroves and shallow, saltwater wetlands.

 

Parked on the beach front

 

On reaching the coast I notice a sign that indicates two different walking and sanctuary zones. I will explore both but start with the Baker Creek area to the north. After parking the 4WD at the end of the trail I walk along the beach front and explore the intertidal zone. There are many different shells including; cockles, predatory snails and even cowries. Diminutive Sanderlings are feeding among the drifts of seaweed and further out to sea I can see both egrets and herons wading in the shallows. Small fish are schooling in the mouth of the creek and I find numerous kangaroo droppings in the scrub adjacent to the beach.

 

Sanderling feeding

 

Random collection of shells

The coastal vegetation is almost as interesting as the wildlife. There are some fascinating ground covers close to the beach. I find a late-season Painted Lady butterfly settled amongst an unusual succulent ground cover that I am yet to identify. In a nearby acacia bush, a Singing Honeyeater perches high in the foliage as the bird surveys its territory.

 

Painted Lady on succulent

 

Singing Honeyeater

I have spent a good hour enjoying the Bakers Creek part of the sanctuary and it is time to backtrack and walk along the more developed Third Creek Trail. It has more defined trails with numerous interpretive signs explaining the characteristics of both botanical and animal species.

 

Well interpreted walks

 

Black Kite

 My first animal encounter on this trail is a beautiful Black Kite walking along the beach foraging in the seaweed. As I approach, the bird takes flight and hovers above the beach for a while then moves across the scrub to hunt in a different environment. For the next half an hour the kite alternates between scrub, beach and sea gliding, hovering and occasionally diving as it hunts for prey.

 

Wasp species

It has been an interesting walk and although the wildlife has not been prolific it has certainly been unique and capturing images both challenging and rewarding. Before heading back to the city, by way of the local hotel for a counter lunch, I make one last foray into the scrub. I am determined to get at least one picture of an insect or spider to add a little variation to my story. After a few minutes carefully scanning the foliage, I am rewarded, A small wasp is foraging amongst the leaves of a coastal acacia shrub. Seems that lunch is on the mind of all creatures, great or small.

 Cheers

Baz

Additional notes

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

On this excursion I used my Nikon Coolpix P900 exclusively as it allowed me to smoothly transition from extreme zoom to macro quickly

 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.

 See more of my South Australian stories and pictures in Weekend Notes

https://www.weekendnotes.com/profile/651267/

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