Wild South Australia [Part 1]:
After Gorge, I headed straight to the coast to West Beach, which is the coastal region that sits at the mouth of the Torrens River. In fact, from a bridge, you can see how the river flows straight towards the city on one side and it had the ocean on the other side. West Beach has large stretches of fenced-off sloping dune vegetation mainly for the threatened Hooded Plover which I was unsuccessful in finding despite a great mural for them and I even picked up a keyring of a Hooded Plover on Kangaroo Island the following day, but despite my lucky charm, no success finding them. There however were lots of
Red-capped Plovers and they were chasing the waves whilst others were nesting among the dunes. They blended wonderfully against the sand. The walk along the coastal vegetation was successful in providing three lifers in the form of
Singing Honeyeaters everywhere,
Pacific Gull completing the set of three Australian gulls and monochromatic
Black-faced Cormorants which are endemic to the coastal regions of southern Australia. Unlike the rest of Australian cormorants, this species is restricted to marine and coastal habitats, nesting on offshore rocky islands.
New Holland Honeyeaters and a
Little Wattlebird were other finds. I then spent the late afternoon at Adelaide Botanic Gardens where I enjoyed large flocks of small honeyeaters with more New Holland Honeyeaters but also
Eastern Spinebills.
Eastern Rosellas are abundant in any greenspace in Adelaide so they were here in the dozens. It’s such a different experience to see small bush birds like spinebills in an inner city region. Brisbane doesn’t have that much at all.
Red-capped Plover
Plover mural
The next day I was up early for a bus tour to Kangaroo Island. Run by Sealink Ferry, there is a day trip that allows you to see some of the sites on the island with pick up from Adelaide at around 6am and the ferry trip from the mainland to the island included as well. All up the trip finishes around 10pm but I thought it was worthwhile doing. The major point of interest was that the tour focussed the morning at Seal Bay Conservation Park to view a wild colony of Australian Sea Lions; an opportunity I couldn’t resist. The bus ride down passed constant mobs of
Mainland Western Grey Kangaroos as we headed south. We regularly passed orange flashes of
Adelaide Rosellas feeding on fallen seed along the roadside. I quickly realised how variable they are in colour and amount of orange and yellow plumage they have.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were everywhere as well; perched on every other tree. I was even fortunate enough to see a flock of
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Reaching the terminal were more
Black-faced Cormorants and they are very reliable with a proven roosting site right near where you board the ferry. The ferry took about 40 minutes and passed through incredibly calm and still waters with fishing
Great Crested Terns and more cormorants. Apparently, the week prior the island had been cut off from the mainland due to very rough conditions which had thankfully cleared only a few days prior to my visit.
Black-faced Cormorants
As we reached the shore of the island, a white sandy beach had
Pacific Gull and regular
Galah flyovers over some of the clearest water I have seen. Do note that at night Little Penguin are pretty reliable here as they come to shore and there are regular tours occurring from here for them. I would have actually probably seen the penguins on the way back but the ferry’s windows were thick with condensation. I did hear them. Upon reaching the small town of Penneshaw where there are various forms of accommodations for those seeking to stay longer, a pub and a shop or two, some of the town birds included
Superb Fairywren (new subspecies),
New Holland Honeyeater, House Sparrow and
European Goldfinch even. The guide who picked up our group from the port was a former national park ranger and had lived most of his adult life on the island. We were in good hands. On the way to the seals, he knowingly pointed out several
Kangaroo Island Kangaroos that were grazing in sheep paddocks. He was telling us how these stockier kangaroos often prefer to dig under fencing to get through over hopping, creating problems for farmers. Large flocks of
Australian Shelducks and
Black Swans regularly passed over the scenic rolling hills. I am still chasing better views of wild shelducks as whenever I see them down south it’s always a passing distant flock. They are a cool sight though. About an hour later as we entered into the wilder part away from farms it quickly became apparent how the island is still recovering from the 2020 bushfires. Blacken tree skeletons still fill the horizon with thick ground vegetation and smaller plants slowly clambering up the trunks reaching prime position. There were very few mature trees around the western part of the island at all. It was all very shocking and put into perspective the devastation of the event. Seal Bay is very isolated, located right on the south coast of the island in the middle. This rugged part of the island is what largely protected the colony of
Australian Sea-Lions which is the third largest breeding colony for this species in existence at around 700 adults currently with a couple hundred pups. The total wild predicted population of this endangered species is around 10,000 individuals and is declining. Before we reached the sea lions, we passed a flash visitor centre with flocks of fairywrens, honeyeaters,
Silvereyes and
Brown Thornbills darting through the bushes as the waves crashed beyond.
Kangaroo Island Brown Thornbill
Kangaroo Island Superb Fairywren
These sea-lions are unique in the fact they need to always come to shore to sleep and rest so chances of sightings are very high. To access them there are two options; (1) members of the general public can walk the boardwalk that leads down to good views of the sea lions or (2) wait for a national park guide to take you down to the beach which is what our tour included which was slightly unnerving at times. I am not used to big wild mammals! Thankfully we had limited access on the beach. As we walked down to the coastline from a clear walkway I observed how these sea-lions pushed through the vegetation to seek warmth with large indentations in bushes showing where they had rested. Almost burrow-like. They do not have the insulating fur that the growing population of fur seals have so they often seek this additional shelter. The walk then reached a boardwalk section with a set of stairs to the beach. From this point onwards there was an overwhelming number of sea-lions everywhere I looked. Large bulls patrolled the beach with females and pups resting. The occasional female arrived from the waves and several pups were sparring on the beach. While I had seen of course captive males and females of this species, the sexual dimorphism was amazing to witness here with gold-capped chocolate matures males contrasting the sandy greyish-blue females. On the beach it was also interesting to see the little groupings from the shore. This species is also a slow breeder with a breeding cycle of almost 18 months with older pups often staying with the female while she rears another pup. Something I observed first hand. Incredible experience.
Australian Sea Lions
Australian Sea Lion bull
After the sea lions and hours of travelling, we stopped for lunch at Vivonne Bay. I birded of course and picked up my lifer
Brown-headed Honeyeater in the trees outside. Despite huge losses of 40 000 individuals,
Southern Koalas were dripping off the trees here and I spotted four individuals low in trees. Nothing like the casual sightings around Brisbane, these furrier and larger koalas I found to be easier to spot. These koalas on Kangaroo Island are introduced and cause environmental problems for the vegetation on the island if they reach unsustainable numbers. As the ranger who initially led the koala management program, our guide reflected on the backlash he faced after the proposal to cull them was put forward. Public outcry led to a sterilisation programme instead but the establishment of blue gum plantations on the island only fuelled the growth of koalas to an unmanageable point where the population was booming to the point of starvation as the koalas had limited space, reaching capacity. Their population is currently growing again rapidly. I later saw two wild koalas on the grounds of Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park. If there is a decent tree on Kangaroo Island it probably has a koala up it.
Koala
We then headed to the largest national park in South Australia – Flinders Chase National Park. 96% of the national park was burnt to the ground in 2020. Coast to coast. There are still sections of the park that are completely blackened but life is coming back. Flocks of
Cape Barren Geese relished the clearings between bushland to rear their stripey goslings. Our guide saw a Rosenberg’s Monitor on the roadside but only some people saw it and one of them wasn’t me unfortunately. A
Nankeen Kestrel hovered over a rugged cliff face as we spotted for a quick photo opportunity of the dramatic landscape. We reached the incredible Admiral Arch which I hadn’t realised was a hotspot for fur seals so that was a pleasant surprise. First birds were low to the ground and included a
Spotted Pardalote with my initial reaction being “what are you doing here?!”. Spotted Pardalotes are woodland birds in my mind but here I was with the ocean crashing below, seals vocalising nearby and blustery winds with a single little bird perched on a bare branch. Honeyeaters were the theme here with two lovely lifers;
Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters were common with fleeting views and a single
Purple-gaped Honeyeater emerged for a couple of seconds before darting into the scrub again.
Australian Raven was keeping a close eye on things.
Cape Barren Goose
Purple-gaped Honeyeater – no chance to zoom in but one of the best birds of the trip
Onto the seals is a longish track down the side of a cliff essentially with a new boardwalk that allows visitors to travel down what seemed to be the edge of the earth towards crashing waves. There they were; brown blobs of mainly
Australian Fur Seals which pups and a handful of
Long-nosed Fur Seals among them as well. The first species tends to be larger and which a less prominent broader snout of course but there is wide variation especially among females and pups so careful identifications has to occur in the parts of their range where they overlap like Kangaroo Island.
Long-nosed Fur Seal
It was approaching 3pm so we headed towards Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park for a quick tour of the place. It was only of a small section of the park unfortunately so I didn’t get a good feel for the place but I liked what I saw. I wasn’t in the mindset for exotics so two pairs of Blue and Gold Macaw and Serval were a bit random I must say as we walked around the park! As I mentioned earlier there were several wild koalas on the grounds especially active in the late afternoon; apparently at least nine different wild koalas can be seen at the zoo. In the walkthrough enclosures for grey kangaroos there were
Crimson Rosellas among
Red Wattlebirds. What I find strange is the fact that on the island the rosellas are red like they are in eastern Australia but when you cross back onto the mainland they are orange around Adelaide. I guess because the mainland birds intermingled with Yellow Rosella but still an interesting example of an isolated island population.
Kangaroo Island Crimson Rosella
The park breeds a lot of Quokka and they have recently separated the breeding male and placed him in a koala enclosure as he has done a very thorough job shall we say with a large mob of females and joeys popping their heads of their pouches. I then saw an aviary with Red-tailed and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos as we breezed past Little Penguin, Common Wombat, Dingo, Australian Pelican and more Southern Koala. Tammar Wallaby as well was good see after missing it in the wild; their numbers haven’t recovered to pre-bushfire levels. After a brief tour of this section of the park and a snack to refuel, we headed back to the ferry to return to Adelaide. An exhausting but thrilling day. Of course, I would have loved to spend longer on Kangaroo Island but the day tour was a full and satisfying way to see a good range of the island with memorable wildlife, landscapes and stories. I had to get some rest as I had a long walk ahead of me at Monarto Safari Park the following day.
Quokka
Dingoes
