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Dear Reader: Welcome Swallow at rest As I drive along the unsealed road, I notice Welcome Swallows hawking for insects in the fields. Several birds are resting on the strands of barbed wire between their sorties. I slow the car, drop the window and take a quick shot. Driving towards Myponga beach I am travelling along Myponga Beach Road towards the little township of the same name. Australian…

Dear Reader: Brown Goshawk (final ID) A raptor flies low across the swamp, landing carefully amongst the branches of a Tea Tree. It scans the area quickly then takes off again. I capture a quick image. Review it briefly: realising that I must do a little more research to make an accurate identification. Boardwalk merging into a nearby pine plantation I am revisiting the Compass School Swamp…

Purple Swamphens, full story at

Scorpionfly Dear Reader: At first, I think it is a Dragonfly, but the wings look more slender and the legs longer. It seems that I have photographed my first Scorpionfly. The Mount Compass School Swamp is one of several, remaining and rare, freshwater swamps on the Fleurieu Peninsula. Unlike many other wetlands they do not dry out over the summer months These swamps are a refuge for numerous…

Mudlark and Eastern Water Skink, full story at

Dear Reader Galahs eating Plane Tree fruits As I park car in the shade of some Plane trees, I notice a small group of Rose-breasted Cockatoos (Galahs) feeding on the fruits. They are manipulating them with their claw-like feet to get at the seeds inside. Old brewery buildings in the background I am spending the morning at Karkoo Plant Nursery in the hills’ town of Oakbank, about a half hour…

Grey Fantail, Mt Pleasant, full story at

Continued from Blog 254 Magpies grouped in a tree Dear Reader…. ……Looking further across the field I notice a long dead tree with a small flock of Australian Magpies perched along a skeletal branch. A rather picturesque and haunting image. I use the GPS for location confirmation when writing notes and taking photographs Climbing back into my car I scan the GPS for the next intersecting road…

Grey Fantail, probably a juvenile Dear Reader: There is a solitary Grey Fantail hunting alongside the bridge. It perches on a branch then makes quick aerial sorties to catch insects in mid-air. Bridge over the Torrens on Talunga Road I am at the first bridge in Mount Pleasant, on Talunga Park Road, after entering the town on the B10 from Birdwood in the Adelaide Hills. This delightful little…

Short-necked Turtles, Wynn Vale Dam, full story at

Painted Dragon, Tennyson, full story at