A day at the beach

Silver Gull, Pt Elliott, South Australia

Recently my wife and I celebrated another milestone in our lives together. To mark the occasion we went driving down south from our home to the lovely South Coast of South Australia. This is just over an hour's drive from our home in Murray Bridge.

Our first stop was at the Milang Bakery to buy some lunch. We enjoyed eating our lunch on the lawn overlooking the nearby Lake Alexandrina. The mighty Murray River - Australia's largest river system - runs into this lake before moving out into the Southern Ocean.

After lunch, we explored Hindmarsh Island. This inland island is near Goolwa, and we stopped at a picnic spot on the island overlooking the Murray Mouth. There were plenty of pelicans, cormorants, a few ducks and several species of ibis as well as a few Cape Barren Geese, one of our rarer bird species.

For afternoon tea we had a cup of tea accompanied by some homemade biscuits. I choose a lovely spot overlooking Horseshoe Bay at Pt Elliott. This is a popular holiday destination for many people, and also with day-trippers like ourselves. While we were having our cuppa and enjoying the view, a Silver Gull posed nicely on a nearby interpretive sign. It stayed long enough for a series of photos, almost as if it was posing especially for me.

For dinner that night we went to one of our favourite restaurants in Victor Harbor. It was a fitting end to a relaxing day.

You can read more about Australian birds and see more photos of them on my other site, Trevor's Birding.

Silver Gull

Horseshoe Bay, Pt Elliott, South Australia

Horseshoe Bay, Pt Elliott, South Australia

Nice pose Silver Gull

Silver Gull, Pt Elliot, South Australia

Earlier this week my wife and I celebrated another anniversary. We usually try to do something special on this day and this year we decided to go for an all-day outing. After an early morning phone call from our grandchildren, we set off on a drive via Milang, less than an hour from home. Milang is on the northern shore of Lake Alexandrina here in South Australia. The longest river system in Australia, the Murray River, flows into this lake before heading out to the Southern Ocean.

At Milang we visited the local bakery to buy some Cornish pasties and a lamington for our lunch. We took our lunch down to the lawned area between the lake and the caravan park. While we ate and had a cuppa, we enjoyed watching a few children and dogs playing nearby. The birdlife was not particularly abundant, except for a large, noisy flock of Little Corella parrots in the nearby trees.

Later in the afternoon, we parked on top of a lookout hill above Horseshoe Bay in Pt Elliot. While we were having another cuppa and a few homemade biscuits, a Silver Gull landed on an interpretive sign just in front of our car. It obligingly posed for me while I took some photos. Silver Gulls are the most common species of gull in Australia. They can be found all around the coastline and along most major waterways, near lakes and swamps, even far inland. Even though many people just call them "Sea" gulls, they are frequently encountered far from the sea, but never far from water.

You can read more about Australian birds, and see many more photos of them on my other site Trevor's Birding here.

Silver Gull, Pt Elliot, South Australia

Silver Gull, Pt Elliot, South Australia

Silver Gull, Pt Elliot, South Australia

Silver Gulls

Silver Gull (with Pacific Black Ducks)

A few days ago my wife called me out into the garden. A flock of about 20 Silver Gulls was soaring and gliding on the breeze above our house and garden, and also parts of our five acre property here in Murray Bridge, South Australia.

This was an unusual sighting for our property. Every few months we do have a few Silver Gulls fly high over, but this flock's behaviour was different. They all stayed only 5 - 10 metres above the trees and shrubs. They did this circling around and around and rarely utterly their usual calls; just the odd contact call occasionally. I can only assume that they had found a patch of insects to feed on during this silent aerial display.

Curious.

You can see more photos and read more stories and encounters with Australian birds on my other site called Trevor's Birding here.

Silver Gulls at Sturt Reserve

The common gull here in Australia is the Silver Gull, shown in today's photos. These photos were taken at Sturt Reserve which is on the River Murray in my home town of Murray Bridge in South Australia.

When the birding is slow and there are a few Silver Gulls hanging around, I like to hone my photographic skills on them. They are such obliging subjects; besides, I like the look of them.

For more information about Australian birds go to my other site Trevor's Birding here. 

Silver Gulls, Victor Harbor, South Australia

This lovely shot of two Silver Gulls was taken on the beach near Yilki, Encounter Bay, Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia.

More photos and articles about about Australian birds here.