Morgan Conservation Park

It's been 15yrs since I last headed up to Morgan, so I decided it was time to revisit this neat little riverland town! The main draw card for me on this trip was a memory now nearly twenty years old. I can still vividly recall a flock of around ten Regent Parrots flying fast and low overhead when I was up this way water skiing, at the time I was only about twelve years old!

Memories fade, but when I rolled into Morgan on a lovely sunny Saturday afternoon, it all came flooding back and it was as if I had only been here not long ago! It's always nice to return to a place where you haven't been to for a long time and find it pretty much as it was and not over-run with housing developments and big supermarkets everywhere, which can so often ruin our coastal towns these days! Once quaint little seaside towns, now big everything and 4wd vehicles that will never see a dirt road!

Striated Pardalotes

First stop was the playground as I had a couple of ankle biters with me. While there the first birds to make an appearance were a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets closely followed by stacks of Noisy Miners! Also seen in this area were a pair of Striated Pardalotes on the side of a cliff, a nesting hole had been dug out not far beneath them so I imagine they are breeding there. Three Red-rump Parrots were feeding on the lawns, Sulfur-crest Cockatoos and Little Corella's wheeled overhead, while down on the river there were some Pacific Black Ducks, Wood Ducks and a lone Darter on the other side.

Red-rump Parrot (Male)

Red-rump Parrot (Female)

Next we drove onto the Ferry and headed across to the Conservation Park. With a diverse range of habitat the chance of an unusual bird showing up is probably quite good, for me this turned up in the form of an Australasian Bittern calling it's distinctive call from a big reed bed on the edge of the lagoon. Despite scanning the area for twenty minutes it failed to show! Not unusual for this cryptic species!

The reed bed from which the Bittern was calling.

After scanning the lagoon seeing many of the usual waterfowl, we headed to the eastern side of the lagoon parked the car and took of on foot in pursuit of whatever would show up! Heading into the small sandy rises just away from the Lagoon we came across our first Regent Parrots which flew off into the distance almost instantly! d'oh!! luckily it didn't take long to locate many more!!

A pair of Regent Parrots

Part of a flock of 10 feeding Regents

Female Regent preening

Male Regent

Other highlights included : a pair of Crested-shrike tits, an Intermediate Egret, many Great Egrets, a Pied Butcherbird, lots of Yellow Rosella's, Tree Martins, Musk Duck, White-browed Babblers and many more common species! All up a good days birding! Definitely planning a return trip!

Yellow Rosella

Distant shot of a Pied Butcherbird

Great Egret

Welcome Swallow perched on the Ferry rail