Goolwa

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Another of my night time or early morning drives found me at a little town near the mouth of the Murray River called Goolwa. 150 years ago Goolwa was a major shipping port, the place where river boats met ocean going ships and transferred cargoes. These days it's a large sprawl of very expensive holiday houses.

The first thing I saw of interest was a Shag drying his wings out after hunting his breakfast. They're a type of Cormorant, they dive for fish and Shags can also use their wings to "fly" underwater so they can dive very deep and actively chase their prey under the water. Very efficient hunters.

Goolwa has preserved a lot of their old buildings and their history and heritage.

Note the use of red bricks as decorations in the building, and they really are only decorations and not structural. Tiny little towns in remote areas couldn't manufacture their own bricks and instead had to import them at great cost. Those bricks were a symbol of wealth and status.

And on my way out of the town I saw a few huge flocks of Corellas picking over last year's wheat stubble.

 

[WhitewaterWoman]

I recently was reading a bit about Goolwa in the book about going down the Darling (and later the Murray) in a small boat. How cool.

We have cormorants here and they are fascinating birds. The anhinga also swims and walks under water to catch fish in fresh water.

The old pictures of the Everglades showed flocks of birds that big, but not any more.

 

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Corellas are by far the noisiest birds on the planet, it's nice seeing them from a distance but no fun at all if a large flock invades your town. They're rarely seen in cities of course but they thrive where ever wheat is grown. Flocks of over 1000 birds aren't uncommon.

 

[RESleight]

Another of my night time or early morning drives found me at a little town near the mouth of the Murray River called Goolwa. 150 years ago Goolwa was a major shipping port, the place where river boats met ocean going ships and transferred cargoes. These days it's a large sprawl of very expensive holiday houses.

The first thing I saw of interest was a Shag drying his wings out after hunting his breakfast. They're a type of Cormorant, they dive for fish and Shags can also use their wings to "fly" underwater so they can dive very deep and actively chase their prey under the water. Very efficient hunters.

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Goolwa has preserved a lot of their old buildings and their history and heritage.

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Note the use of red bricks as decorations in the building, and they really are only decorations and not structural. Tiny little towns in remote areas couldn't manufacture their own bricks and instead had to import them at great cost. Those bricks were a symbol of wealth and status.

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And on my way out of the town I saw a few huge flocks of Corellas picking over last year's wheat stubble.

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Here's some additional information for others who may want to read more about Cormorant and Anhinga:

How to tell the difference between a cormorant and an anhinga? - Birdful

 

[FayetheAspie]

Corellas are by far the noisiest birds on the planet, it's nice seeing them from a distance but no fun at all if a large flock invades your town. They're rarely seen in cities of course but they thrive where ever wheat is grown. Flocks of over 1000 birds aren't uncommon.

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It reminds me of a cockatiel.