April 21, 2005
Our second day of the tour took us to more wildlife-friendly places. (YAY)! I did start the day, however, with a morning walk along the beach, like I’d done the previous day.
Our first stop on today’s tour was the Emu Ridge Eucalyptus Distillery, where we saw captive Emu, along with some great wild birds, including my first male Superb Fairywren. We also saw the Kangaroo Island subspecies of Crimson Rosella. Such gorgeous color!
We made a quick stop at Vivonne Bay, where we enjoyed the scenic views.
Our next stop: the Kelly Hill Caves. Kevin and Eclipse took the cave tour, but I opted to wander around in the woods nearby instead, which was a very good decision. Eclipse really enjoyed the tour, and I saw some amazing birds, including several new species, including Spotted Pardalote, Scarlet Robin, and Purple-gaped Honeyeater.
We had lunch at Beckwith’s Farm, which had a few captive animals, but also a lovely wildlife trail where we saw more great birds, including Kangaroo Island Grey Currawong, Spotted Scrubwren, Brown-headed Honeyeater, and and some wild Koala. We saw a couple of Tammar Wallaby, and one of my favorite birds of the day: a gorgeous Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo!
On the approach to Remarkable Rocks, we drove through miles of Mallee-heath, and once we arrived at the rocks, they were truly remarkable. I was a bit put off at first by the warnings – apparently, people have fallen to their deaths here by getting too close to the edge. I considered not even going down (what with my fear of heights), but then I realized I couldn’t let Eclipse go down there without my eagle-eye watching, haha! So, I climbed out onto the rocks, and it turned out not to be scary at all. It’s easy to stay far away from the edge, and since it wasn’t windy or rainy, the conditions weren’t particularly dangerous. Scary or not, it was gorgeous up there!
Our next stop was Admiral’s Arch, a very beautiful spot – possibly my favorite place on the island. The scenery is gorgeous, and there were Brown Fur Seal and Sooty Oystercatcher hanging around, as well.
We stopped briefly at Flinder’s Chase National Park – oh, how I wished we’d had time to walk some of the trails here, but it was only a short snack break. We did see a Kangaroo Island Grey Kangaroo and Tammar Wallaby, though. After Flinders Chase, we visited Island Pure Sheep Dairy, where we discovered the wonders of Haloumi cheese, and then back to Penneshaw and the ferry back to the mainland.
Kangaroo Island is beautiful! Well worth the visit, and I wouldn’t mind coming back again sometime, and doing some more dedicated wildlife watching!
Species List
Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena neoxena), Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Black-shouldered Lapwing (Vanellus miles), Pacific Gull (Larus pacificus georgii), Australian Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius hypoleucos), House Sparrow (Passer domesticus), Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis), Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris), Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris), Black-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax fuscescens), Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus), Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla albiceps), Kangaroo Island Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans melanopterus), Crescent Honeyeater (Phylidonyris pyrrhopterus), Black-faced Cuckooshrike (Coracina novaehollandiae melanops), Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang), Purple-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus cratitius), New Holland Honeyeater (Phylidonyris novaehollandiae), Striated Thornbill (Acanthiza lineata whitei), Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris halmaturinus), White-plumed Honeyeater (Ptilotula penicillata), Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus), Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata clelandi), Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus), Spotted Scrubwren (Sericornis maculatus), Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus moluccanus moluccanus), Australian Raven (Corvus coronoides coronoides), Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii), Cape Barren Goose (Cereopsis novaehollandiae novaehollandiae), Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca), Kangaroo Island Gray Currawong (Strepera versicolor), South Australian White-backed Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen telonocua), Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo (Zanda funerea), Brown-headed Honeyeater (Melithreptus brevirostris), Gray Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica harmonica), Australasian Gannet (Morus serrator), Brown Fur Seal (Arctocephalus pusillus), Sooty Oystercatcher (Haematopus fuliginosus fuliginosus), Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres interpres), Variegated Limpet (Cellana tramoserica), Great Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii), Orange-edged Limpet (Cellana solida), Kangaroo Island Kangaroo (Macropus fuliginosus fuliginosus), Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala), Sugar Gum (Eucalyptus cladocalyx), possible Tasmanian Blue Gum (Eucalyptus globulus), possible Marri (Corymbia calophylla), Manna Gum (Eucalyptus viminalis), Western Australian Peppermint (Agonis flexuosa)
Let me know what you think!