Fleurieu Peninsula Nature and Wildlife
The Fleurieu Peninsula photo album features nature and wildlife, including geological rock formations and endemic birds at Granite Island. However, the album only features the places we visited on our first trip but includes pictures from both. On our first trip, in September 2013, we visited Victor Harbor. We revisited it in October 2019 while on our circular South Australia tour.
Granite Island Recreation Park
Millions of years ago, Granite Island formed when magma deep within the Earth forced upwards and cooled. Thick layers of sedimentary rock covered the granite but, gradually over millions of years, eroded to expose the granite. Also, the mainland softer sediment rock eroded to leave the exposed granite as an island. Granite-boulders are a feature in the island landscape.
Victor Harbor and the Causeway from Granite Island
A 750-metre-long State-Heritage listed causeway links Granite Island (Kaiki) to the mainland at Victor Harbor.
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The Kaiki Walk, around the island, is an easy-going 1.9 km circular track from the end of the causeway. There are opportunities for landscape, nature, and wildlife photography. The gallery above displays landscapes, while the galleries below features wildlife. Landscapes at Boulder Point include two rock formations: Umbrella and Albatross Rocks. Also, in the gallery is a view of The Bluff and Wright Island from the point.
Endemic and Near Endemic Wildlife at Granite Island
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The gallery displays five endemic bird species: Pacific gull, singing honeyeater, little raven (Immature), sooty oystercatcher and Crested pigeon. It also features an eastern shingleback lizard and a juvenile near-endemic Australian magpie [White-backed].
The latter is a subspecies endemic: Gymnorhina tibicen telonocua, one of eight subspecies in five found in Australia; a ninth occurs in southern Papua New Guinea.
Native and Australasian Birds at Granite Island
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Features are three native birds found in Australasian Region: Masked lapwing, little pied cormorant, and a silver gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae), an Australian nominate subspecies. The greater crested tern distribution is around the coastal Indian Ocean and some South Pacific Oceans islands.
Little Penguins at Granite Island’s Penguin Centre
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In 2013 we visited the Penguin Interpretive Centre to view rescued and sick blue penguins. Also, to take a guided tour to see wild penguins coming ashore. The centre released rehabilitated penguins back into the wild. Unfortunately, the Penguin Interpretive Centre (Ref 1) closed in 2016.
We arrived at the centre about an hour before dusk. As the light faded, penguins came out of their burrows. There was no flash photography, so I photographed the penguins at high ISO speeds, low f-stops, and slow shutter speeds.
At dusk, guides conduct tours of the penguin colony. The colony was around 150 individuals in 2013, but predators, such as foxes, reduced them to just 16 in 2019. We saw just two wild penguins return from fishing and climb the cliffs to their burrows. The guide intermittently shone a red-light torch. It was too dark to focus my camera, so I only got a couple of poor shots (ISO 25600, f4, 1/30).
Day Trip from Victor Harbor
Our visit to Adelaide was a day trip from Victor Harbor. ‘Next’ to go to the Adelaide Region Nature and Wildlife webpage.
Continue the 2013 Tour of Victoria
We spent the night in Victor Harbor, finishing our short South Australian tour. ‘Next’ we drove from Victor Harbor to The Grampians, Halls Gap, and Ararat Hills webpage.
Or ‘SA’ to go to the Nature and Wildlife in South Australia webpage.
Or ‘VIC’ to go to the Nature and Wildlife in Victoria, Australia webpage.
References and Bibliography – Online Resources
1. Penguin Interpretive Centre to Close. [Online] Available from https://www.abc.net.au/news/ [Accessed 14-Jan-2022].
2. Fleurieu Peninsula. [Online] Available from https://fleurieupeninsula.com.au/ [Accessed 14-Jan-2022].