An osprey has been spotted and photographed in the Onkaparinga River Recreation Park, just east of the Port Noarlunga Football Club.
Seen by National Parks and Wildlife Service SA ranger, Angus Droogan-Turniski, the bird was recorded eating a mullet, a species of fish which is known to be plentiful in the wide Onkaparinga estuary.
This is the most urban sighting of an osprey in South Australia for many years and an encouraging sign. There is no doubt that should osprey numbers increase in South Australia, the Onkaparinga River and its estuary would be an ideal foraging and nesting location. This would also see ospreys establish in metropolitan Adelaide which in itself would allow more people to discover the story of ospreys in South Australia.
We will keep monitoring this location for ospreys and we hope that over the coming years we will have more good news to tell about the species in this location.
Photo credit: Angus Droogan-Turniski, National Parks and Wildlife Service SA’.