The spiny-cheeked honeyeater is more commonly seen in arid areas of Australia but very occasionally we have a visit from one (a pair on one occasion) where we live on the south eastern slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges. This would be close to the limit of its range although distribution maps show that it inhabits the Ranges. Today we had one of those occasional visits.
Adding to the excitement later in the day was a female common wallaroo bounding at speed through our scrub. This species of marsupial visits, as far as I can tell, about as often as the spiny-cheeked honeyeater. The females are a lovely pale grey with a distinct brown-rufous neck & upper back patch while the one male was almost a burgundy-brown. I posted a photo of a male on 31st December 2011. A gully or gullies in our area seem to provide a refuge for the common wallaroo in the South Mt Lofty Ranges, well south of the limit of its range as shown by distribution maps.
