McLaren Vale

History

The township was formed in 1923 from a merging of the two original villages of Gloucester and Bellevue, which were established in the 1840s. Boundaries for the locality were defined on 13 July 1995 for the portion within the former City of Noarlunga with the portion in the former District Council of Willunga being added on 28 January 1999. Land within the former locality of Landcross Farm was added on 16 March 2000. The source of the name has been attributed by several writers to either David McLaren of the South Australian Company or John McLaren of the colonial government's Land Office. Geoff Manning, a South Australian historian, investigated this matter and found that the latter person is the namesake.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  6,700
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  5,650
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  5,451
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  5,380
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  5,134
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  4,785
• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  4,088
• Crimson Rosella

  Platycercus elegans (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  3,946

Most recent

• M 3 — 2022-03-29
  3 km ESE of Macclesfield, Australia
• M 4 — 2022-03-05
  3 km SW of Mount Barker, Australia
• M 3.2 — 2018-08-08
  11 km WNW of Mannum, Australia
• M 3.9 — 2017-02-01
  9 km NW of Murray Bridge, Australia
• M 3.3 — 2011-10-18
  3 km ESE of Hawthorndene, Australia
• M 3.8 — 2010-04-16
  2 km N of Macclesfield, Australia