birding-aus

from the Top End

To: "birding Aus" <>
Subject: from the Top End
From: Goodfellow <>
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 2002 06:44:55 +0930
I've just returned to Darwin exhausted but happy after being away almost 
continually for the last two months (firstly in PNG and then to Sydney 
and then with birdwatchers around the Top End).  

My companions on 11 Sept.  were Teresa and Marsha, American women 
firefighters.  We went to Fogg Dam where we saw lots of good birds 
including Little and Horsfield's bronze-cuckoos, and Brush Cuckoo - all 
three were on or near the ground catching caterpillars. Baillon's and 
White-browed crakes, and Comb-crested Jacana were happily searching the 
aquatic vegetation for invertebrates while brilliant Crimson Finches, and 
duller-plumaged Golden-headed Cisticolas and Clamorous Reed-warblers 
perched on top of the spike-rush (Eleocaris sp).  

At night we spotted reptiles.  We had great views of a harmless Keelback 
(Stegonotis sp  - a colubrid snake) and also a Water Python.  A Sand 
Goanna (Varanes panoptes) stalked beneath the hide at the end of the 
causeway.  

The next day we left for Pine Creek 220 kms south of Darwin.  On trips 
around the sewage ponds and elsewhere we found several species, but not 
Hooded Parrot nor Gouldian Finch.   We then drove further south to Edith 
Falls.  However being midday the birds were rather quiet, although the 
women had good views of three young Blue-winged kookaburras, one with a 
small male snake in its beak (I could tell it was male because its 
hemipenes were extruded).  After reaching Katherine 310 kms south of 
Darwin we rested during the heat of the day then drove a little way west 
down the Victoria Highway.  But there was little to be seen there or at 
the Katherine sewage ponds (it wasn't helpful that the birdwatchers' 
turnstile was locked).

I brought up the locked gate with Christine Kelly of Knotts Crossing that 
night at dinner, also mentioning what appeared to be a general lack of 
interest in birdwatching tourism.  I told her that on a previous trip 
staff at the shop in Nitmiluk Gorge were not interested in bird books, 
but in 'stuff sold by souvenir people', an attitude common throughout 
much of the Top End.  Christine appeared quite frustrated - she has been 
trying for some time to encourage birdwatching in the area.  

A 4 km walk over the escarpment at Nitmiluk Gorge the next morning was 
not particularly productive.  The area had been badly burnt not long 
before, and our only new birds were Common Bronzewing and Red-backed 
Kingfisher.  But the superb views we had of the obliging bronzewing made 
up for a lot.  We sat for twenty minutes at the first lookout gazing out 
over the beautiful gorge towering over the quiet river, the ancient 
sandstone walls laced with the fine divided leaves of Grevillea 
heliosperma.  Scattered pockets of dark verdant monsoon forest 
interspersed with the soft grey-green of paperbarks lined the water's 
edge.

Back at Pine Creek that afternoon (Sept 14) I met up with the students 
from my birdwatching course.  A great bunch of people, and we have such 
camaraderie. 

Our first stop was at the water gardens where I'd earlier seen half a 
dozen birds.  Not a great number but this was a bonus for it enabled the 
students to focus on the features of one bird at a time.  

The next morning we went to the Fergusson River  fifty kms further south. 
 This is a favourite spot,  and as far as I'm concerned ought to be a 
national park.  On a bend in the river overshadowed by cliffs and hills 
we sat in white sand and brewed coffee while a squillion parrots flew low 
overhead - including Varied Lorikeet and about seventy Hooded Parrots, 
all coming into feed on the flowering paperbarks.  The gorgeous rich 
turquoise male Hooded Parrots have a bright yellow wingflash which stood 
out against the grey-green foliage of the low paperbarks like scattered 
gold nuggets.  One of the students Fergal, also stood out in his bright 
red polo shirt.  Amid much laughter he was asked to remove it!

However we were not so happy to see that across the Stuart Highway the 
railway easement appeared to have taken out some of the habitat of an 
extremely rare plant, the beautiful pink and black flowered Grevillea 
benthamiana.   I'd been concerned about this stand of plants for some 
time and was gratified to find that Noreen one of my students and the 
widow of Lord Mayor George Brown who died recently shared my feelings - 
her husband had fought hard to have this grevillea protected.   We had 
hoped that because Greening Australia was involved the plant will be 
saved but the latest information I've had is that virtually all the 
plants have been removed.  

On the way back to Darwin we called into Hayes Creek, a little truckstop 
set in a small range of steep hills.  There are clear bubbling springs 
surrounded by wonderful gallery forest and old mango trees planted by 
soldiers during the 2nd World War, all set among this wonderful rugged 
escarpment.  The students had great views particularly of Buff-sided 
Robin and Little Bronze-Cuckoo.  Here one student, Stuart informed us he 
had decided to stay there - we others had to exert some considerable 
pressure to get him to climb on the bus. We are going back there later in 
the year, but they've also decided they want to go to Arnhem Land and 
Borroloola next year, and the year after that to eastern PNG!  Then at 
what was supposed to be our farewell dinner three days later the students 
decided they simply must go to Antarctica as well!

Sept 20 I went out with two more birdwatchers this time an American, a 
professor of oriental studies, and a British antiques stamp expert.  
Having studied world literature and politics I expected some lively 
discussions, and wasn't disappointed.  

 First we went to Shoal Bay 30 kms southeast of Darwin where we were to 
look for mangrove birds, and to fish with my friend Tony.  The tide was 
way out and so for half an hour we watched wading-birds.  We picked up a 
few common mangrove birds but the buzz for me was sighting dozens of 
Delia mysis, beautiful red, yellow, black and white butterflies, feeding 
on the flowers of White-flowering Mangrove, Lumnitzera racemosa.

Although we all hooked up, none of us landed the barramundi we envisaged 
having for dinner.   Luckily Tony and Dixie his brother took pity on us 
and donated a fish for our dinner!  David and I slept on air mattresses 
on the tiled floor of Tony's office (he is presently completing 
accommodation) while Brian claimed a mattress in the shed.  We arose at 
5.20 to make our way to Fogg Dam.  

 For 17 years David had been searching for Baillons Crake.  However once 
on the causeway he became distracted by other, more common species eg 
Restless Flycatcher and Rufous-banded Honeyeater.  Brian and I had to 
almost frogmarch him to the bird hide.  Within a few minutes they had 
seen both Baillons and White-browed Crake, plus Green Pygmy-goose, 
Comb-crested Jacana, and a few other species.  A trip into the nearby 
monsoon vine-forest gave them good views of Rainbow Pitta. Tawny 
Grassbird was obvious in the grass on the forest edge.

Later that morning we called into Mary River Park to look for Rufous Owl. 
 But the birds which had a fledgling proved elusive and the men only got 
a glimpse.  Concerned about pursuing a bird with young I suggested we 
leave them alone.  However the men did see Buff-sided Robin and Rufous 
Fantail.  Most of the cormorants opn the Mary were Pied - usually Little 
Pied and Little Black cormorants are more common.  I wonder if this is 
something to do with the paucity of rainfall this year.

We  then went on to Kakadu where we stayed at the Kakadu Lodge.  In the 
grounds we saw Partridge Pigeon and Grey-crowned Babbler and several 
other species we'd already seen.  Unfortunately as happened in Katherine 
the staff were rather disinterested in birds.  "We don't get birdwatchers 
here," the manageress told me.  "How do you know?" I said, "We don't wear 
signs!"

That night we retraced our steps to Mamukala to look for more birds.  
There were thousands of waterfowl there including a couple of new birds 
for David and Brian.   

Pulling into Kakadu Holiday Village where we were to dine I was greeted 
by two Aboriginal people - one of my Kunwinjku grandchildren, her husband 
and daughter.  I couldn't talk to the little girl as she was my 'poison 
cousin', greatgrand-daughter through my son, a term I explained to David 
and Brian over dinner.  

We shared a one-roomed cabin at Kakadu Lodge - David thought he'd booked 
one with two rooms but this wasn't the case.  Luckily I got the double 
bed and they got the bunks, and they didn't snore!  

Birdwatchers and I occasionally share accommodation, and think nothing of 
it.  Not like the interstate tour operator I once worked for.  Hosting a 
group of prominent business people in a remote area she found herself a 
tent short, and told me I'd have to sleep in the open.  I'm not 
completely against this but we were camped in damp monsoon forest, and 
leeches and mosquitoes were present in plague proportions.  Bill, one of 
the businessmen was most concerned and told her I could share his tent,  
but the tour operator refused saying this would be 'unprofessional'!  Her 
clients weren't impressed with her show of 'professionalism'.  

Back to the trip.  At Nourlangie Rock three Black-tailed treecreepers 
were feeding youngsters from a Red-flowering Kurrajong Brachychiton 
megaphylla so close that I couldn't use my binoculars.  I thought they 
might be feeding them either nectar or the ants which also utilise these 
flowers, such as the beautiful golden Polyrachis sp..

White-lined Honeyeaters were calling persistently and it wasn't long 
before we had good views of them in the tops of the trees.  Around the 
back of the rock shelters we spotted two Banded Fruit-Doves feeding on 
the small green fruits of what I thought was a fig, and then almost 
immediately two Sandstone Shrike-thrushes popped into view on a nearby 
rock.  Unfortunately we had no more time to look for Chestnut-quilled 
Rock-pigeon or to go after White-throated Grass-wren and set off for Pine 
Creek 170 km away.  (The 'fig' which at the time was leafless turned out 
to be Emu Apple, Owenia vernicosa.  I assume the fruits are poisonous as 
Esther Maralngurra, my Kunwinjku sister says the tree is used for making 
'strong medicine', which is only to be used externally).

At Pine Creek we stayed as I usually do, at Digger's Rest where Pat Smith 
the proprietor as she usually does, fetched us a welcome cold beer.  

We rested until 4 pm when we went to the cemetery.  In the bush out the 
back I spotted two Black-breasted buzzards, which we followed.  Then back 
at the sewage pond the men saw Red-backed Fairy-wren (a common bird, but 
one we'd missed till then).  And they had good views of Black-fronted and 
Red-kneed Dotterel which were running around the concrete banks of the 
ponds, also Radjah Shelduck, Grey Teal, Black Duck and Eurasian Coot.  
Hoary-headed Grebe was the most common grebe at the ponds to my surprise 
(Australasian is usuall much more common).  We then drove to a lake just 
outside of Pine Creek where we saw three Cockatiels - they perched most 
obligingly for several minutes.

At the water gardens just before sunset I spotted two rather interesting 
long-tailed finches on the power lines.  The light was bad but I could 
see they weren't Long-tailed or Masked finches.  Indeed they were 
Gouldians.  We followed them into a tree next to a house across the road, 
but couldn't get better views.  Back at Digger's Rest I sat talking with 
Pat and David while Brian cooked dinner, a very passable pasta and meat 
sauce dish.  

At Fergusson River the next morning the men saw Hooded Parrots - fewer 
than I saw with my students earlier in the month, but they were 
relatively approachable and David and Brian had good views of the 
gorgeous birds as they perched in dead trees above the watercourse.  

We returned to Darwin about midday, 23rd Sept, the two men having seen 
most of the hundred birds they'd targetted.   

Two hours later Mary and her two friends arrived.  These rather genteel 
women all in their seventies turned out to be wonderful companions and 
sharp-eyed birdwatchers as well.  Bunty, aged 77 was driving.  She had 
wondered whether she'd be able to hire a car at her age but there wasn't 
a problem.  And she drove as well as anyone I knew. 

At Fogg Dam Mary and Sheila,were very pleased to see the thousands of 
Little Corellas, but Bunty who had farmed in Victoria grumbled about the 
damage the "blighters" did to crops.  Apart from the usual waterbirds we 
saw two adult-plumaged Marsh harriers, and three Barking owls.  At sunset 
we retired to the nearby Humpty Doo pub for dinner.

On arriving I warned my companions that there might be 'rough sorts' 
hanging around, mentioning that a man I'd once shot buffalo with had been 
known to drink a little too much here and then fire shots in the roof!  
And then there was Norman the Brahmin bull that used to drink in the bar 
with his human companions.  The women were undeterred. Indeed on sitting 
down Mary, looking around and seeing no one fitting the description, told 
me she'd been rather looking forward to seeing a 'rough sort'!  

The food and service were excellent, the only drawback being the huge 
carafe of red which we couldn't finish!  I drove the hire car back to 
Fogg Dam as Bunty's cataract affected her eyesight at night. 

The next morning we went back to Fogg Dam where they were thrilled to see 
Baillon's and White-browed Crake performing on cue ie leaving their 
hiding places among the spike-rush to feed among the lilly pads and lotus 
leaves.  We also flushed a larger, darker crake with a white undertail - 
Australian Spotted Crake (a week later I flushed another).  Then while 
sitting in the hide eating the delicious breakfast provided by Heather, a 
rather rakish, dark bird of prey skimmed past only metres away - a Black 
Falcon.  

As the morning was growing hot I suggested then that we walk through the 
mixed paperbark and monsoon vine-forest nearby to look for Rainbow Pitta 
and other birds.  Unfortunately we couldn't find the pitta, but we did 
have very good views of Broad-billed Flycatcher and a number of other 
birds.

Late that afternoon we visited Howard Springs again in search for the 
pitta.  There we were greeted by a young woman who was sitting with a 
bunch of bikies.  They appeared a little drunk but quite friendly.  The 
girl called me over and asked for a hug which of course I gave her.  I 
explained to Mary, Sheila and Bunty that any kid who asks for a hug. no 
matter if she's tattooed, wearing a ton of makeup, sitting with bikies 
and drunk, should get it.  Mary, Bunty and Sheila all agreed.

Befriending teenagers without judgment is a policy I adopted with my 
teenage son Rowan's friends.  It has had its own rewards - when I was 
away in hospital earlier this year, the local gangleader, an Aboriginal 
lad, came around every day to make sure the house was safe.

Returning to the trip, I suggested to Mary and Sheila that they restrain 
Bunty a keen fisherwoman; else she might throw herself over the causeway 
after the huge barramundi that swim in the pool there!

The women had good views of Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Emerald Dove, Little 
Shrike-thrush, Shining Flycatcher, etc.   Little Shrike-thrush came 
within a few metres of the ground giving us a good look at its pale face, 
streaked throat and buff underparts.

But it wasn't until we had neared the end of the walk that the Rainbow 
Pitta made an appearance.  It hopped obligingly around in front of us, 
its prominent pale blue wing flash like a beacon in the dark forest.  
Captivated the women watched it for several minutes. And that was it  - 
the grand finale.  We have promised to keep in touch.  After all there 
are many birds they haven't seen in the Top End yet!  I paid them a 
compliment by calling them 'old ladies' at which they bristled until I 
explained that that's what Kunwinjku entitle women they respect.

It's a change of scenery this week - I'm enjoying myself mightily with an 
Australian family  whose teenage sons are into fishing and reptiles!  How 
nice it is to be with someone who is excited at spotting a dtella (gecko 
- Gehyra sp.)!
Denise
   






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