Conditions were perfect to see the Chestnut Rail at Buffalo Creek near
Darwin. The tide was below 4 metres and it was 6.50 am ?light but the sun not
yet up. According to Niven McCrie in his guide "Finding Birds in Darwin Kakadu
and the Top End" this was prefect conditions but as we all know in birding there
is no such thing as a certainty. As I pulled up at the boat ramp and walked
around the car to get my scope out of the boot, I casually scanned the opposite
bank with my binoculars and there were not 1 but 2 Chestnut
Rail. I got fantastic views in the scope once I had it set-up.
Others birds around the boat ramp included Striated Heron, Spangled
Drongo, Helmeted Friarbird, Red-headed Honeyeater, Lemon-breasted Flycatcher,
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
One down 8 to go. This was an 8-day trip to the Top End to get nine very
difficult birds and this was an excellent start
After a day exploring Darwin (and what a vibrant city is it compared to our
last visit in 1990), the afternoon birding was to be the famed Holmes Jungles
Swamp. Target species-Red-backed Button-quail and
Zitting Cisticola. The habit looked less than inviting
consisting of thick waist high grass. I waded in and within 5 minutes had
flushed an all-dark Button-quail which by a process of elimination I decided had
to be a RBBQ. Despite hours of wading through this very unpleasant habit over
several days, I never flushed another; the closest was something fluttering
through the grass away from my feet.
There were dozens of Cisticola here. Almost all were clearly Golden-headed
but eventually I found one with distinct yellow tonings, I was happy to tick. I
saw other at a roadside stop near Mary River on the Arnhem Highway
Other birds at Holmes Jungle Swamp included Crimson Finch, Tawny
Grassbird, Bush Stone-Curlew, Forest Kingfisher, Grey Whistler,
Peaceful Dove, Rufous Fantail and literally 100?s of
Black and Whistling Kites.The next species was the
Chestnut-backed Button-Quail. Niven had told me that the CBBQ
had been seen near the Pine Creek Cemetery at Easter so this seemed a good place
to start. The habit between the Cemetery and the Sewage Ponds was open woodland
with thigh high grass that was relatively easy to walk through. After 10 minutes
or so I flushed a covey of 6-8 CBBQ which exploded in all directions affording
reasonable views. I managed to flush a single bird again but that was it. Other
birds on the Ponds were Black Duck, White-necked Heron, Austalasian
Grebe and Pied Stilt.
After checking out Edith Falls (beautiful spot but no Hooded Parrot) with the
best bird Grey ?Crowned Babbler, we spent the night in
Katherine. Next day we headed down toward Timber Creek. The highlight of the
trip was Victoria River Crossing. The dark red cliffs surrounding the area are
fantastic. I saw a female Purple-crowned Wren and a
Black Breasted Buzzard as well as excellent views of a perched
Brown Goshawk.
Early next morning, I was back at the River looking for Yellow-rumped
Mannikan. At first things were quiet but at about 8 am clouds of finches
were landing on a rocky spit in the river to drink. It was the most amazing
sight. 80-90% were Stars and most were immatures but there were also Double
Bars, Masked and Chestnut-breasted Mannikan. They landed to drink in lots of
60-100 but only stayed on the ground for 15-20 seconds. I desperately scanned
the flocks looking for a Yellow-rump and was finally rewarded with fleeting
glimpse. After the finches dispersed, I returned to the airport but had no luck.
However, while driving back to town I saw another flock of finches close to the
road. However, I was facing the sun and although I could tell they were
Yellow-rumps because of the contrast between the wings and the body, a passing
car flushed them before I could move to a better position. I finally got another
unsatisfactory view but just enough to confirm ID.
