birding-aus

RFI Trip to the Top End

To: Birding Aus <>
Subject: RFI Trip to the Top End
From: Andrew Hobbs <>
Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 17:25:38 +0800
After our recent trip to NT, I can only second all those places mentioned, especially Fogg Dam and Yellow Waters.

As for the crocs, we were a little surprised to see several people fishing from the ford across the East Alligator River near Ubirr . The water was a thin grey mud with zero visibility yet there were men fishing while standing 10 to 15 metres from shore in calf to knee deep water. At the same time we could see at least half a dozen large crocs either in the water or on the bank within 50 metres or so. The Ranger just shook his head when we asked about them.

Cheers

Andrew Hobbs

Steve Potter wrote:
Jeremy

A couple of things,

I'd do Buffalo Creek first light. On a mid tide if possible... Good for
Chestnut Rail and GB Heron, then work my way around the rest of Darwin.

Kakadu, Definitely do the dawn yellow waters trip. Also Nourangie Rock
early.  Ubirr is good also on the way through or back. So too is Mary River
Park!!

Gunlom is a mission. Long way and 40 k's of Dirt but an awesome place. Go
Early as the rocks heat up during the day and incinerate any living creature
after lunch!!

Not far from Fogg Dam is the Adelaide River Bridge (jumping Crocs) and good
for Mangrove Golden Whistler. Also the Marrkai Track is worth a look. About
5 k's in near a little stream crossing. Fogg Dam is a must!!

Re Crocs - While at Buffalo Creek, I watched a local leave his 10 year old
daughter hold the rope of his boat while he parked the car. With a raging
incoming tide the boat was being sucked upstream and the poor kid was being
dragged down the boat ramp! Fortunately by the time I got there someone else
was able to help her. I kept thinking how complacent people become....

Cheers and have fun

Steve Potter
m: 0407 398 234
e: 
RFI Trip to the Top End
from [Jeremy Weiss
<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/namazu.cgi?query=%2Bfr
om%3Aenlightenedstave%40gmail.com&idxname=birding-aus&sort=date%3Alate> ]
[Permanent Link
<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/mesg.cgi?a=birding-aus
&i=AANLkTinjHeg9SCOcKo-0QJGxWjyEU_vtPVc7gF6UVqi0%40mail.gmail.com>
][Original
<http://bioacoustics.cse.unsw.edu.au/archives/cgi-bin/extract-mesg.cgi?a=bir
ding-aus&m=2010-05&i=AANLkTinjHeg9SCOcKo-0QJGxWjyEU_vtPVc7gF6UVqi0%40mail.gm
ail.com> ]   
To:            
Subject:        RFI Trip to the Top End 
From:   Jeremy Weiss < >        
Date:   Wed, 19 May 2010 20:55:39 +1000 

Hello,

First I want to thank everyone for the great advice I got for my trip to
North Queensland at the end of February. Easily the best trip of my life,
photographing Azure Kingfishers along the Daintree river was incredible.

Now I'm going to be in the Northern Territory in June from the afternoon of
the 13th to the morning of the 19th. I thought I'd get some feedback on
locations and where to see birds.

My main target is the Little Kingfisher which I managed to miss while in
Queensland :/

Right now the plan is to spend:
Sunday night in Darwin
Monday morning looking around Howard Springs then exploring the Darwin area,
maybe going to Buffalo Creek.
Then on to Jabiru, arriving there Monday night.
Spend Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday night in Jabiru
Spend Thursday and Friday nights at Eden near Fogg Dam, leaving Darwin early
Saturday morning.

I just wanted to make sure of a few things before locking it down.

First, is the Rufous Owl in the Darwin Botanical Gardens fairly easy to
find?
It's the main reason for the first night in Darwin otherwise I would go
straight to Jabiru and just see Howard Springs on the Friday.

Also I don't really know that much about the Kakadu area, is it best just to
take random walks in the area? I was thinking of visiting Gunlom falls,
maybe looking for the White-throated Grasswren but if there aren't many
other birds in that area I might skip it.

Next, what's the best place for Little and Azure Kingfishers? I've read some
trip reports and Fogg Dam and Howard Springs both seem to have them, just
wondering how likely I am to find them in either spot.

And finally is the Yellow Waters river cruise worth taking? Again mainly got
Kignfishers on the brain :P

Thanks for any advice, I know I'm asking a lot but the North Queensland trip
was so good, it set the bar pretty high for me :)

Regards,
Jeremy  

------------------------------------------------------------------------

===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
===============================

===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com

To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to: 
===============================

<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU