I go along with all the suggestions you have received so far. I also agree
with your assessment of Gunlom. What hasn't been mentioned is the near
vertical climb up the escarpment to get to the Grasswren area and with heavy
gear it is quite a climb even for a young and fit person, which I no longer
am. We have been up there 5 times without a grasswren sighting over the
years. That is not to say other people at times have had no trouble
including our friends who were one side of a sandstone block and ourselves
the other. They saw them and we didn't, curses! Yellow waters used to run a
special smaller photographers boat but when we were there last year they
had stopped doing it so we took the combined (cheaper) ticket to the dawn
trip and a afternoon trip which gives you a different suite of birds and
different light for photography. Try to get to the front of the queue for
the boat and take the seats at the front for a more unobstructed view for
photos. Keep an eye out for the pair of nesting Jabirus Satin Storks).
John
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Jeremy Weiss
Sent: Thursday, 20 May 2010 9:24 PM
To:
Subject: Re: RFI Trip to the Top End
Wow, thanks for all the help everyone.
So many good places to check out. Seems like Azure Kingfishers are at most
of the sites i'm looking at which is great news.Little Kingfisher still
seems a bit iffy but I might just be wary from having dipped on them in the
Queensland trip.
The dawn cruise at Yellow Waters also sounds very promising, even if they
aren't too bird-orienting I can still get some some croc pics. (how many
times can you see them though?)
The extraction area along the Arnhem Highway sounds great as well. Really
want to see a lot of the finches and that seems like a nice easy way to do
it.
I think I'm going to give Gunlom Falls a pass. I'll be carrying some heavy
camera gear and I get discouraged pretty quickly when I don't find anything
right away.
Also i'm imagining myself walking along the sandstone in the full sun
without hearing or seeing any birds, not a good thought :P (although with
the Melbourne weather right now....)
And I'm gonna try for the Rufous Owl, I can't resist :)
Anyway once again, thanks everyone. The replies have been so helpful, makes
me wish I could spend more time there just to see everything.
On 19 May 2010 20:55, Jeremy Weiss <> wrote:
> 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
>
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