Embarked on a two week trip to the top end predominately for a holiday,
relaxation and birds. Failed on the relaxation part as there was too much to
see, and too many early mornings. My wife Jill who likes birds but is not
obsessed wanted to tick as many waterfalls as she could. My last trip to Darwin
was over 20 years ago when I used to just like birds and wasn’t so obsessed. I
thought I should submit a trip report as I devoured many great reports found in
the archive before I left.
5/9/07 Buffalo Creek and Lee Point
Arrived before dawn at Buffalo Ck hoping that even though the tides were wrong
that a Chestnut Rail would be waiting for me at the boat ramp. No such luck but
a walk onto the rapidly disappearing spit was rewarded with birds including
Greenshank, Common Sandpipers, Grey Plovers in breeding plumage, Black-necked
Stork and a couple of dark waders (about the same size as the Greenshanks) that
I couldn’t ID.
Walking around the mangroves near the carpark we saw Lemmon-bellied Flycatcher,
Rufous-fronted Honeyeater, White-gaped Honeyeater and Red-headed Honeyeater. A
nest of this striking bird was pointed out to us by a fellow birdwatcher.
Drove down to Lee Point where a Great Bower-bird greeted us. By now the tide
was rising, the newly arrived shorebirds were gathering and so were the
birdwatchers. I had read in McCrie and Watson’s Book that the shoreline from
Lee Point to Buffalo Creek is now patrolled regularly by the authorities for
dogs. For a moment I thought that maybe they should start patrolling for
birdwatchers as at least three small parties were stalking waders along the
coastline. I’m sure they were all being responsible, besides I was there to do
the same thing. Met a nice man on a push bike with a spotting scope and he
pointed out 12 species of wader including large swirling flocks of Great and
Red Knots as well as Greater Sand Plovers including a few Lesser Sand Plovers.
He stared at me intensely when I mentioned the dark waders seen earlier in the
morning at Buffalo Point, as apparently Ruff had been sighted in the last few
days.
Jill tired of the wader watching wanted to see some Monsoon Forest so we walked
from Lee Point to the start of the nudist beach (unfortunately we saw one).
Just before entering the forest on some recently burnt country a large flock
(100+) of Chestnut Breasted Manikin arrived. The majority of the birds were
immature. Searching through the birds, three stood out. One above the rest,
with a clearly defined grey hood, a blemish free chest of light chestnut and
dark brown wings and back. I handed my binos to my greatest critic Jill, who
agreed that it was different to the others but didn’t particularly care why. I
know I will cop a lot of flack but I reckon it was a Yellow-rumped Mannikin. A
Crimson Finch also presented itself in the same area. A long walk through the
forest resulted in quick looks at Green-backed Gerygone and a Rufous Fantail,
but no pitta.
6/9/07 – 7/9/07 Tiger Brennan Drive, East Point and Litchfield NP
Walked the footpath that divides hell from heaven (I’ll leave you to figure
which is which). What a contrast. Trying to penetrate the suburbs was a
Common Sandpiper feeding on a lush green patch of lawn. Although this is a
site for Chestnut Rail, none appeared but a Collared Kingfisher kind of made up
for it. Plenty of red-headed honeyeaters and a Brahminy Kite were spotted.
Starting to feel a little uncomfortable due to the funny looks from the power
walkers (as if they don’t look funny!) we moved to East Point.
The mangrove walk was under reconstruction, but went partly out into the
mangroves. Although nothing terribly exciting was seen from the board walk, a
stroll along the edge of the mangroves presented Yellow White-eye and Grey
Whistler. Convinced I was going to be eaten by a crocodile I headed back to my
patient wife waiting under a tree near the car. On the drive to the end of the
road we stopped for Bush Stone-curlew and a Broad-billed Flycatcher. A single
Curlew Sandpiper was seen foraging on the shore.
Quick stop at Berry Springs for a swim in the middle of the day where we saw
Little Shrike-thrush and many interesting fish with the mask and snorkel.
Litchfield National Park
Arrived in the late afternoon at Florence Falls after backtracking from Walker
Creek as Walker was closed due to flooding during the wet at least six months
ago ( We learnt that things don’t move fast in the Territory, apart from the
water in the wet season).
Litchfield was a perfect location for a waterfall twitcher, but not so good for
birds, although the flowering Grevilleas supported a large number of
honeyeaters and friarbirds. A Great Bowerbird bower was found near the water
tanks on the hill and Northern Rosellas were seen periodically in the camp
ground. A very friendly Short-eared Rock Wallaby with a Joey came to say hello
near the Florence Falls lookout early one morning. Watching groups of
Red-tailed Black-cockatoos coming in to drink at the table-top swamp in the
late afternoon was pretty special.
8/9/07 – 9/9/07 Edith Falls
Nice place and quiet at this time of year. A pair of Weebill fussed about in
trees above our tent while flowering grevilleas and Melalucas were full of
friarbirds and honeyeaters including Banded Honeyeater in large numbers and
Bar-breasted Honeyeater of which we saw a total of four in two days.
Drove to Fergusson River a couple of hours before dawn hoping to see Hooded
Parrot and Gouldian Finch. Dawn arrived but the parrots and the finches
didn’t. The flowering Melalucas provided ample nectar to a mass of honeyeaters
and small flocks of Varied Lorikeets. Decided to head back to Edith Falls Rd to
the creek crossing mentioned in McCrie and Watson, (just in time!). On the
drive in, to my left, feeding on the ground was a small flock of finches
including two immature Gouldian Finches. Very excited I floated down to the
water hole where a Black Bittern flew to the next puddle down stream. Queitly
I sat on the rocks while a procession of birds came to drink including
Long-tailed Finch, Masked Finch, Chestnut-breasted Manikin and a flock of about
20 Gouldians including two red-faced males and one black-faced bird. Pandanus
obsessed Crimson Finches darted from palm to palm.
Having been infatuated by finches since being a young whippersnapper and
memories of Harry Butler in the Wild, this was a truly magic occasion.
Deciding that we could spend the rest of our holiday camped at this waterhole I
headed back to Edith Falls Camp Ground to tell Jill the good news. Surprisingly
she had other ideas and we walked to Sweet Water above Edith Falls and camped
overnight where we saw a Collared Sparrow-hawk and what I reckon was a
Black-chinned Honeyeater although it could have been a dirty White-throated.
Back at the Edith Falls camp ground Noisy Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and a pair
of Torresian Crows alerted me to the presence of a Black-breasted Buzzard who
was inspecting what looked like the crows nest. All the kafuffle was observed
by a Brown Goshawk in the next tree. A fellow camper told me that he had seen
those Hooded Parrots bathing under the sprinkler near his caravan. An
inspection resulted in four Northern Rosellas enjoying the unseasonal rain
shower.
cont....
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