Birding On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002
Emmalee Tarry

Kakadu National Park

2 / 4

Yellow River Boat Trip (continued)

You will have no trouble seeing the large waders and ducks: Black-necked Storks, Glossy Ibis, Green Pygmy-Goose, Rajah Shelduck, Little Egret, Intermediate Egret, Great Egret, Pied Heron, Wandering Whistling Duck, Plumed Whistling Duck, Masked Lapwing, Brolga, Purple Swamphen

Several Comb-crested Jacana (right) walked among pink flowering water lilies.

Another photo taken as the boat drifted along the billabong. On a small mud bank at water's edge I saw Australian Pratincole. Whiskered Terns flew up and down the river.

Large flocks of Magpie Geese are seen on the boat trip and later at the bird blind. Significantly this was the first time I saw the Magpie Goose on the trip. They used to be quite common in Victoria and most parts of the country. Their numbers are quite reduced due to hunting, the drought, and of course habitat destruction.

Certainly one of the highlights of the trip was the White-bellied Sea-Eagle. In addition to this individual who posed so beautifully in just the right light, we had two active nests and several birds perched and in flight.

Other raptors seen were: Brown Falcon, Austrialian Hobby, Whistling Kite, Nankeen Kestrel, Swamp Harrier

The afternoon trip lasted until sunset. As the sun turned into a great red ball and began to sink behind the trees, the Egrets took to the trees to roost while the Night-Herons went to work. It was dark by the time I returned to the campground. I ate dinner at the restaurant where they offered salad bar for AU$16.50. A small Pied Heron begged scraps of meat from diners. I was feeding him cold ham from the salad bar.

The next morning I was on the 6:45 AM trip. It was very foggy and thick smoke from a wild fire hung over the area. There were fewer people on the trip, but one man insisted on yelling to his son who was on a fishing trip in another boat. He was yelling in my ear and disturbing the quiet of our morning trip. I finally turned around and told him that to see wildlife you needed to be very quiet. I am sure he was quite embarrassed in front of his wife and young son, but come on. Good thing he was an American too or I would not have gotten away with reprimanding him. My personal opinion is that a few Australian men are Neanderthals and the rest let them get away with it.

We saw all the same birds some in better light then the night before..

Jaiburu

After the morning river trip I drove north stopping at the visitor's center. It is a beautiful building with some nice museum exhibits and a video on the park. I had my first Double-barred Finch in the woods around the center.

By noon it was very hot and I settled into the shaded campground at Jabiru. This was a very nice campground with a large swimming pool shaded with an awning. I spent the afternoon in the pool and even had dinner at the restaurant by the pool. If you find the Cooinda campground a bit too primitive you could stay in Jaiburu and drove to the Yellow Water Boat Trip.

There were some good birds in the campground as usual. I photographed this Black Kite there.

The next morning I started off to drive to Darwin with plans to stop twice along the way. Just outside Jaiburu I crossed a small bridge and noticed Brown Quail in the standing water on the side of the road. There seemed to be a lot of bird activity so I hung around. During the last wet season an entire tree roots and all washed down this stream and now lies in the shallow pool of water. This makes perfect cover for small birds. I ended up taking out a lawn chair and sitting in the shade for over an hour watching the pool. Double-barred Finch, Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater, White-gaped Honeyeater, Crimson Finch, Peaceful Dove. White-necked Heron, Red-tailed Cockatoo, Whistling Kite, Little Corella

Kakadu National Park

Next Page 3

Back Page 1

Table of Contents