| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
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By noon I was in Katherine. First stop was the Shady Lane Campground which unlike many of the campgrounds actually has trees and shade. It was hot and shade was very welcome. It was very good birding in and around the campground: Blue-faced Honeyeater, White-line Honeyeater,Gray-crowed Babbler and Bar-shouldered Dove. I also enjoyed a nice swim in the campground pool.
After lunch I drove to Katherine Gorge National Park stopping for Plumed Whistling Duck and Rajah Shelduck in a small pond in front of a restaurant.
You can hike the gorge or take a two hour boat trip (AU$37). In the dry season the river is so low it is a series of gorges divided by exposed rocks. The trip is made in a series of boats with passengers hiking to the next boat over the exposed rapids. Don't cart along a lot of stuff on this trip.
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From the visitors center there is a quarter mile walk to the
boat dock. Look for Rock Wallabies along the way. At the boat dock several trees were full of these large fruit bats or Flying-Foxes. I believe there are two species here: Little Red Flying-fox and Black Flying-fox. |
| I am tempted to label this picture the Little-red Flying-fox,
but actually I am not sure which species this is. On the boat trip we saw several fresh-water crocodiles which lay their eggs on sand banks along the river. The fresh-water croc is not dangerous like its cousin the salt-water crocodile and people were swimming in the river. A Peregrine Falcon landed on the cliff just above my head. Little Black Cormorants live on the river. I also saw Yellow Oriole ,Sulfur-crested Cockatoo,Red-collared Lorikeet. There was a fire along the canyon rim and 100 or more Black Kites circled looking for small mammals driven out by the fire. |
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This is one of several Great Bowerbirds feeding near
the boat ramp. I believe this is an immature bird. I saw no sign of a bower in
this cleared area. The Great Bowerbird likes to hide the bower under
shrubs. Unfortunately the guides at Katherine Gorge were not well trained and did not know much about the wildlife. This was unusual in Australia as many guides have degrees in conservation tourism. |
| A Great Bowerbird male's pride and joy is his bower. This one
was located just behind the fence of the Shady Lane campground. The owner was
here, but refused to let me photograph him. The bower is a structure to show off the male bird to the female. This is an avenue type bower consisting of an arch made of twigs with a path of white stones. The female after selecting a male based on his architecture, goes off and builds a nest and raises her brood alone. The Shady Lane campground must be kept rather clean because usually the male Bowerbird collects colorful bits of trash to decorate his bower. |
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Aboriginal Rock Art
The Northern Territory has the best preserved collection of prehistoric rock art in the world. The Aborigines have been in Australia for at least 50,000 years. Archeologists are not in agreement about the age of the rock paintings. Some believe them to be as old as 50,000 years while others hold them to be no older than 15,000 years. Unlike Europe where the surviving rock art is in caves, the dry climate of the Northern Territory has preserved paintings done on cliff faces.
One of the first art forms was an outline of the human hand. The older drawings of large animals include some which are now extinct. The later X-ray style shows animals with internal organs.
The latest period before colonization reflects the formation of freshwater floodplains in the northern area. Magpie Geese and other animals associated with freshwater appear. After European colonization the rock art includes ships, guns and horses.
One of the easiest places to see rock art is at Katherine Gorge. There are actually 2 murals at this site one on top of the other. The oldest is estimated to have been done at least 10,000 years ago. The murals are on the canyon wall above the high water level and have been preserved by the dry atmosphere. You can clearly see the image of a man and a kangaroo.
To learn more about aboriginal art go to the museum in Darwin. It is especially nice activity for a hot afternoon for now heat is becoming a factor in every day.
End: The Red Center
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