LOCATIONS

Darwin

Derelict Bunker Lee Point (photo copyright Mike Jarvis)

HISTORY - First we must acknowledge the timeless culture of the original inhabitants of Australia. The Darwin and Top End area was the home of dozens of Aboriginal Nations, each with its own language and culture. Many aspects of Aboriginal culture, including language, live on with the traditional owners still living here.

Darwin harbour was named in 1839 by Lieutenant John Lort Stokes of the Beagle in honour of his former shipmate from previous expeditions, British naturalist, Charles Darwin. The township of Palmerston was surveyed by George Goyder in 1869 and renamed Darwin in 1910.

In 1871, Darwin became the contact point between the southern cities of Australia and the rest of the world, with the connection of the Overland Telegraph and the 1100 mile submarine cable from Java.

In the early days of aviation, Darwin was again crucial to the connecting of Australia to the rest of the world, as planes needed to refuel here in order to be able to make it to Sydney. Aviators, Ross and Keith Smith landed in Darwin in 1919. This was the first flight from England to Australia. They went on to form Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services - QANTAS and the original Qantas hangar at the site of the Darwin Civil Aerodrome is still standing. Ross Smith Drive in Parap was the main runway.

Darwin has been built and destroyed a few times in its life! There was a devastating cyclone in 18??, Then there was the 'Bombing of Darwin' on 19th February 1942. This was followed by another 63 bombing raids, leaving the town devastated. World War 2 also brought to Darwin a surge of development in infrastructure, as the Australian government and allied forces sought to bolster up defenses. The improvements Darwin saw at this time included sealed roads, recreational areas and dams for secure water supply.

Then Darwin was destroyed again by Cyclone Tracy on December 24, 1974. This event still holds the distinguished title of worst single natural disaster to strike anywhere in Australia.

TODAY - People visiting Darwin are greeted with the warmth of a tropical city with all the green vegetation, and vibrant multicultural environment. Darwin is very unique for an Australian capital city. There is water everywhere - rivers, creeks, streams, all feeding into the harbour or out to sea. And dressing all these waterways are the riverine and mangrove habitats, often blending out to savannah woodland.

Our city planners have seen fit to allow vast reserves of such habitat to be unspoiled as they provide the perfect buffer zone, protecting the city and suburbs from flooding and tidal inundation. The result – wild places for birds, reptiles, small marsupials, even the occasional Estuarine Crocodile – right in the suburbs of Darwin.

People travel from all over the world to see Darwin’s wildlife. It gives us the greatest pleasure to take a birdwatcher from America or Europe to East Point, probably only 10 minutes from their hotel in the city, walk them into the monsoon forest, and show them the Rainbow Pitta!

Birdwatching is an activity that many Ozzies don’t understand. I’ve been told that in the UK about half of the population are birdwatchers, and in America about one in five consider themselves to be birdwatchers. In 2006 US bird watchers spent over $36 billion on their hobby. So we get quite a lot of overseas visitors that know more about our birds than the average Ozzie. But we do get quite a few Australians coming out on our tours. Some wouldn’t really call themselves birdwatchers, more just nature enthusiasts, but after their outing with us they have a whole new world open up to them. On a morning birding trip we often see around 40-50 species and on a full day tour it’s more like 80.

Birding has all the excitement of hunting… we listen for their call, stalk our prey, and once we have it locked into our binocular view... BANG we’ve got it! It goes on the list. Or has it’s photo taken… nothing has to die. And then, following the initial thrill of seeing and identifying a new bird, there is the joy of observing its behavior. For bird watchers, there are always more questions than answers about bird species and their habits, and always fascinating surprises, with each birding trip.

Author Jonathan Franzen, who visited Darwin recently, said that ‘birdwatching is a way of transforming an abstract concern for the environment into a personal connection with it’. I think it’s popularity will grow with Australians, particularly the ones that visit Darwin and the Top End.

East Point Reserve

East Point Reserve is often the first place we will take you to on a morning half day trip, being only about ten minutes from the Darwin CBD. The whole of the peninsular was once covered in monsoon forest, until World War II when the area was largely occupied by the Australian military, and a significant proportion of it was cleared. Since the 1960's large sections have been regenerated.

Monsoon forest specialists such as Rainbow Pitta (recognise our icon?), Brown (Grey) Whistler, Green-backed Gerygone, Emerald Dove, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and Little Bronze-cuckoo are to be found here. There are some enormous nesting mounds created by the Orange-footed Scrubfowl, which can be seen close to the path that meanders through the forest.

There is also large grassy area, popular with a large group of Agile Wallabies who can be seen grazing in the early morning or late afternoon.

The shoreline varies from rocky, sandy through to mangrove. There is a superb mangrove boardwalk that takes us easily and safely right through the mangrove habitat to the shoreline. Mangrove Golden Whistler, Black Butcherbird, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and Collared Kingfisher all inhabit this area. Then there is the parks and gardens that surround the man-made Lake Alexander, where Striated Heron and Great Egret are often seen.

With such a mosaic of different habitats, a large list of sightings from East Point is inevitable.

Fogg Dam

Only 65 km from Darwin, Fogg Dam is a world class bird watching destination.

The dam was built in the 50's to provide irrigation for the Humpty Doo Rice Project. Apparently the fact that Magpie Geese are a species that is capable of breeding up in large numbers very quickly, and seeks out wild rice for its vegetarian diet, was not considered by the designers of scheme. It failed. Wild rice still grows in the floodplain and the changed conditions created a dry season refuge for wildlife.

The bird population dynamic here changes with the seasons, but any time is a good time to visit. Late wet season is fantastic, you can drive slowly along the road (which is actually the dam wall) and photograph Little Egret, Royal Spoonbill, Pied Heron, Comb-crested Jacana and others, within in just a few metres of your car window. They are lined up along the overflow, ready to grab fish and crustaceans that are swept over the road in the 5-10 centimetres of water that is flowing. Walking along the dam wall used to be encouraged, but in the last 3 years or so it has been prohibited as there is a 4.5 metre Estuarine Crocodile in the area that refuses to enter the trap is set especially for him.

The view across the floodplain from the Pandanus Lookout is impressive. Here we can set up our spotting scope and focus on one water bird species after another. Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Intermediate Egret and Little Egret all can be seen from here, in amazing numbers. Magpie Geese, Black-necked Stork (Jabiru) and ocassionally Brolga are here also. Sometimes we see a crocodile in the waterhole close to the lookout. Often there are White-browed Crake and Buff-banded Rail in the reeds nearby. Just on sunset Nankeen Night Heron appear from the reeds or fly in from distant day roosts, to take up the night shift. They are joined in the Paperbark forest that lines the floodplain by Barking Owl and Tawny Frogmouth.

The Woodlands to Waterlily Walk is 2.2 km return, which is an easy 45 minute stroll. If you are a birder it takes much longer because you will stop to watch Rainbow Pittas, Brown Whistler, Shining Flycatcher, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Azure and sometimes Little Kingfisher. We usually see Rufous Whistler, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Pheasant Coucal and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. The honeyeaters are well represented too, with White-gaped, Brown, Rufous-banded, Bar-breasted and White-throated.

On the other side of the road is the 2.7km return Monsoon Forest Walk. Rainbow Pitta are here too, Agile Wallaby, Common Tree Snake and various butterflies add variety to the list. This walk takes you through the forest to the edge of the floodplain. A well built boardwalk provides easy access even when the area is flooded, although both walks are often closed during the final stages of the wet season.

The road that takes you from Arnhem Highway to the Fogg Dam Road is Anzac Parade. Regular sightings of raptors such as Nankeen Kestrel, Australian Hobby, Brown Falcon and Black-shouldered Kite. Black-breasted Buzzard, Black Falcon and even Letter-winged Kite have been seen in the vicinity. It is good to check out at night for Eastern Barn Owl, Barking Owl, Masked Owl, Grass Owl and Southern Boobook. Also at night in July to September it is common to see Water Python, Darwin Carpet Python and Death Adder on the road.

Bird Billabong

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Bird Billabong, in the Mary River district and about an hour and a halves drive from Darwin, justly lives up to it's name. A four kilometre drive off Arnhem Highway, leads to a 4.5 km easy walk that takes you right around the billabong. The first part of the walk takes you through a mix of savannah woodland, creeks and floodplain.

A great variety of birds is seen here including Northern Fantail, Lemon-bellied Flycatcher, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Masked, Long-tailed, Crimson and Gouldian Finches, Brown, Rufous-banded, White-throated and Bar-breasted Honeyeaters, Varied and Red-collared Lorikeets, Northern Rosella and Red-winged Parrot.

There is a sheltered viewing platform which is great for setting up the spotting scope and identifying all the different bird species inhabiting the billabong. Estuarine Crocodiles are often seen here too. Little, Intermediate, Eastern Great and Cattle Egrets as well as Royal Spoonbill, Black-necked Stork, Radjah Shelduck, Glossy, Straw-necked and White Ibis, Brolga, Black-fronted Dotterel and other shorebirds are often here too. There is a Whistling Kites nest just next to the boardwalk that leads to the viewing platform and White-bellied Sea-eagles often fly over.

Kakadu National Park

Kakadu was recently voted number one in the top ten bird watching destinations in Australia by Australian Geographic. About 280 species are seen in the park. There are three endemic bird species.

Burrunggui (Boor-oon-goy), Nourlangie area

Kakadu World Heritage is associated with three important international conservation treaties. These are:-

- Ramsar
- CITES Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild flora and fauna
- Tri-national Wetlands Initiative - Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea

Ramsar aims to stop the loss of wetlands and to conserve existing wetlands through good management, a total of 683,000 hectares of wetlands in Kakadu are listed as wetlands of importance.

The three nations are Australia Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. The project aims to develop a co-operative arrangement between the three nations to share experiences in wetland conservation and promote good training and management programs. Wetlands in all three nations are significant stop-over points for migrating birds on the East Asian/Australasian Flyway.

CITES effects strict controls on any products from protected species.

Birding Location Map

Click here for an extended guide to birding in the Top End