Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Cox Peninsula

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The Cox Peninsula, is about 130 kilometres by road and 10 kilometres by ferry from Darwin. It has had a varied and interesting history. Elizabeth Povinelli writing about the original indigenous aboriginals who occupied on the peninsula claimed that, Elkin (a noted anthropologist) identified the Larrakia tribe as being the original settlers of the Cox Peninsula. "Largely extinct the survivors coalesce with one of the Wagaitj groups, the Wadjigiyn. Elizabeth, Povinelli,. Pg 194 Povinelli, Elizabeth. The Cunning of Recognition: Indigenous Alterities and the Making of Australian Multiculturalism. Durham: Duke University Press. 2002.

She also wrote that, ""Waugeit" (now Wagait) is a term from the Batjemal language referring to the coast and to coastal people. Since the settlement of Darwin in 1869, it had been a common way of referring to the Aboriginal groups living along the coastline stretching from the Cox Peninsula-where Belyuen is located-to Cape Dombey." Elizabeth, Povinelli,.Pg 193 Povinelli, Elizabeth. The Cunning of Recognition: Indigenous Alterities and the Making of Australian Multiculturalism. Durham: Duke University Press. 2002.

Early white settlement came in the form of a sugar plantation and after that the location was called Dellissaville. According to Atherton ,"By offering rewards and subsidised land, the South Australian Government had attempted before 1890 to promote plantations of sugar, coffee, rubber, tobacco and maize crops in the Top End, with no success. … Pests, diseases, poor soils and the climate devastated introduced crops…" C.M. Atherton, Pg.8 Atherton,C.M. The Northern Territory-South Australian 'White Elephant'. Occasional Papers No. 22. Distance Education Branch of the Northern Territory Department of Education.

Throughout the 1880's mariners using the Port of Darwin and its approaches experienced many difficulties. Many ships were wrecked on the rocky, coral reefs and sandbars that made the route into the port a treacherous journey. M. Foley writing about the eventual construction of a lighthouse on Charles Point stated that "...Captain the Hon Foley C P Vereker …after obtaining the leave of the Commander in Chief, Rear Admiral Fairfax,…left for the Territory to make a careful examination of Point Charles and other positions which had been under consideration for some years. At the same time, HMS Myrmidon was carrying out a survey of the northern coastline ... M Foley, Pg 9 Foley, M. Point Charles Lighthouse And The Military Occupation Of Cox Peninsula. Northern Territory Library Service. Darwin. 1987

On February 1893 the lighthouse was completed, but over the years it has undergone several alterations. With a switch from vaporized kerosene to acetylene gas in 1933, occupancy at the lighthouse was no longer required. In 1971 the Lighthouse became obsolete due to the building of tall transmission masts in Radio Australia's transmission area and the installation of powerful lamps atop these masts. However in 1974 Tropical Cyclone Tracy knocked down the masts and the lighthouse was called back into action. The lighthouse was modernized into its present condition in 1982.

The Radio Australia complex at Cox Peninsula consisted of a Receiving Station, and a Transmitting Station. The Cox Peninsula complex was a powerful booster station for the Radio Australia programmes that were being transmitted to Asia from Shepparton. The Receiver Site was made redundant in the 1980's by satellites, and Radio Australia transmissions from the Transmitter Site ceased in the late 1990's. In 2000, the Cox Peninsula transmitter site was sold to a private broadcasting company, Christian Vision. The former Receiver Site is now part of the Belyuen (Delissaville) Aboriginal Community. During the time the transmitter was being used, Radio Australia played a vital role by broadcasting accurate news and information to the Pacific and reporting Australian perspectives on current affairs. Foley, M. Point Charles Lighthouse And The Military Occupation Of Cox Peninsula. Northern Territory Library Service. Darwin. 1987

Due to its relative isolation and lack of urban development several remnant vine forests still exist adjacent to and at the old lighthouse and Radio Australia complex.
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Acacia oncinocarpa
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Cocky Apple Planchonia careya
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Cox Penninsula Flood Plain
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Cox Penninsula Pandanus spiralis
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Cycad Cycas maconochiei
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Forest Kingfisher Todirhamphus (Halcyon) macleayii
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Four o clock Moth Dysphania numana
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Gardenia megasperma
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Melastoma malabathricum Buds
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Orange Ringlet Hypocysta adiante
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Pachysaga sp.
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Persoonia falcate
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Red-sided Rainbow Skink Carlia rufilatus
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Rice Grasshoppeer Oxya japonica
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Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons
eating
Australian Slimwing Lathrecista asiatica festa
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Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons
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Slender Rainbow Skink Carlia gracilis
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Spotted Grass-skipper Neohesperilla senta
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Striped Rainbow Skink Carlia munda
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Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides
being assaulted by a pair of
Grey Butcherbirds Cracticus torquatus
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Turkey Bush Calytrix exstipulate
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White Crab Spider Thomisus spectabilis
feeding on
Wide-band Grass-dart Suniana sunias
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White Crab Spider Thomisus spectabilis
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A Morning At Mary River Flood Plains

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A misty morning without my umbrella. The Freshwater Mangrove bloom is well underway. I accidentally chased the Southern Boobook out from roosting in a Freshwater Mangrove because I was really stalking and watching the White-throated Honeyeaters bathing and drinking in the dew laden leaves. Still plenty of water in the billabongs although the creeks have just about dried up and the red bush apples seem to be flowering.
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Australasian Slimwing Lathrecista asiatica festa
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Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus Fishing
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Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus Harvesting
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Black-headed Skimmer Crocothemis nigrifrons
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Black-tailed Treecreeper Climacteris melanura
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Bush Apple Syzygium eucalyptoides ssp. Eucalyptoides
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Chalky Percher Diplacodes trivialis Female
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Common Bluetail Ischnura hetersticta Male (Top) Female (Bottom)
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Dicranolaius sp.
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Eriachne schultziana
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Freshwater Mangrove Barringtonia acutangula
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Gardenia megasperma
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Great Bower Bird Chlamydera nuchalis Bower
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Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni Waders
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Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni In Formation
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Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni Solo

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Rhynchium sp.
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Rufous Whistler Pachycephala rufiventris Male
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Southern Boobook Ninox novaeseelandiae
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Sand Wasp, Digger Wasp Bembix sp.FF
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Wide-band Grass-dart Suniana sunias
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Saturday, September 11, 2010

Mary River Floodplain Sept 2010

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The Mary River Floodplain which is currently the Mary River Proposed National Park was once the playground of buffalo and crocodile hunters with a few barramundi fishermen thrown in for good measure. The last lease holder was Terry Baldwin who called the property Annaburroo. He purchased the lease from Cecil Goodman in 1962. The property had been a buffalo lease since the turn of the century. Buffalo had been imported into the top end from Timor as a food source on the Coberg Peninsula at Fort Wellington in 1827 and the Victoria Settlement in 1838. When both settlements failed the buffalo roamed free and soon colonized most of the coastal top end. The word Anaborro was an Aboriginal word for buffalo and that is how he named the station. The station comprised 435 square kilometers.

Terry Baldwin describing how he earned a living wrote "…each year, at the correct season, [we] mustered branded and shipped wild cattle; shot buffalo for hides and pet meat under license; shot crocodiles for skins, until the ban, and fished commercially for barramundi. Dingo scalps brought one guinea each and were our petty cash." (Baldwin 38) Baldwin, Terry & Kath. "The last Roundup." Buffame - T & K Baldwin. 2000: 38

I was very interested in his description of how pastoralists set up their burning regimes as this could and would influence the ecosystem today. How did it differ from the indigenous regimes and more importantly how does it differ from the regime employed in Kakadu. I have heard stories, especially concerning the demise of the Gouldian Finches that because pastoralists burn out their runs the birds starve from a lack of grass seed. According to Baldwin this did not occur. He wrote that after a burn, the small amount of green shoot would quickly be eaten or shriveled from the heat or lack of rain between July and September. The end result would be that stock would simply walk off to a neighboring lease, not good for business.

He wrote that the "Policy was to carefully early-burn with late-afternoon cool fires called strip or patch burning in order to create large islands of grass for grazing." (Baldwin 91-2) Baldwin, Terry & Kath. "The last Roundup." Buffame - T & K Baldwin. 2000: 91-2

This process saved grass from huge late dry season fires coming downwind on the South-Easterly winds from the fires burning out of control in Arnhem Land. He also wrote that this "…method prevented neighbors from burning us out and shifting our stock on to their place where there was feed." (Baldwin 92) Baldwin, Terry & Kath. "The last Roundup." Buffame - T & K Baldwin. 2000: 92

Obviously, the creation of additional water dams, introduced grasses and the hard hooves of the grazers and feral animals have impacted the environment, but nothing compares to the destruction of large uncontained fires which destroy entire populations of flora and fauna, sometimes permanently.

Baldwin lived in the Northern Territory when there was no electricity or easy living and felt that the land would, "…knock you down when you are not looking or build you up if you keep in step with its music." (Baldwin 147) Baldwin, Terry & Kath. "The last Roundup." Buffame - T & K Baldwin. 2000: 147
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Even though we have it much easier some things haven’t changed.
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Acacia mimula
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Agile Wallaby Macropus agilis
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Albizia lebbeck
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Apis mellifera
feeding on
Nymphaea violacea
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Black Wattle Acacia auriculiformis
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Bush Cockroach Ellipsidion humerale
on
Acacia mimula immature seed pods
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Chalky Percher Diplacoddes trivialis
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Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia
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Colourful Bluetail Ischnura pruinescens
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Common Bluetail Ischnura heterosticta Female (bottom) and Male (top) mating
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Common Bluetail Ischnura heterosticta Female (left) and Male (right) mating
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Cothormion umbellatum
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Frangipani Plumeria regia
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Golden-headed Cisticola Cisticola exilis
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Freshwater Mangrove Barringtonia acutangula
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Ludwigia octovalvis
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Nymphaea violacea flower bud
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Nymphoides indica
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Pady Bug Leptocorisa sp. Adult
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Pady Bug Leptocorisa sp. nymph
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Paperbark Melaleuca dealbata
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Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax varius
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Red-backed Fairy-wren Melarus melanocephalus Female
in
Salmon Gum Eucalyptus alba
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Red-backed Fairy-wren Melarus melanocephalus Males
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Sacred Kingfisher Todirhampus (Halcyon) sancta
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Seed Bug Physopelta australia nest
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Seed Bug Physopelta Australia
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Shining Flycatcher Myiagra alecto Female
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Spangled Drongo Dicrurus bracteatus
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Spotted Spur-throated Locust Austracris basalis 6th instar
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Stainer Bug Dysdercus cingulatus
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Swamp Tiger Danaus affinis
feeding on
Weepnig Ti-Tree Leptospermum longifolium
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Swamp Tiger
Danaus affinis mating
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Varied Triller Lalage leucomela
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Yellow Flame Tree Peltophorum pterocarpum
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