Friday, December 25, 2009

Revisiting Kakadu

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I’m not sure if revisiting ensures you get things you missed the first time because often your mindset is the same. I am sure that as an area becomes more familiar you can sometimes concentrate on seeing things you missed the first time.
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Jewel Bug Choerocoris paganus
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Azure Kingfisher Alcedo azurea
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Little Kingfisher Alecedo pusilla
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Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
feeding in
Xanthostemon paradoxus
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Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii
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Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon Petrophassa rufipennis
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Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacean
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Commelina ensifolia
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Crocodylus porosus
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Darter Anhinga melanogaster male
rubbing its oil gland
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Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana
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Grey Whistler Pachycephala simplex race simplex
eating an unidentified tree frog
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Grey Whistler Pachycephala simplex race simplex
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Ground Orchid Dipodium stenochilum
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Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia
in breeding condition
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Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Microeca flavigaster
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Lily Crinum angustifolium
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Little Corella Cacatua pastinator
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Livistona inermis
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Melaleuca magnifica
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Mistletoebird Dicaeum hirundinaceum
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Nanguluwur Art Site
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Native Ginger Curcuma australasica
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Pale Triangle Graphium eurypylus
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Robber Fly Family Asilidae
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Spangled Drongo Dicrurus bracteatus
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Two-lined Dragon Diporiphora bilineata
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White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster
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Saturday, December 12, 2009

Kakadu

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Kakadu was hot, very hot! People we saw were eating in
their cars rather than eat in the shade. The humidity was
high, no cooling from sweating. Not many tourists around.
The billabongs and river systems are full of very big
lizards so no cooling swims. However, the scenery was
breathtaking and the waterways cruises the way to go. There
were plenty of sticky black flies but no mozzies.
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Ubirr Escarpment
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Ubirr Flood Plain
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Ubirr Rock Art
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Ubirr Rock Art
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Yellow Waters Bilibong
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Azure Kingfisher Alcedo azurea
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Azure Kingfisher Alcedo azurea
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Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus
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Brolga Grus rubicundus
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Brolga Grus rubicundus
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Crocodylus porosus
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Canis lupus dingo
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Green Pygmy-Goose Nettapus pulchellus
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Little Kingfisher Alcedo pusilla
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Northern Dwarf Tree Frog Litoria bicolour
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Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata
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Rock Fern Drynaria quercifolia
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Mangrove Walk Fogg Dam

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Walking in mangroves can be very restrictive because they are impenetrable. Not only do you come across shear walls of growth but birds are difficult to follow if you spook them. So often it is the avenues between plant species that provide a reasonable path such as the avenue between mangroves and paperbarks, or small run-off erosion avenues which wash away the soil and allow for tidal runoff back to the river itself that enable contortion like visits to take place. So its very nice to occasionally stroll down a manmade flat path or even an elevated one cut through the mangroves like at Fogg dam.
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Golden Orb Weaver Nephila ornate
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Sugarbag Bee Trigona carbonaria on
Bandicoot Berry Leea indica
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Yellow White-eye Zosterops lutea
on White-flowered Black Mangrove Lumnitzera racemosa Willd
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Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus
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Red-headed Honeyeater Myzomela erythrocephala female
on River Mangrove Aegiceras corniculatum
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Red-headed Honeyeater Myzomela erythrocephala male
on Grey Mangrove Avicennia marina var eucalytifolia
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Monday, December 7, 2009

Pre Wet Excitement

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Walking around the open forest adjacent to a mangrove lined river, I have the impression that with the regular small amounts of rain, there is a lot of anticipation that more rain is on its way.
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I have seen many nesting pairs of Northern Fantails, but all of the nests have been wrecked soon after the young start raising their heads above the nests. I wonder if this Goshawk is responsible?
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Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus
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A lone dove has been calling day after day, but as yet his calls have been unanswered.
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Rose-crowned Fruit Dove Ptilinopus regina
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A pair of Cuckoos have been flying erratically from tree to tree. They don’t seem to be feeding and they don’t nest here so I wonder what is driving them?
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Oriental Cuckoo Cuculus optatus
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You never hear them until they stop and then when they start again you cannot believe how loud they are.
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Cicada Unidentified Cyclochila
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There are untold numbers of sticky flies that love the moisture in the corner of your eyes. There are March flies which can leave a bloody mark on your leg. So it is nice when you come across another type of insect which leaves you alone and looks so interesting.
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Native Drone Fly Eristalinus punctulatus
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Three remarkable plants are in blossom.
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Leichhardt Tree Nauclea orientalis
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Wild-Orange Capparis mitchellii
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Wrightia-saligna
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Its amazing how the birds use different parts of the open forest. Some birds specifically hunt on the floor.
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Emerald Ground Dove Chalcophaps indica
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Some hunt in the shrubs and are happy eating the unripe fruit of a native cherry tree.
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Mistletoe Bird Dicaeum hirundinaceum
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