Cox Peninsula/Raining Acacia Flowers

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A relaxing morning stroll at the Cox. Still way too much water to get into the ancient remnant vine forest. Surprisingly few Wallaby tracks to meander down, this time last year they were zig-zagging everywhere. The big difference is the salt water. I have been visiting freshwater habitat for months now and this is the first visit to a saltwater habitat, even though it is a Paperbark swamp, dominated by one or more tall Melaleuca species. In amongst the second story there were lots of Carallia brachiate but no day-moths anywhere. They must rely on the freshwater more than I understood. The majestic Acacia leptocarpa towering above provided the flower granules which rained down on me every time a breeze spanked their branches.
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Blue Waterlily Nymphaea nouchali
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Caper Gull Cepora perimale
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Common Glider Tramea loewii
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Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton
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Cullen badocanum
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Ervatamia orientalis
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Golden Band-wing Cryptobothrus chrysophorus
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Hypoestes floribunda
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Jewel Spider Austracantha minax
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Leaf Beetle Eumolpinae sp.
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Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Microeca flavigaster
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Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Microeca flavigaster juv.
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Melastoma malabathricum
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Orange Ringlet Hypocysta adiante
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Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus banksii female
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Tortoise beetle Nyph Cassidinae sp.
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Yellow-banded Ichneumon Wasp Lissopimpla sp.
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Gubara Stretch 01

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I stretched my legs over a sandstone rain forest in Kakadu, which is basically always associated with fresh water springs and seepages. The rain forest is dominated by Barringtonia and is located in a gorge in the western plateau of Kakadu. It has become one of many small isolated habitat pockets where some rare flora and fauna still occur if your up to finding them. Considering that the rocks in this area are 2,000 million years old, individuals have had plenty of time to evolve into diverse species even though the seasonal differences are mitigated by the permeant fresh water supply.
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Rugged landscape of resistant, flat-bedded

quartzose sandstones
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Lowland Rain Forest "Freshwater Creek Bed"
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Acacia torulosa
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Acrididae sp.
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Whirligig Gyrinidae sp.
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Aretza sp.
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Australasian Slimwing Lathrecista asiatica festa
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Carpenter Bee Xylocopa aruana
feeding on
Alternanthera nodiflora
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Cartonema parviflora
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Citrine Threadtail Nososticta koongarra
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Cladode Pea Jacksonia dilatata
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Common Mud-Dauber Wasp Sceliphron laetum
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Crotalaria novae-hollandiaea
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Fig Bird Sphecotheres viridis Race flaviventris male
feeding on
Sand Palm Livistonia humillis
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Gilbert’s Dragon or Ta-Ta Lizard Amphibolurus gilberti
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Green Skimmer Orthetrum serapia
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Grey-winged Aretza Aretza sp.
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Hawk Moth Sphingidae sp.
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Helmeted Friarbird Philemon buceroides
feeding on
Banksia dentata
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Helmeted Friarbird Philemon buceroides
feeding on
Eucalyptus Phoennicea
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Hibiscus leptocladus
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Holly-leafed Pea-flower Bossiaea bossiaeoides
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Leapord Grasshopper Stropis maculosa 3rd instar
feeding on
Pityrodie jamesii
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Gubara Stretch 02

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I, however, still only see the similarities. Perhaps as I become more expectant of change I will start to see the plants and animals which only exist in these remote pockets, but for now I need to see the similarities, otherwise the difference are like a long distant overgrown picture. The similarities allow me to focus on some of the small details which provide a more complex experience and exposes the relationships that punctuate my walk. It makes me feel part of the connection with land which obviously has resisted successfully for 2,000 million years attempts at colonisation by my two legged colleagues.
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Escarpment "Spring Fed Creek"
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Lindernia plantaginea
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Merremia sp.
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Mertens Water Monitor Varanus mertensi
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Northern Fantail Rhipidura rufiventris
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Orange Lacewing Cethosia penthesilea
feeding on
Hypoestes floribunda
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Pachynema junceum
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Patersonia macrantha
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Polycarpaea corymbose
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Native Grass Pseudoraphis spinescens
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SandStone Shrike-thrush Colluricincla woodwardi
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Scant-striped Ctenotus Ctenotus vertebralis
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Silver-striped Polichne Polichne argentata Brunner female
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Sowerbaea alliacea
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St Andrew's Cross Spider Argiope Keyserlingi
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Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus
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Leopard Grasshopper Stropis maculosa 3rd instar
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Swamp Foxglove Centranthera cochinchinensis
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Tortoise Beetle Cassida sp.
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Tropical Gumleaf Grasshopper Goniaea furcifera
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White-marked Gum Hopper Platybrachys sp. instar
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White-marked Gum Hopper Platybrachys sp.
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White-quilled Rock-Pigeon Petrophassa rufipennis
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