Yesterday I headed north to check out Bald Hill Beach for migrant waders. Unfortunately, the armaments testing range was active so the road was closed. Plan B was to visit the boat ramp and seasonal wetland at nearby Port Wakefield.
The tide was just ebbing as I got there, and I soon found a Common Sandpiper fossiking along the exposed mangrove margins. There was also a single Black-tailed Nativehen there - not something I expected - they usually prefer fresh water. There was a Spotted Dove perched on the railing, and as I was leaving I heard the strident call of a Sacred Kingfisher perched in the mangroves. In the town were plenty of White Ibis, and a single Masked Lapwing.
At first glance, the wetlands was fairly quiet, so I settled myself down in the samphire and waited. Soon, an immature then an adult Red-necked Avocet came within range, followed by White-headed Stilt and Red-kneed Dotterel.
Then some smaller waders appeared from the other direction, a migrant Red-necked Stint, and a pair of resident Red-capped Plovers, first the bright male, and then the female.
I headed back through the backroads of the Adelaide Plains, stopping for a couple of Brown Falcons, an older lighter bird, and then a darker bird that I thought might have been a Black Falcon. At another stop I heard and soon tracked down a Brown Treecreeper.
I also spotted my first Bearded Dragon of the summer, warming on a concrete fence post.
I spent this morning driving the back roads between Lower Light and Hamley Bridge looking for raptors.
Within 200m of Port Wakefield Road I saw the first of many Spotted Harriers. This one came and checked me out and at one point was too close to photograph.
In the same area were a pair of Black Kites, and one shot was photo-bombed by a Black-shouldered Kite which then thermaled with the other birds.
Other common birds were Australian Kestrel and Brown Falcon
Today I was heading east from Darwin towards Kakadu National Park. First port of call was Howard Springs, a small reserve known for its population of Rainbow Pittas. I did see some, but no well enough to photograph. I did photograph some other birds here like Spangled Drongo and Shining Flycatcher
Then I headed to another small wetland at the delightfully named town of Humpty Doo. Here I saw my first Cicadabird of the trip and also had more close encounters with more Straw-necked Ibis.
Main location for the day was to be the wetland reserve at Fogg Dam. It is a magical place, full of many waterbirds. I was brought down to earth as I got to the main causeway. There would be no getting out of the car today!
Along the causeway I saw Pied Heron, Green Pygmy-geese and many Egrets of all sizes (this one is Great Egret). On the causeway were many Rainbow Bee-eaters, and on the lily and lotus leaves were Comb Crested Jacanas.
Carrying on east, I spotted some Black-necked Storks and pulled over to photograph them from a bridge, and nearly got blown off the bridge by a passing road-train!!
Further along the Arnhem Highway I stopped successively for Black Falcon, a very pale Brown Falcon, and almost immediately again for a dark morph Brown Falcon.
In many places the landscape is dominated by termite mounds - many are huge! In the arid landscape I kept hearing a sharp piping call, and finally tracked it down to a Black-tailed Treecreeper.
