Argentinian interlude 3

At the Bristol reading on April 11th, a gentleman bought a copy of my book The Elephant Tests on the strength of a particular poem, A Long Dry, which is set in Australia's Northern Territory. He wanted to send it to his daughter, who lives out there.

When I visited Northern Territory a few years back, one of the first birds I saw at Fogg Dam, not far outside Darwin, was the Jabiru, a large and hugely impressive stork. Even though the name sounds rather Australian, it is in fact named after the above bird, the original Jabiru, seen here in the Ibera wetlands.

More pics from Oz

Time for a few more pics from my recent trip to Australia's Top End, that part of Northern Territory stretching south and east of Darwin.

The first picture shows a Darter, on the wetlands close to the Gagadju Lodge, Cooinda. We took in the Yellow Water Dawn Cruise, seeing huge numbers of Plumed Whistling Ducks, various egrets and herons, a lot of Rainbow Bee-eaters and Forest Kingfishers, and a scattering of White-bellied Sea Eagles and Jabirus.

Next picture is me having a bit of a refresher at Gunlom, after we'd climbed the escarpment in search of the White-throated Grasswren. Sadly it eluded us, one of the few target species to do so, but having a midday dip was some compensation. The view's incredible, back across the Kakadu National Park, and the water's cold. And crocodiles can't climb, either.

The third pic is of one of our camp sites on the three-day canoe safari down the Katherine River, with Paula of Gecko Canoe Safaris, and my guide, Chris Parker. We had Blue-winged Kookaburras in the trees around us, while other birds included Black Bittern, Great-billed Heron and a lot of raptors. You'll notice that, as well as the battered field guides and binoculars, we hadn't neglected to pack a few bottles of the best Aussie reds, to help pass the evenings. Later, sleeping out in the open, we could hear dingos howling on the far side of the river, plus one or two strange animal noises we preferred not to try to identify!

Finally, a really bad picture of some female Hooded Parrots, taken at Pine Creek as we headed back to Darwin on the last evening. I was having to rest my compact camera in the fork of a small tree, and the light was entirely wrong, so this was the best I managed before they flew off and met up with some calling males. But it's one of the signature birds of the Top End, and we were thrilled to finally track some down.

I should just mention that, should you be interested in finding out more about the area, a full trip report will be in a future issue of Bird Watching. But you should also have a look at the website of Fisher King, Chris's company. I can't recommend him as a guide highly enough.

Birding in Australia's Top End

Just back from a work trip to Australia's Northern Territory, starting and ending in Darwin and taking in the Kakadu National Park, parts of the Arnhem Escarpment, and a three-day canoe safari down the Katherine River.

The birding was utterly astonishing, with all sorts of 'Top End' specials, such as Hooded Parrot, Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, Banded Fruit Dove and the absurdly colourful Gouldian Finch (tracking these beauties down, thanks mainly to the patience and skill of our guide, Chris Parker, was one of the highlights), as well as a host of other species, nearly all new to me (never having been Down Under before). They included White-bellied Sea Eagle, pictured, which I took at Yellow Water, Cooinda - this bird was totally unfazed by our presence in a boat nearby, and fortunately held still for a few (non-digibinned) shots.

There were also wallabies, wallaroos, and both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. The 4.5-metre specimen pictured above showed up on the first day, just as we were having a sandwich and a cuppa at Fogg River Dam, close to Darwin. I managed to digi-bin the pic above (we were up in a viewing tower, so my hand wasn't shaking!).

Added to all that, there was loads of breathtaking scenery and a lot of Aboriginal rock art to enjoy, usually with the two combined. It's a wonderful part of the world, and I'll definitely be going back. I'll post more pics and reflections later, but having done the whole trip, including flights, within nine days, I think I need to get my head down first!

PS. It's always nice to learn new skills, so I should probably add that I was also introduced to the Tim Tam Slam, an Australian practice that takes dunking a chocolate biscuit in tea/coffee/hot chocolate to a whole new level. Utter genius.

Good on yer, Aussies!

I can't help finding this story just a bit heart-warming. I'm not a huge coffee-drinker, admittedly, being stereotypically British in my preference for a nice cup of industrial strength builders' tea, but when I used to work in the middle of Leicester and have to make very early starts, I was occasionally tempted. Starbucks, though, was always distinctly underwhelming, with the coffee seeming nothing special, and the price and welcome not a patch on the nice people at Cafe Roma (halfway down Halford Street, if you're ever there).