Birding Donkey Camp Weir, Katherine, Northern Territory

Posted on March 12, 2017 by Tara

I never would have known about this place had it not been for the book “Top End Birdwatching” by Mike Reed. The curiously named “Donkey Camp Weir” is not an obvious stop when driving between Katherine town and Nitmiluk NP so I was glad to have the map and recommendation that Northern Rosellas could be seen here.

It’s 9.8 kms from town and this is the sign you will see if headed towards Nitmiluk. There are no signs in the opposite direction and we went past it before turning back and looking real hard.

Drive down this dirt road past a farm to the end of the road and park.

Then walk through this gate and follow the trail down to the river. Don’t go to close to the water as there could be crocodiles.

It was dry and hot and we were there at a bad time, around 11am so not expecting to see anything but gave it a try anyways.

Suddenly I heard parrot squawks above. Much to my delight and surprise, there was a small flock of Varied Lorikeets up in the trees.

They hung around a good half hour so we got to spend some quality time watching them. Finally they flew off and we walked back to the car park.

I just had to take this shot as I couldn’t get over seeing any parrot species at this time of day…………..and so well!

Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii)

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Tara

The Blue-winged Kookaburra (Dacelo leachii) is slightly smaller than the more familiar Laughing Kookaburra and has a different kind of call (see video section).

I got my best view at Nitmiluk NP but also saw some in Kakadu NP. They have a huge range across Australia.

LEARN MORE ABOUT BLUE-WINGED KOOKABURRAS

Wikipedia

Birdlife

Birds in Backyards

VIDEOS

First let’s hear the bird’s call.

Now compare to the Laughing Kookaburra. The former doesn’t have the same sense of humour!

Great HD clip!

And a female, not sure how you tell the females from males.

Birding Katherine Gorge

Posted on March 10, 2017 by Tara

Katherine Gorge is only a half hour drive from town so it’s realistic to stay in town and get up early to drive to the Gorge. Katherine Gorge is actually part of Nitmiluk National Park and a highlight of the Northern Territory.

We started at the visitor centre and brought our picnic breakfast with us.

First to greet us was a Red-collared Lorikeet.

The visitor’s centre is a great place to hang out. They have a gift shop, snacks and a small museum.

You can relax and watch an orientation film about the park.

The cafe has a spectacular viewpoint over the gorge and is a great place to look for birds.

Curious Cockatoo

Wallabies

Bowerbird

Blue-faced Honey-eater

Heading back to the car park, we wandered around and found this lovely Blue-winged Kookaburra.

Meanwhile these wallabies were either dancing or fighting, hard to tell which!

Map of hiking trails

This is where you get boat trips through the gorge. We didn’t do this as our budget was pretty stretched and we already had a boat ride booked at Yellow Waters.

Gotta love traditional rest rooms!

We got here around 7am and stayed until 10:30-ish when it started getting hot. The ideal would be to spend more time and do a boat ride, but that’s just one more reason to come back!

Red-collared Lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubritorquis)

Posted on February 25, 2017 by Tara

The Red-collared Lorikeet (Trichoglossus rubritorquis) was previously considered a subspecies of the rainbow lorikeet, but today most major authorities consider them as separate species. They have become world famous for their drunken antics which sounds like it could be funny but really isn’t as it exposes them to predators.

They are easily found within their range, especailly in Australia’s Northern Territory and are very noisy so you can’t miss them! I saw them around the Darwin area, Pine Creek, Edith Falls, Katherine, Outback Northern Territory, Nitmikuk and Kakadu.