9th & 10th May - back to Darwin
On the 9th we drove 250km from Jabiru back to Darwin - making 4 planned birding stops along the way - and ended up with our biggest day list of 63 species.
First stop was at the Mamukala wetlands again where we had breakfast in the hide and got our only good view of Long-tailed Finch. Next we walked part of the Bird Billabong walk in the Mary River region - the other part, to complete the loop, being closed. This was fairly pleasant but it didn't really live up to its name. Next we stopped at the Adelaide River lookout, which gave spectacular views over the wetlands and a nice ice-cream. Finally we visited Fogg Dam - where we found the most abundant supply of birdlife of our entire trip - but only added Royal Spoonbill to our trip list. We had a light lunch and I did a short walk through the wetlands, before returning to the Lee Point Tropical Resort in Darwin.
First stop was at the Mamukala wetlands again where we had breakfast in the hide and got our only good view of Long-tailed Finch. Next we walked part of the Bird Billabong walk in the Mary River region - the other part, to complete the loop, being closed. This was fairly pleasant but it didn't really live up to its name. Next we stopped at the Adelaide River lookout, which gave spectacular views over the wetlands and a nice ice-cream. Finally we visited Fogg Dam - where we found the most abundant supply of birdlife of our entire trip - but only added Royal Spoonbill to our trip list. We had a light lunch and I did a short walk through the wetlands, before returning to the Lee Point Tropical Resort in Darwin.
We had seen surprisingly few marsupials during our time in the Northern Territory, but today we saw 100s of Wallabies along the quiet highway.
On return to Darwin I discovered that there was a small dam close to the resort, which was a known site for Gouldian Finch. I went for a dusk walk there, failed to find the finch but did find the only Varied Lorikeets of the trip. I later discovered that the Gouldian Finch only come here to breed and their return had been delayed by the late rains.
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The 10th May was our last full day of the holiday proper. We started by revisiting the East Point reserve mangrove board walk to look for mangrove species and had some success with adding Large-billed Gerygone. Then we returned to the Darwin botanic gardens for breakfast and a further search for Rufous Owl. The latter was unsuccessful, but whilst we were waiting for breakfast astonishingly Eric and Suzie Watkins (I have know Eric for 40 years as a friend and colleague and they live in the same road as us) came in to have breakfast - small world or what!
11th May after some early birding at Lee Point we returned our hire car and arrived at the Darwin airport at 10:00 am for our 12:15 flight - and remained there until 19:30! - the only travel hitch so far in our entire tour - but it was a long one. Arrived in Perth just in time to get to the car hire place 10 minutes before it closed at 11pm. Checked in to the very nice Country Comfort Motel and slept.
12th May we went to Whiteman Park and then returned to Kings Park for lunch. When we went to the baggage drop we discovered that our flight to Heathrow, which was due to leave at 18:30, would be delayed and that delay gradually extended until we eventually left at 00:30. So by the time we got home we had spent 40 of the previous 56 hours either in an airport or in a plane.
12th May we went to Whiteman Park and then returned to Kings Park for lunch. When we went to the baggage drop we discovered that our flight to Heathrow, which was due to leave at 18:30, would be delayed and that delay gradually extended until we eventually left at 00:30. So by the time we got home we had spent 40 of the previous 56 hours either in an airport or in a plane.