'On a Wing and a Prayer'

Hear celebrity speaker, John Dengate, is delivering this talk for the NT Field Naturalists at Charles Darwin University at 2pm Saturday, 18th of July.

More information here..
http://www.experiencethewild.com.au/Reports/John Dengate flyer.pdf

Chestnut Rail Expedition

The elusive Chestnut Rail is one of those birds that, while not rare, is rarely seen. If you want to see this species, you really have to come to Darwin, and many who have come and tried to see it have been unsuccessful.

The problem is that it resides in mangroves, that are difficult to explore without sinking in mud and risking encounters of the crocodilian kind. Also the bird is (usually) shy and likely to skulk off before you get anywhere near it. There is one neat way to overcome all these problems, search for the rail by boat!

Jim Smith of Sea Darwin and I have teamed up to offer a tour with the Chestnut Rail as the main target. At dawn on May 29th the tide is perfect for it, we can get you comfortably and safely into Chestnut Rail habitat with Jim's vessel effectively being a 'hide' to enable reasonably close views of the rail and many more mangrove species.
Please click here for more information

Remember everything....

Wouldn't you love to be able to do that??

A data base program dedicated to recording your sightings certainly helps. I have been using a program called Bird Journal for the last five years, and it has recently undergone a quantum shift in the way they provide that facility.

Now available for Android and iPhone as well as PC, you can sync between your devices and only have to make an entry once. In addition to bird checklists from all over the world, you can download wildlife lists, including Mammals of Australia, Butterflies of Australia, and soon, Reptiles of Australia. You can create your own wildlife checklists, make a regional list for your local birds, and add whatever type of checklist you wish to create.

The basic Bird Journal program (minus the wildlife checklists and one country only) is free!

Photobomb at Ubirr!

Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon photobombed by Sandstone Shrike-thrush at Ubirr, Kakadu

With guests Barbara and Jimmy on a hot afternoon and we had a great view of a Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon on a sandstone ledge just above the carpark near the rest rooms. While lining up the CQRP for a photo a Sandstone Shrike-thrush suddenly appeared and posed behind the Rock-pigeon for a moment. 

I have seen both of these species at this location occasionally but never together at the same time. The Chestnut-quilled Rock-pigeon is endemic to the Arnhemland Escarpment and I usually see them on the nearby outlier alongside the Bardedjilidji walk.

Ubirr, Kakadu is the site of some very ancient Aboriginal rock art, and part of a four day birdwatching, nature and culture 'Kakadu Nature's Way' tour.