# Kakadu/Litchfield in the wet



## moloch05 (Feb 12, 2011)

Greetings everyone,

I went on a brief trip to the Northern Territory last week. I have always wanted to see this area during the monsoon when it is lush and green. It really was a lovely site. The only problem with a visit during the wet was that the highway between Darwin and Kakadu can be cut at anytime should the rains be particularly heavy. This happened on the night of my arrival and twice during the previous week. I was concerned about pushing my luck and staying too long in the park since I did not want to miss my flight back to Sydney. I ended up spending 1.5 days in Kakadu NP then drove to Litchfield NP for a day. My final day was spent in Darwin where I visited the botanical gardens and an area of monsoon rain forest on East Point. 

Jabiru in eastern Kakadu is about a 3.5 hour drive from the airport in Darwin. That was the area where I spent most of my brief visit.


Kakadu is famous for its wetlands. At this time of the year, the flood plain was full of water and all sorts of life. Crocs were numerous. I was amazed by the local fishermen who often stood right at the edge of deep pools while casting and retrieving their lures. A few guys were even wading waist deep in a creek and throwing a net to catch bait fish. I always had the impression that such activities would end with an attack.



















Paperbarks (_Melaleuca sp_.) grew out on the flooded areas as well. This was the habitat of Bar-breasted Honeyeaters, a new bird to me.











One of my favourite birds up north is the Black-necked Stork (formerly "Jabiru"). This one is a juvenile but I saw adults as well.







Magpie Geese seemed to be the most abundant or at least conspicuous bird in the wet areas.










Radjah Shelducks have a nice pattern.






The area that I enjoyed the most was Nourlangie Rock. This hill is an outlier of the Arnhem Land escarpment. I really enjoyed the vibrant colour and texture of the rocks. Here are a few photos of Nourlangie.































I originally had intended to stay in this campground that was fairly close to Nourlangie. I changed plans after finding that is was closed during the wet due to water levels and crocs. Apparently, crocs wander around the campsite at night. It would be an interesting experience to find one "sniffing" around the tents and contemplating the chewy centres. I ended up staying in a commercial campground in the town of Jabiru.






Aborigines have lived here for thousands of years. There were numerous caves around the base of the rock with their artwork.







Reptiles were not as common as I had expected. On night drives, I saw a few of these Keelbacks (_Tropidonophis mairii_).







Brown Tree Snakes (_Boiga irregularis_) were common. They often put on a great show. 










... poor thing had a tick on its eye. I did not notice it at night or I would have removed the pest.







I found a single AOR Children's Python (_Antaresia childreni_) and one DOR. 






I also bumped into a few large pythons. Both Olive (_Liasis olivaceus_) and Water Pythons (_L. mackloti_) were numerous in the park. I had help with the identification of these. The following are Olive Pythons due to the lack of yellow ventrals and head shape. 














... this one was huge and heavy bodied.






I only saw a single elapid but at least it was a new one to me. This was a large Greater Black Whipsnake (_Demansia papuensis_) that was crossing the road late one afternoon. These are fast snakes and I only managed a lousy shot before it raced out of sight.






_Gehyra nana_ was a lifer.










Both _Amphibolurus gilberti_ and _A. temporalis_ live in the park. They look quite similar so I am not certain of the id. I think that these are Gilbert's Dragons due to the relatively short tail.















Here are a couple of the numerous _Carlia_ skinks. I am not certain but think them to be _C. amax_ and/or _C. rufilatus_.










I think that this is _Ctenotus essingtonii_.






another shy _Ctentous sp_. There are several striped species like this in Kakadu so I am not certain of the id.







I climbed Nourlangie one morning and then wandered around the sandstone blocks and interesting heathland of the summit plateau. A beautiful red-flowered _Grevillea_ was in full bloom. These were attractive to both butterflies and birds. The escarpment in the distance is part of Arnhem Land.















Silver-crowned Friarbird






I think that these are Wattle Blues (_Theclinesthes miskini_) but am not 100% certain of the id.










This native ginger had interesting pink and yellow flowers. It grew along a flowing creek that I followed to the summit.






These Clearwing Swallowtail (_Cressida cressida_) were a beautiful sight. They loved the Grevilleas and I saw them whenever I walked through this area.














Pandanus were common plants on the rocks along the trail.










After a good deal of sweating, I reached the summit plateau. There was a small flowing creek here and I spent awhile floating in the water and cooling down. Temps were not all that high, just the lower 30s, but the humidity was extreme and I was constantly dripping with perspiration.










A nice flowering pea:








I need help with the id of this Grass-Yellow. I think that it is a Scalloped Grass-Yellow (_Eurema alitha_) but the similar _E. hecabe_ is also found here along with 4 others of the genus.













Orange Ringlets were commonly seen as they flew along the trail or low over the surrounding vegetation.














Interesting flower:






Native Hibiscus:






I was happy to see a couple of the special butterflies that only live in this sandstone country. The following are Spotted Opals (_Nesolycaena urumelia_), Lycaenids with unusually coloured upper wings.














Rock Grass-Darts (_Taractrocera ilia_) are another species restricted to this sort of habitat in the NT.






I saw Twin Dusky-Blues (_Candalides geminus_) around a vine-like plant similar to where I see Varied Dusky-Blues here in NSW.










A pretty Reduviid:






A Pentatomid:


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## James..94 (Feb 12, 2011)

Great photo's Moloch


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## dihsmaj (Feb 12, 2011)

Watch out, the mods might delete pics 44, 46, 47.


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## Snakeluvver2 (Feb 12, 2011)

> Watch out, the mods might delete pics 44, 46, 47.


Why? 
I didn't count them 

Great photos Moloch as always!


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## blakehose (Feb 12, 2011)

I love Australia! Some great pictures, I need to get up there one day soon...


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## SteveNT (Feb 12, 2011)

Sssshhh!!!!

Dont tell everyone how good the Top End is in the Wet! We have to go miles off road to get away from the tourists in the Dry and the Wet is our time.

If you went to Litchfield you would have seen Buley's Rockholes, we had that spot to ourselves on New Years eve, the Rangers dropped in for a few ales and we had a magical night. In the Dry there would be hundreds at this spot.


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## snakeluvver (Feb 12, 2011)

Plimpy said:


> Watch out, the mods might delete pics 44, 46, 47.


 

For anyone who didnt realise, pics 44,46,47 were butterflies mating. Real mature Plimy.


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## Jacquie (Feb 12, 2011)

They are absolutely awesome photos. Would love to get up there one day. What camera do you use?


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## cadwallader (Feb 12, 2011)

wow amazing picture they look so good nice work man....


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## AnimalCollector6 (Feb 12, 2011)

Great photo's and yes, that IS a Gilberts Dragon.


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## Torah (Feb 12, 2011)

this should be a sticky ! I want to look at the pix all the time !


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## dihsmaj (Feb 12, 2011)

Mind if I use browntreesnake2.jpg as my Facebook profile picture?


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## Bax155 (Feb 13, 2011)

Great work as always Moloch, my mate just spent a week up there hopefully he did half as good as you.


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## moloch05 (Feb 13, 2011)

Thanks very much, everyone, for the feedback.

SteveNT, The wet is a great time for a visit. I loved having Kakadu pretty much all to myself. I saw no one on the road at night and only a few people at places such as Nourlangie Rock. The campground where I stayed in Jabiru was empty. It was huge so there obviously are many visitors in the winter. I no longer go to tropical Qld in the winter for the same reason. It is just too crowded.

Jacquie, I use a Canon 40D and then various lenses ranging from an Tamron 18x250 zoom to a Tamron 180mm macro.

Plimby, that is fine.


I will post photos from Litchfield before long.

Regards,
David


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## dpeica (Feb 13, 2011)

Very good.


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## tropicbreeze (Feb 13, 2011)

That's really good for 1.5 days in Kakadu, both in quantity and quality of photos. Most people visit in the dry season but they probably wouldn't recognise the place if they returned in the wet.

The best time for seeing huge numbers of Magpie Geese is just at the end of the dry season around the Mamukala Floodplains, or around the mango farms near Darwin.

The Radjah Shelducks are more commonly known here as Burdekin Ducks.

The proper name for Nourlangie is Burrungguy. The pandanus growing along the trail there is Pandanus basedowi, endemic to that sandstone region.

That campground looks like Malabanbandju, didn't know it was being completely closed off now for the wet. But there are some big crocs living there.

The Grevillea is G. dimidiata, quite common through there.

The "Interesting flower" is Vigna vexillata, its underground tuber was eaten by Aborigines.

The "Native Hibiscus" actually looks like a Glossipium sp., would need to see more of the plant.

Looking forward to the Litchfield photos.


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## slim6y (Feb 13, 2011)

Friar birds are one of my favourite Australian bird species - I love their call.

Tell me though - is the call of the Silver Crowned Friarbird similar to the 'Helmeted Friarbird'? (awful name for an ugly bird with a beautiful - but weird call).

I've always likened the call of the friarbird to one of those squeaky clown 'hammer' toys. 

As always - they're amazing photos...


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## sarah_m (Mar 3, 2011)

Wow, what great photos, I am drooling! We were up there this time last year and saw very little besides cane toads (I think it was just too wet!)
However we have just booked another trip up there for the end of April so hopefully will see a few of the species you saw.


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## Crimson (Mar 4, 2011)

Great pics thanks for sharing


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## krusty (Mar 5, 2011)

great pics looks like a very nice place,great looking olives what size would have the huge one been.


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