109). Arnhem Land (Injalak) and the Yellow Water

Whistling Kite silhouetted in a tree at sunrise

We journeyed into Arnhem Land to see the rock art (Gunbim) at Injalak Hill. Arnhem Land is an Aboriginal Reserve with strong continuing cultural traditions. We were required to obtain a permit to enter, needed a 4WD to cross the crocodile-inhabited river, and hired an indigenous guide to show us his ancestors art site at Injalak Hill.

Tony, our guide, was a man of few words, but he was kind enough to show us balanda (non Aboriginal people) around the site (for a rather large fee). Interpreting from the Park notes about the art, we understand that we were told only the first level ('public story') of information about the knowledge associated with many of the paintings. Kakadu has some of the oldest occupation sites found in Australia, over 50,000 years old. Some of the paintings are believed to be over 20,000 years old. Tony told us that his people would paint the rock art during the rainy season, many of the sites were overhanging rocks, that provided shelter from the rain. Not a bad way to while away the days of rain!








Enjoy the pictures, we don't have much to say about them!

There don't seem to be stories (at least that Tony would tell us) in the panels. There were layers on top of one another. Here , in the upper L corner you can see a Thylacine Tasmania Tiger (largely killed off in mainland AU 2000 years ago. Last captive animal died in 1933) )











































This piece is a good example of the "X-ray" style art. Note the enlarged knee and elbow joints of the squatting figure. It is believed this person shows the symptons of disturbing the wrong beings in the "sickness" land. There are uranium mines in this area and the tribes knew of 'sickness' areas that have been correlated with uranium deposits. Possibly radiation exposure?

Amazing detail of internal organs.




Only four ochre colors were used red (haematite), yellow (limonite and goethite) and white (huntite or kaolin) and black (manganese oxide) but the colors of the rock (sandstone) adds tremendous variety and depth. Tony explained the variety of painting tools and techniques of outlines, layers of ochre, crosshatching etc. Some of the areas were dense with overlapping drawings - other had single or just a few figures.




There was alot of work displaying the food of the area--fish and kangaroos, goanna, file snakes, long-necked turtle, crocs.











Galleries upon galleries up on ceilings. In one place it was 4th class climb up to a flat slab with a ceiling 2' away. Hundreds of small figures.











Mimis - first of the creation ancestors to paint on rock































Dancing figures at Anbangbang gallery)













Dirk and Nabulwinjbulwinj - "a dangerous spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam". (Anbangbang gallery)

I leave you, gentle reader, to decide which is who and who is what....













The little bug-like guy on the right is Namarrgon, 'lightning man', at Anbangbang gallery.












The rainbow serpent at Ubirr.












This panel at Ubirr tells the story of a man who sealed people in a cave for stealing food from him.













The boat cruise we took on the Yellow water wetlands, part of the South Alligator River floodplain, may have been our favorite part of our visit to Kakadu. The sunrise over the water after a crack of dawn start to the day illustrates why, perhaps, the area is called Yellow Water.

















Say this 3 times very quickly...









Magpie geese gather by the thousands in the billabongs for rest, eating. and raising their families. They are also a major traditional food source.









Magpie Geese









An Great Egret in flight, demonstrating the dramatic manner in which she can manouvre her neck!






One of the most remarkable birds we saw was the Jabiru, the black-necked stork. In this magnificent moment, the Jabiru fends off a Whistling Kite from her nest in a tall tree. These birds are 1.4 m, with a wing span of 2 m (that's 4.5 ft tall, with a 6 ft wingspan!).















Jabiru stalking the shallows














Green Pygmy goose
















A simply electric color in the bush (Azure Kingfisher)
















Lemon-bellied Fly Catcher
















A white-bellied sea eagle surveys his domain.



















This photo captures some of the splendid diversity of life in the wetland. Here are plumed whistling ducks, a little egret, and a comb-crested jacana, all in close proximity. It was difficult to decide where to look--so many birds, so little time!

Oh yes, a croc just out of the frame...






And then there were the saltwater crocodiles!

and more corcs,

and more crocs...




A female shining flycatcher, uncharacteristically standing still.

















A male shining flycatcher - dramatic gender dimorphism











There were a surprising number of Nankeen Night Herons searching for breakfast along the river margins.










The comb-crested Jacanas were one of my favorite birds. Common names for them are "Lily-trotter" and "Lotusbird." Their feet are simply an ingeneous work of art. We saw them truly walking from one waterlily pads to another!















Whistling Ducks









In the next blog, we continue south through Kakadu, heading for the high dry-lands.

108) The Tropics in Gurrung (Spring-ish)

An Azure Kingfisher surveys lunch options.

As the map indicates, this was our first venture into the 'tropics.' It's north of the Tropic of Capricorn. In the Bininj/Mungguy people's land of Kakadu, six different seasons are recognized --not simply the Dry and the Wet. Their knowledge of the natural world is fundamental to their culture, and they have deep awareness of the signs transitioning one seasure during the other. During Gudjewg (in the Gun-djeihmi language), monsoonal rains downpour for months and communities are isolated by the rising waters. We planned to visit during the hot dry Gurrung, when the birds would be crowding the shrinking billabongs (watering holes), prior to the Gunumeleng pre-monsoon storm season when the humidity rises, the clouds move in, and the electrical storms start in earnest. According to the Rangers, however, the start of the buildup was early - by 6 weeks! So we had heat (95 F) and humidity (85-99%). We dripped just standing still, making the pools we found to cool off in extra desireable. Also, it had been a wetter year, so the birds were not as concentrated as usual, but there were still amazing concentrations of some of the birds.

But first, Darwin. Even though it was late in the day when we arrived, we were off to a good start. We hired (rented) pushbikes (bicycles) so we could ride out to the East Point Reserve, where could view the sunset from the northern side of the continent--the Timor Sea. Here, we're closer to Indonesia than to Brisbane. We found interesting WWII remnants here. Darwin was an important base for activities against the Japanese in the Pacific. We read that Darwin was attacked many times during the War, and the memorials documented the tens of thousands of Ozzie POWs. Later on in our trip, we saw many old WWII airstrips along the highway out of town.


But before sunset, I was pleased to find the Orange-footed scrub fowl scrounging about in the leaf litter, especially since they are one of the cover birds on the "Top End" bird book I purchased. They are one of three specialized mound building birds in Australia that lay eggs in mounds of vegetation that they gather. The birds carefully monitor the mound to maintain temperature, humidity and aeration for incubation.








And a sociable Australasian Figbird. This boldly colored male looks entirely dis-similar from the female, I almost thought they were different species. These birds are in the same family as the orioles, but the figbirds are gregarious as opposed tho the more solitary Yellow and Olive-backed orioles.










We found 'accommodation' (a motel) near the Darwin Botanical Garden, so we could search for rufous owls early in the morning. Regrettably, the groundsmen said the usually-regular resident owls did not make an appearance at all this season. :o(. But these adorable double-barred finches were flocking nearby.


and there were Rainbow bee-eaters zitting about. How good is that?!


















These are some beautiful (unidentified by me) flowers Dirk photographed in the Botanical Gardens.
















Some type of wild-looking orchid.




























Then we headed from Darwin to Kakadu National Park, one of the few World Heritage sites listed for both its cultural and natural values.

We had a full agenda, ready to experience the culture, critters, and scenery of Kakadu.

A map of Kakadu.














And a Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoo!


















The indigenous people of this area have been integral to the planning and care of the park and surrounding areas, and the park is jointly managed by its traditional Aboriginal stewards and the Director of National Parks.

The marvelous museum at the Bowali Visitor Center in the settlement of Jabiru had this clever display to emphasize the need for us all to 'Look after this Country' (it's a mirror, and that's us reflected in the mirror behind the writing).













This was an exhibit at the little museum--the night creatures of Kakadu, including a Bush Stone-Curlew. They had recordings of the sounds the animals made at night, and we were lucky enough to hear the curlews one night. They put on quite a performance for such an unassuming-looking bird who tries to blend into its surrounds in the daytime (we saw a pair with a tiny fluffball baby)! Pizzey describes their voice as "a far-carrying, eerie whistling call (or chorus) that starts low and quietly--a drawn-out 'wee-eeer', repeated up to 5 times; rises, becomes a high-pitched, drawn-out 'keeleeoo', quickens, breaks, descends, often ends in a chorus of 'wee-wiff; wee-wiff; wee-wiff', by several birds. Other groups respond. Screeches in flight."


I'd call this a lotus flower, it may be the Red lily (Nelumbo nucifera), called Wurrmarninj in Gun-djeihmi language. These flowers grow in the waters of the floodplains and billabongs. The floodplains in Kakadu undergo extraordinary seasonal variation. The wet season inundates the lands to form a wide-reaching shallow sea. Over the dry season, the floodplains dry and crocodiles and waterbirds congregate in the shrinking wetlands for refuge.

Remember - this is serious croc country.......









This little splash of deep blue with white is a Forest Kingfisher.

















We went to Ubirr to gawk at the fascinating Aboriginal rock art sites.


A Thylacine--the Tasmanian tiger used to roam these parts!













We climbed the rocky lookout with the stunning sunset over the Nadab floodplain. The water glowed with the colors of the sky.
















We camped at the Merl campground so that we could get up early for meandering along the Bardedjilidji walk through the sandstone escarpment along the Alligator River in search of the chestnut-quilled rock pigeon, endemic to the region.