Fogg Dam

We arrived at Fogg Dam at around 2:00 am on Sunday 28 June. The noise was incredible, and mostly unidentifiable, other than the 'woof woof' of Barking Owls. After some mostly ineffectual waving of a spotlight around the tree tops I tucked in for a couple of hours sleep.

At first light we set off for a walk across the dam wall, only to find that it was closed to walkers because of a large salt-water crocodile in the area. So I snapped a few photos of the first light through the fog and early morning flocks of birds flying across pastel skies, and headed back to the van to drive to the other side.

Both sides of the wall were teeming with water birds: egrets, storks, herons, cormorants, ducks, geese, ibis ... The Pandanus Lookout provided wonderful views of the Dam - I'd recommend it as a perfect spot to watch the sunrise. The parking area trees held honeyeaters, fairywrens, whistlers, cuckoo-shrike and finches. Peter and Fran cooked a full breakfast while I tried to capture as many of the birds as possible, and we picnicked surrounded by the incredible natural beauty. A crow sat beside us expectantly, only to be disappointed when we cleared our plates.

Breakfast over we did the Woodlands to Waterlily Walk - 2.2 k of boardwalk through the fringing forest and the wetlands. Along the walk we added a number of bush birds to the tally. The water lillies were in full flower in white and purple, the bugs were at an acceptably low level, and it was hard not to think that this was a little piece of paradise.

Bird list:

Magpie Goose Anseranas semipalmata

Wandering Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna arcuata
Plumed Whistling-Duck Dendrocygna eytoni
Radjah Shelduck Tadorna radjah
Green Pygmy-Goose Nettapus pulchellus

Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa

Grey Teal Anas gracilis

Australasian Grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

Darter Anhinga melanogaster

Great Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo

Pied Cormorant Phalacrocorax varius

White-necked Heron Ardea pacifica
White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae
Pied Heron Ardea picata
Little Egret Egretta garzetta
Great Egret Ardea alba
Intermediate Egret Ardea intermedia
Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus

Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis
Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca
Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia

Black-necked Stork Ehippioryhnchus asiaticus

Black Kite Milvus migrans

Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus

Nankeen Kestrel Falco cenchroides

Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea

Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx minutillus

Barking Owl Ninox connivens

Azure Kingfisher Alcedo azurea

Blue-winged Kookaburra Dacelo leachii
Forest Kingfisher Todiramphus macleayii

Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus

Rainbow Pitta Pitta iris

Red-backed Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Microeca flavigaster

Grey Whistler Pachycephala simplex

Broad-billed Flycatcher Myiagra ruficollis

White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike Coracina papuensis

Torresian Crow Corvus orru

Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton