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| Gouldian Finch |
Following our visit to Kununurra (see next two posts) we headed off through the savannah to Wyndham, Western Australia’s northern-most town, for a two-night stay in Wyndham Caravan Park.
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| Croc footprint - Wyndham mangroves |
The first afternoon, I searched mangroves near the town wharf. It was high tide and I was walking 3-5 metres inside the mangroves when suddenly I saw a very large Saltwater Crocodile on the mangrove edge just 10 metres in front of me. Before I had a chance to get my camera act together, it disappeared into the water with a huge splash. I’m not sure what would have happened if it had other intentions. Plenty of fresh slide marks and crocodile foot prints in the mud.
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| White-breasted Whistler |
I found a female White-breasted Whistler, which I have not seen for a very long time.
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| Mangrove Fantail |
Other birds in the mangroves included Mangrove Fantail, Mangrove Gerygone and Yellow White-eye.
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| Gouldian Finch |
The caravan park backs on to some nice rocky savannah and has a couple of rock pools behind it. Visitors here included Gouldian Finch on several occasions, along with Double-barred, Long-tailed and Masked Finches.
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| Red-browed Pardalote |
Other birds about the park included Red-browed Pardalote and Plumed Pigeon.
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| View east from Five Rivers Lookout, Wyndham |
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| Sunset at Five Rivers Lookout, Wyndham |
We visited Five Rivers Lookout, which offers stunning views in all directions over the vast salt flats surrounding Cambridge Gulf to the distant mountain ranges of the Kimberly; truly breath-taking stuff. We returned to the lookout for beers at sunset.
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| Cambridge Gulf, from Wyndham |
A repeat visit to the mangroves produced several more White-breasted Whistlers, all females or juveniles, along with a couple of Mangrove Golden Whistlers.
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| Mangrove Golden Whistler female |
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| Wyndham mangroves |
Fresh crocodile foot prints were seen in mud under the town jetty, not far from where I saw my reptile; I learned from locals that a 5m male crocodile has made its territory along that stretch of mangrove (above).
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| Gouldian Finch |
We visited the town’s interesting historic museum and pioneer cemetery. Late in the afternoon, another nice procession of Gouldian and other finches came in to drink at the camping ground pools.
