birds/other wildlife at Darwin River

We’ve had a very unseasonal run of cool weather and very low humidity. The result here at Darwin River is that it’s very dry. We’re managing to keep our young trees, vegetables and other plants watered, plus water in our one pond, but that’s about all. My plan was to put in a series of shallow ponds, and for a few reasons. In the Wet the braided woodland at the bottom of our property floods, and rainbow fish, catfish and freshwater prawns abound (this is the time to see Black Bittern on our property). The ponds allow us to keep those fish and aquatic fauna through the Dry. Secondly the ponds will supply water to birds such as our resident flock of Partridge Pigeons. Presently they’re toddling across the road to the neighbour’s drip irrigation system, and one careless driver could knock off the lot in one go. Because of the good Wet Season and this low humidity the risk of fire is even greater this year. We’ve got rid of most of the Gamba and Mission Grass, tall weeds that can go up like a bomb in a fire (our volunteer fire brigade are finding now that their fire-retardant uniforms are not enough to protect them from such fires). And I’ve raked out huge amounts of spear grass, particularly around our very old eucalypts and hollow logs. So if there is a fire, it should be relatively cool. The areas of open forest that we burnt last Wet Season are largely grass-free, except for native species such as Themeda triandra, and Ectrosia and Eriachne spp. etc. But low-growing grevilleas and other plants are now covering the burnt ground, offering shelter to a range of fauna. It will be interesting to see the results of this burning next Wet. Hopefully, our efforts will help to protect the Partridge Pigeon and other fauna and flora here. Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow PO Box 71 Darwin River, NT, Australia 0841 PhD candidate goodfellow@bigpond.com.au Founding Member: Ecotourism Australia Founding Member: Australian Federation of Graduate Women Northern Territory 043 8650 835