Visited: very late dry season
Recommendation: Buffalo Creek was the first place I visited when arriving in Darwin and I returned several times. The different environments offered here result in a huge number of bird species - my record was 65 in one visit. A must do when in Darwin.
Buffalo Creek is a northern suburb of Darwin. It is the traditional country and waterways of the Larrakia people. While it is close to the centre of Darwin, it is not developed and there is plenty of open space to enjoy, especially at low tides when the beach is very wide and extends for miles. The area is subsequently a popular recreation area for fishing, launching boats, bird watching and just simply walking along the beach. Best of all, flocks of migratory birds use this stretch of beach, making it an important conservation area.
When you arrive at Buffalo Creek, there are several car parking areas for the boat ramp, for the beach and for the bush walk. I parked a little away from the boat ramp, closer to the bush and immediately as I got out I could hear a different bird call. So I first of all walked along the bush and it was great to hear the White-gaped Honeyeater but I could also hear something else that I hadn't really ever seen a couple of times before and that was the Red-headed Myzomela. There were plenty of them about in the bushes of varying states of plumage and it was really good to see them. The bush walk runs parallel to the beach heading away from the boat ramp and it's a lovely walk through thick rainforest-like bush. It is also nice and shaded in the hot weather.
Red-headed Myzomela (Myzomela erythrocephala)
The bush is adjacent to the sand, sandwiched in between the beach and the road. So it's quite narrow but it's just full of birds. It was quite difficult to get photographs of some of them. But I did hear and see species like the Green-backed Gerygony which is endemic to the area. There were also trillers, orioles and figbirds. The Arafura Fantail was something I chased around for quite some time without managing to get a photograph and that continued here. The uncommon Broad-billed Flycatcher was identifiable by the graduated tail but again, no photograph. The air was thick with the calls of the Australian Yellow White-eyes zipping around, chattering away as they do. So it was a really pleasant walk and a very interesting introduction to the area around Buffalo Creek.
White-gaped Honeyeater (Stomiopera unicolor)
Varied Triller (Lalage leucomela)
There is an unofficial tour guide that will take you out on a boat onto Buffalo Creek, either early in the morning or late afternoon, and I thoroughly recommend it. It's a wonderful, experience, and possibly, even better than the ones I've had in far north Queensland, which I never thought I would say. The creek runs east from the beach and you get into the water at the boat ramp. Then it is a quiet, smooth ride just up the creek, only a couple of kilometres. You go nice and slowly, and the birds are quite unconcerned by the boat. If you get too close to them, obviously, you flush them, but it's a very rare opportunity to get some phenomenal views of some very difficult-to-see birds.
First of all, there's the kingfishers. They are just stunning, abundant and active. I saw Little, Azure and Sacred here. The Little Kingfishers were the most common, there were so many that we just lost count. A dozen or so individuals, and 20 or so sightings of them. The flitted across the water from side to side of the creek, and at times, sat up, as kingfishers do, and allowed us to get relatively close to them. It was definitely the best views I've ever had of them. It was really interesting that, at times, the Little and the Azure Kingfishers would be close together, and we got to see, actually, how tiny, the Little Kingfisher is, even compared to a small bird like the Azure. And the Sacred Kingfisher was just a giant in comparison to these two.
Azure Kingfisher (Alcedo azurea)
Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus)
Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla)
Also around the banks of the creek were lots of Striated Herons. They were a bit flighty but every now and again we got to watch them as they stood on a branch above the water and then leaned down waiting and watching the fish below. On the banks were numerous mudskippers, Giant Mudskippers at that, and they were very cool to to see although they didn't actually do very much.
Striated Heron (Butorides striatus)
Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri)
The Mangrove Gerygone could be heard calling at times and our guide said it was quite unusual to see them. But he did show us this fantastic nest. And I always loved the gerygone nests. They're built so that they look like just detritus from hanging from trees or branches. And they're quite incredible, you just wouldn't believe that such a small bird would need such a long, large nest, and could be able to actually build one.
And while we were sitting looking at this feat of engineering, we turn to see the gerygone, the owner of the nest, was actually sitting very close by. They might be very plain kind of birds but they are warblers and their song makes up for just about everything.
Mangrove Gerygone (Gerygone levigaster)
But the highlight of the trip and our main purpose for being there were rails. We saw the Buff-banded Rail fairly early on and they're relatively common and easy to see. At the other end of the scale was the Chestnut Rail. Incredibly rare, cryptic and very very difficult to see, I was hopeful but not convinced we would find them. However, we did. We saw several of them and not only that but we watched them just wandering along the banks of the creek. It really was a case of putting yourself in the right place at the right time. The guide told us that there were chicks around as well but we didn't see them but that was fine, it was just wonderful to see this incredible looking bird.
In the late afternoon light they looked quite dull but it was only when I got my photographs back that you could actually see that rich brown color contrasting with the red and the yellow. It had a very grey head and and yellow bill and the bright red eye. A lifer for me, I'm not sure where I would ever see one again and that was just totally totally wonderful.
Chestnut Rail (Gallirallus castaneoventris)
Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis)
As I said before, the creek runs out by the boat ramp, but then it runs alongside the mangroves north before joining the ocean. So you have this kind of triangular strip of land (which obviously varies in shape at times) in between the sea and the creek. And this patch of sand was just full of waders. Visiting in October, the migratory waders were back in the area and I was hopeful that there would be likely to be a good variety down there. Buffalo Creek didn't let me down.
Common Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)
Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis)
Not only was there a wide range of shorebirds present, but they were also very accessible. So I spent some time wandering up and down the beach, trying to identify what was there and get photographs of them. And the usual suspects, things like the Common Sandpiper and the Eastern Curlew, were present and actually provided some quite nice photographs of them in a different kind of light than I've had them before.
Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)
Also present were lots of plovers - Red-capped, Grey and Pacific Golden Plovers were all there. It can be difficult to tell the latter apart and these shots illustrate the difference between them. You can clearly see the lack of gold on this Grey Plover and the richness of the Golden Plover plumage, even though both birds are molting into or out of breeding plumage. You can also see that the thickness of the Grey Plover bill. Is much more prominent than that of the Golden Plover.
Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)
On the edge of the beach where it meets the bush were Orange-footed Scrubfowl (now named Megapode) out in the open, scratching around in the sand, which I found to be quite unusual and amusing. It was a rare opportunity to get some photographs of them actually in direct light.
Orange-footed Scrub Fowl (Megapodius reinwardt)
Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
Ruddy Turnstones, Sand Plovers, Common Greenshank and both the Sharp-tailed and Terek Sandpiper were here in small numbers. The Terek Sandpiper was quite interesting, looking very orange in the legs and the base of the bill. I love the way they scurry around close to the ground with their upturned bill.
Siberian Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus)
Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)
Also along the beach was an army of Soldier Ccrabs, quite difficult to photograph really, but I wasn't too displeased with this shot. Every time you take a step forward to them, they move en masse, a bit like a starling murmuration away from you, but it was very, very cool to watch them.
Soldier Crabs (Mictyris longicarpus)
What was most interesting to me on the beach were the amount of raptors that were down there. There were kites circling, which wouldn't normally be expected to hunt on the beach. What I found really curious was the number of them that were sitting on the beach. Black and Whistling Kites were there and actually let me get reasonably close to them, especially the Whistling Kite, which looked absolutely stunning in the early morning light. Not something I have seen before. The Brahmany Kite had a bit more of an idea and was just circling around the part of the creek where it goes out to meet the ocean, looking for prey. A White-bellied Sea Eagle very elegantly sat high above the mangroves, just observing.
Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus)
Black Kite (Milvus migrans)
Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus)
White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)
To cap off a fantasticc few days at Buffalo Creek was tracking down a Laughing Gull. I knew from Facebook chatter that one had been recorded in the area but it was moving about. A lucky check of my feeds gave me a notification that it was on the beach one lunchtime so off I went. There were lots of people down there - fishing, boating, playing on the beach but it was easy to spot the birders and between us, we found it. Rarely seen in Australia, this attractive gull is normally seen in North America and Europe. A real treat to find here.
Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)