Gungarre Walk

Visited: late dry season

Recommendation: This is a poorly publicised and poorly signposted trail on the northern side of Kakadu National Park. But if you perservere, it is a pleasant forest walk onto a wetland with the potential of hosting a lot of birds. Probably not worth a special trip, but if you are passing and can find it, then go.

The Gungarre Walk (also known as Kungarre Walk) is an easy loop walk in Kakadu National Park. This Grade 2 track winds through 3.9 km of diverse landscapes in the South Alligator region, typically taking around 1.5 hours to complete.

While it may initially seem not very exciting, if you take the time to look around more closely you will see a variety of ecosystems. From lush monsoon forest to pockets of open woodland, it is full of interesting flora and fauna. Eventually, you will arrive at the impressive Ankurdabbal Billabong. This scenic wetland serves as a haven for birdlife, and the boardwalk provides an excellent vantage point for observing the rich biodiversity. On the water and surrounding trees there is a good number of animal species to be seen. I visited late in the dry season and it was quieter than it probably is at other times. 

You initially begin your walk through a dry open area leading to thicker bush. When I visited, it was very dry so everything looked like it was struggling a bit. I didn't hear too many birds at first but as I progressed, I started to hear the gentle calls of doves. During the walk I found Bar-shouldered Dove, the Torresian Imperial Pigeon and at one point I heard a different call which I knew with the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove. After a little bit of hunting I found one sitting high up in the trees as they usually do, being quite cryptic. It was tricky to move around to get a shot of it in the clear.  

I also came across a large mound that obviously belonged to an Orange-footed Megapode. I can never get over how big these mounds are. Apparently, they are sometimes used for many years. 

Also calling were various species of cuckoo. There was the Pheasant Coucal with deep booming call. The Pacific Koel and the Sahul Brush Cuckoo had their insistent and repetitive calls and the Little Bronze Cuckoo softened the proceedings with its altogether gentler song. It's always quite nice to hear a variety of cuckoo as it means that there are birds about. Three of the four of these cuckoos are parasitic and will look to lay their eggs in other birds nests. Only the coucal builds its own nest and cares for the chicks. 

The path brings you out and along the wetlands and it is a relief from the stifling forest (and the flies!). Forest Kingfishers and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo sat up high on the edge of the water.

In the water were plenty of Magpie Geese as usual in this area. They looked very healthy in breeding plumage. Far out into the water were some Green Pygmy Geese which of course, immediately scattered as soon as they saw me. 

There were various heron and egret flying around and this Plumed Egret sat up high just sedately enjoying the sunshine I think. I caught a sight of something sitting on the ground beyond the Magpie Geese and was really pleased to see it was a Collared Sparrowhawk. It was right at the range of my long lens but I tried to get it anyway and it stayed for some time on the ground. I'm not entirely sure what it was doing there but it was very pretty to look at. 

The second half of the walk takes you back through the forest and round to the car park and out there were lots of Little Corella, hooning around as usual, playing with each other, socializing and generally making a lot of noise. As were the Red collared Lorikeet who were sitting up in the trees. They were very skittish and I haven't been able to get close to them since I left Daly Waters. Today was no exception but it was still very nice to see them.