Marlgu Billabong

Visited: early wet season

Recommendation: This is a phenonmenal area to explore. Plan carefully to ensure you can access the billabong and take care of the heat - it is very exposed.

I was travelling from Kununurra to Wyndham, and I knew I wanted to stop at Parry Lagoons. There are various areas that you can go to within the lagoons area, including a campsite, which apparently has really good wildlife. However, I visited early in the wet season and they were already closed. Instead, I travelled out to Marlgu Billabong, and once I'd been there, I didn't really want to go anywhere else. 

There was more than one access point and I travelled in from the eastern side. It was very rocky and rough, and I wasn't sure I would make it. I knew that if that was the only way out, then I would only be making one visit to the area. Thankfully, I found another road out that went across the plains rather than over the ridge and came out further west along the road to Wyndham. That was so much easier to navigate, although it was torn up quite a lot in places from the wet season. That meant I could pay a couple of visits to the wetlands, which I did over a few days.

Over the wetlands there is a fantastic hide right out over the water. Well, what water was remaining. A lot of the area was either dry or boggy but there was a decent enough amount of water left in the billabong. I started at the hide, just sitting there watching the water. There were plenty of Plumed Whistling-Ducks and the occasional Wandering as well. Jacanas, herons, egrets, pygmy-geese, darters, even some Glossy Ibis were around as well. 

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) 

At the far end of the water from the hide, there were a couple of Jabiru and Brolga. They never came too close, it was like they knew I was there but it was still nice to sit and watch them. 

There were several Common Sandpipers around, mingling in with adult and juvenile Whiskered Terns. The terns would alternately rest and then fly up the billabong, hawking over the water.

Long-toed Stints had been reported here recently so I started to explore further up the billabong for them. There were tracks, not well formed but people have obviously skirted the billabong. The ground was either rock hard or very boggy and I had to dash from scrubby area to scrubby area to get out of the sun and try to not flush the birds. I saw more of pratincole and tern in small flocks but the great find of the day found was when groups of Flock Bronzewing arrived. As I was walking, they were circling around me and landing on the other side of the boggy area which I couldn't get to. I had to satisfy myself with some long shots but it was my first time seeing them so it was it was totally wonderful, particularly as they were flying right around me. 

Flock Bronzewing (Phaps histrionica) 

Back in the hide for some shelter, there were lots of Star Finch gathering in the foliage and then dipping down to drink. It was quite something to see them bathing and chattering away.

Star Finch (Neochmia ruficauda) 

My last find of my visits to the billabong was a Black Falcon. I was on my way out over the plain and had jumped out of the van to chase a bushlark when I saw an odd looking raptor circling.  It was obviously a falcon but there was something about the shape of the wing tips that looked odd. Confirmation from other birders gave me another lifer.