Prison Boab Tree

Visited: very late dry season

Recommendation: This is one of those odd places where conditions are perfect at certain times of the year to attract animals. It is worth checking out if you are close by.

The prison boab tree is just outside of the town of Derby in northern Wester Australia. It's a tourist attraction in its own right, and it's preserved in commemoration of a rather dark period of Australia's past. It was often used to contain indigenous prisoners as they were on the move from one place to another by European settlers. It's a very odd thing to see, but also quite interesting.

A swarm of bees (I think) had taken up residence in the tree now so I didn't get too close.

I was there because I knew that there had been some interesting birds, particularly cranes, had been seen there recently. I'm not entirely sure that this area would be as good at other times of the year. However, once the rains have been and gone, and if there's standing water then it may well be.

Anyway, I arrived and had a look around the tree. As I had driven in, I'd seen a couple of small pools to the left and in the distance I could see there were Brolga. I walked out from the tree onto the open grasslands and towards the water. The problem was that for every step I walked towards the brolga, they took a step away. Thankfully, once I'd got close enough to start taking photographs, and I stood still, they returned, and others flew in. There must have been 50 birds or so on the ground at any one time, with others arriving constantly.

Brolga (Grus rubicunda)

The water also attracted some kites, namely the Black and the Whistling. They were really beautiful to photograph as they sat against the backdrop of the water. They looked very hot, but their colours were absolutely stunning Some of them were drinking but most of them were hanging around and squabbling over a long dead roo carcass.

Black Kite (Milvus migrans)

Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus)

The water's edge proved quite good too, with a few waders working the shoreline. Greenshank, sandpipers plovers meant I was again consigned to standing in mud and getting stuck in the back by thorns from the bushes.

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva)

Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia)

Wood Sandpiper (Tringa glareola)

There were also other waterbirds, like the swamphen, dotterel and lapwing, while Whiskered Tern could be seen hawking over the water. There were also a few ducks there, but nothing of any huge interest.

A pair of Bahminy Kite flying overhead with 2 juveniles caught my interest and I would have liked to photograph them. But, I only saw them in sitting in the water as I was driving away at the end of my visit. Not to worry. This patch of water really attracted a wide range of birds with cockatoo, corella and parrots sitting in the trees and circling. I got over 25 species here in a little over half an hour. It's definitely worth checking out.