Where to Watch Birds

Fogg Dam

Only 65 km from Darwin, Fogg Dam is a world class bird watching destination.

The dam was built in the 50's to provide irrigation for the Humpty Doo Rice Project. Apparently the fact that Magpie Geese are a species that is capable of breeding up in large numbers very quickly, and seeks out wild rice for its vegetarian diet, was not considered by the designers of scheme. It failed. Wild rice still grows in the floodplain and the changed conditions created a dry season refuge for wildlife.

The bird population dynamic here changes with the seasons, but any time is a good time to visit. Late wet season is fantastic, you can drive slowly along the road (which is actually the dam wall) and photograph Little Egret, Royal Spoonbill, Pied Heron, Comb-crested Jacana and others, within in just a few metres of your car window. They are lined up along the overflow, ready to grab fish and crustaceans that are swept over the road in the 5-10 centimetres of water that is flowing. Walking along the dam wall used to be encouraged, but in the last 3 years or so it has been prohibited as there is a 4.5 metre Estuarine Crocodile in the area that refuses to enter the trap is set especially for him.

The view across the floodplain from the Pandanus Lookout is impressive. Here we can set up our spotting scope and focus on one water bird species after another. Great Egret, Cattle Egret, Intermediate Egret and Little Egret all can be seen from here, in amazing numbers. Magpie Geese, Black-necked Stork (Jabiru) and occasionally Brolga are here also. Sometimes we see a crocodile in the waterhole close to the lookout. Often there are White-browed Crake and Buff-banded Rail in the reeds nearby. Just on sunset Nankeen Night Heron appear from the reeds or fly in from distant day roosts, to take up the night shift. They are joined in the Paperbark forest that lines the floodplain by Barking Owl and Tawny Frogmouth.

The Woodlands to Waterlily Walk is 2.2 km return, which is an easy 45 minute stroll. If you are a birder it takes much longer because you will stop to watch Rainbow Pittas, Brown Whistler, Shining Flycatcher, Broad-billed Flycatcher, Azure and sometimes Little Kingfisher. We usually see Rufous Whistler, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Pheasant Coucal and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. The honeyeaters are well represented too, with White-gaped, Brown, Rufous-banded, Bar-breasted and White-throated.

On the other side of the road is the 2.7km return Monsoon Forest Walk. Rainbow Pitta are here too. Agile Wallaby, Common Tree Snake and various butterflies add variety to the list. This walk takes you through the forest to the edge of the floodplain. A well built boardwalk provides easy access even when the area is flooded, although both walks are often closed during the final stages of the wet season.

The road that takes you from Arnhem Highway to the Fogg Dam Road is Anzac Parade. Regular sightings of raptors such as Nankeen Kestrel, Australian Hobby, Brown Falcon and Black-shouldered Kite. Black-breasted Buzzard, Black Falcon and even Letter-winged Kite have been seen in the vicinity. Look for Horsfield's Bushlark and Rufous Songlark in the fields left and right of Anzac Parade. It is good to check out at night for Eastern Barn Owl, Barking Owl, Masked Owl, Grass Owl and Southern Boobook. Also at night in July to September it is common to see Water Python, Darwin Carpet Python and Death Adder on the road.

Other good birding locations to visit in the outer Darwin area are:-

Howard Springs

McMinn's Lagoon

Adelaide River Bridge

Marrakai Track

Experience the Wild tours visits Fogg Dam on a Fogg Dam Wildlife Experience and the Top End Wildlife Adventure photography tour.

Species seen here recently

Fogg Dam

Birds ( 136 )

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

Megapodius reinwardt

Brown Quail

Coturnix ypsilophora

Magpie Goose

Anseranas semipalmata

Plumed Whistling-Duck

Dendrocygna eytoni

Wandering Whistling-Duck

Dendrocygna arcuata

Radjah Shelduck

Tadorna radjah

Green Pygmy-goose

Nettapus pulchellus

Pacific Black Duck

Anas superciliosa

Australasian Grebe

Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

Pacific Emerald Dove

Chalcophaps longirostris

Peaceful Dove

Geopelia striata

Bar-shouldered Dove

Geopelia humeralis

Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove

Ptilinopus regina

Pied Imperial-Pigeon

Ducula bicolor

Tawny Frogmouth

Podargus strigoides

Large-tailed Nightjar

Caprimulgus macrurus

Australasian Darter

Anhinga novaehollandiae

Little Pied Cormorant

Microcarbo melanoleucos

Little Black Cormorant

Phalacrocorax sulcirostris

Black-necked Stork

Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus

Black Bittern

Ixobrychus flavicollis

White-necked Heron

Ardea pacifica

Eastern Great Egret

Ardea modesta

Intermediate Egret

Ardea intermedia

Cattle Egret

Ardea ibis

Pied Heron

Egretta picata

White-faced Heron

Egretta novaehollandiae

Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

Nankeen Night-Heron

Nycticorax caledonicus

Glossy Ibis

Plegadis falcinellus

Australian White Ibis

Threskiornis molucca

Straw-necked Ibis

Threskiornis spinicollis

Royal Spoonbill

Platalea regia

Black-shouldered Kite

Elanus axillaris

Black-breasted Buzzard

Hamirostra melanosternon

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Haliaeetus leucogaster

Whistling Kite

Haliastur sphenurus

Brahminy Kite

Haliastur indus

Black Kite

Milvus migrans

Spotted Harrier

Circus assimilis

Swamp Harrier

Circus approximans

Nankeen Kestrel

Falco cenchroides

Brown Falcon

Falco berigora

Australian Hobby

Falco longipennis

Black Falcon

Falco subniger

Brolga

Grus rubicunda

Purple Swamphen

Porphyrio porphyrio

Buff-banded Rail

Gallirallus philippensis

White-browed Crake

Amaurornis cinerea

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

Pacific Golden Plover

Pluvialis fulva

Black-fronted Dotterel

Elseyornis melanops

Red-kneed Dotterel

Erythrogonys cinctus

Masked Lapwing

Vanellus miles

Comb-crested Jacana

Irediparra gallinacea

Eastern Curlew

Numenius madagascariensis

Common Sandpiper

Actitis hypoleucos

Wood Sandpiper

Tringa glareola

Curlew Sandpiper

Calidris ferruginea

Red-chested Button-quail

Turnix pyrrhothorax

Oriental Pratincole

Glareola maldivarum

Australian Pratincole

Stiltia isabella

Gull-billed Tern

Gelochelidon nilotica

Whiskered Tern

Chlidonias hybrida

Lesser Crested Tern

Thalasseus bengalensis

Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Calyptorhynchus banksii

Galah

Eolophus roseicapillus

Little Corella

Cacatua sanguinea

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Cacatua galerita

Red-collared Lorikeet

Trichoglossus rubritorquis

Varied Lorikeet

Psitteuteles versicolor

Red-winged Parrot

Aprosmictus erythropterus

Pheasant Coucal

Centropus phasianinus

Eastern Koel

Eudynamys orientalis

Little Bronze-Cuckoo

Chalcites minutillus

Brush Cuckoo

Cacomantis variolosus

Oriental Cuckoo

Cuculus optatus

Barking Owl

Ninox connivens

Eastern Barn Owl

Tyto javanica

Azure Kingfisher

Ceyx azureus

Blue-winged Kookaburra

Dacelo leachii

Forest Kingfisher

Todiramphus macleayii

Sacred Kingfisher

Todiramphus sanctus

Rainbow Bee-eater

Merops ornatus

Dollarbird

Eurystomus orientalis

Rainbow Pitta

Pitta iris

Great Bowerbird

Ptilonorhynchus nuchalis

Large-billed Gerygone

Gerygone magnirostris

White-gaped Honeyeater

Lichenostomus unicolor

Bar-breasted Honeyeater

Ramsayornis fasciatus

Rufous-banded Honeyeater

Conopophila albogularis

Dusky Honeyeater

Myzomela obscura

Brown Honeyeater

Lichmera indistincta

White-throated Honeyeater

Melithreptus albogularis

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Entomyzon cyanotis

Helmeted Friarbird

Philemon buceroides

Silver-crowned Friarbird

Philemon argenticeps

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Coracina novaehollandiae

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Coracina papuensis

White-winged Triller

Lalage sueurii

Varied Triller

Lalage leucomela

Grey Whistler

Pachycephala simplex

Rufous Whistler

Pachycephala rufiventris

Little Shrike-thrush

Colluricincla megarhyncha

Australasian Figbird

Sphecotheres vieilloti

Yellow Oriole

Oriolus flavocinctus

White-breasted Woodswallow

Artamus leucorynchus

Black-faced Woodswallow

Artamus cinereus

Spangled Drongo

Dicrurus bracteatus

Arafura Fantail

Rhipidura dryas

Northern Fantail

Rhipidura rufiventris

Willie Wagtail

Rhipidura leucophrys

Torresian Crow

Corvus orru

Broad-billed Flycatcher

Myiagra ruficollis

Leaden Flycatcher

Myiagra rubecula

Shining Flycatcher

Myiagra alecto

Paperbark Flycatcher

Myiagra nana

Restless Flycatcher

Myiagra inquieta

Magpie-lark

Grallina cyanoleuca

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Microeca flavigaster

Mangrove Robin

Peneonanthe pulverulenta

Horsfield's Bushlark

Mirafra javanica

Golden-headed Cisticola

Cisticola exilis

Tawny Grassbird

Megalurus timoriensis

Rufous Songlark

Cincloramphus mathewsi

Tree Martin

Petrochelidon nigricans

Mistletoebird

Dicaeum hirundinaceum

Double-barred Finch

Taeniopygia bichenovii

Long-tailed Finch

Poephila acuticauda

Masked Finch

Poephila personata

Crimson Finch

Neochmia phaeton

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

Lonchura castaneothorax

Australasian Pipit

Anthus novaeseelandiae

Butterflies ( 5 )

Varied Eggfly

Hypolymnus bolina

Common Crow

Euploea core

Lesser Wanderer

Danaus chrysippus

Swamp Tiger

Danaus affinis

Blue Tiger

Tirumala hamata

Insects ( 1 )

Graphic Flutterer

Rhyothemis graphiptera

Reptiles ( 9 )

Estuarine Crocodile

Crocodylus porosus

Northern Long-necked Turtle

Chelodina rugosa

Gilbert's Dragon; Ta-ta Lizard

Amphibolurus gilberti

Yellow-spotted Monitor

Varanus panoptes

Water Python

Liasis mackloti

Carpet Python

Morelia spilota

Common Tree Snake

Dendrelaphis punctulata

Keelback

Tropidonophis mairii

Northern Death Adder

Acanthophis praelongus