Locations Northern Territory Fogg Dam
| Fogg Dam |
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| Thursday, 29 July 2010 17:48 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Visited July 2010 Location Fogg Dam is in the Adelaide River flood plain, approximately 65 km from Darwin and just 6 km off the Arnhem Highway.
History The dam was constucted in 1956 as part of the ill fated Humpty Doo rice project. Currently it is a 1,569 hectare conservation reserve with a reputation renowned worldwide as a birding location. It is also an area of great significance to the Limilngan-Wulna Aboriginal people.
When to Visit Fogg Dam is one of the few Wetlands in the Top End that can be visited even in the wet by conventional 2 wheel drive. Large numbers of wading birds gather at the Dam wall at the end of the wet season (Parks & Wildlife Commission of the NT). I would also surmise that with water levels dropping at other smaller wetlands that the concentration of birds would be higher towards the end of the dry season. The temperature, humidity and biting insects makes visiting during the dry a more comfortable option. No matter what time of year it is always worth a visit.
Photographic Considerations As with most locations early morning and late afternoon offers the best light. When the water levels are reasonably high it is possible to find subject matter on both sides of the dam wall/causeway, making a visit either in the morning or afternoon favourable in terms of light direction. At the time of my visit the only lookout over the dam that had a view of open water was the northern Observation Platform (labelled "A" in the Fogg Dam Map below).This proved to be a good spot to photograph Jacana, egret and duck species. The Pandadus Observation platform really only affords distant views of the wetlands and birds, making it a great spot fot sunrise and sunset shots. The area around this two storey lookout is worth checking out as I managed to photograph White-throated and Dusky Honeyeaters and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher amongst the trees. Worth checking out is an overflow gully located directly north of the Pandanus Observation Platform as it attracted a large number of feeding birds, including Egrets, Pied Herons, Ibis, Spoonbills, Rajah Shelducks and a Black-necked Stork. As it is located adjacent to the observation platform carpark, with its surrounding vegetation it was relatively easy to approach the birds while remaining behind cover. This has got to be one of the best locations in Australia to photograph birds from your car. Driving along the old dam wall proved to be an excellent way to get close to a number of species. It never ceases to amaze me how many birds allow you to approach to within a few metres in a car. This proved to be the case with Forest Kingfisher, Black-necked stork and Crimson Finch. I noticed that some forward thinking photographer had installed a few temporary perches near the road side. The area around the car park is also worth a look as it provides an open area from which to photograph any birds in the Monsoon Forest edge. During my visit I managed to photographed both a Rose-crowned Fruit-dove and a Forest Kingfisher. I found the shorter Waterlilies to Woodland walk more productive in terms of the species encountered. Here I photograhed the Arafura Fantail and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. The lookouts along this walk did not provide any views over open water during my visit. Be aware esturine crocodiles inhabit these wetlands. It is definately advisable to keep away from the waters edge. During the last couple of years a 4.5 metre crocodile has taken to sunning itself on the dam wall. The authorities have erected signs that state "Warning Dam Wall closed to walking due to a large esturine crocodile".
Accommodation There is no camping close by and as we planned to be at the Dam early and late in the day it made sense to stay somewhere near by. We stayed at Eden at Fogg, whch is bed and breakfast accommodation 2km from the Dam. The property is a certified organic tropical fruit farm located between Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve and Harrison Dam. The number of species that can be found on the property is impressive as can be seen on the web site. Time constraints did not allow me to spend much time exploring the remnant bush on the property, however I still managed to photograph Bush Stone Curlew, Crimson Finch and a number of Honeyeater species. I could not recommend staying at Eden at Fogg more highly.
Birds photographed during my visit:
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| Last Updated on Monday, 23 August 2010 21:01 |
