Termite mounds & wetland birds

Today we packed up and left Kakadu to head to Batchelor where we plan to take a look at Litchfield National Park which is known for its waterfalls and termite mounds. We saw some termite mounds on our way down the Arnhem Highway and stopped to take photos of the giants.

We stopped at the Bark Hut ( I think it was called) roadside stop for coffee and met a couple who have done a lot of travelling and told us a few places along the way to look at. The first was Fogg Dam which has been made into a wetland afer a fated attempt to establish rice paddies there. Naturally, the native birds just ate all the rice and plants! Anyway, we took their advice and went there and it was fantastic! So many birds, and so close to the road which we walked down. Actually it is called the dam wall but is just a raised road these days. You can drive down it also but if you do you would miss all the wonderful wildlife along the way. We saw a couple of attractive little dragon lizards with a white stripe on their head fading away down their side. And so many birds! We saw Pied Geese, Pied Herons, Radjah Shelducks, Egrets, Jabirus, a Little Kingfisher and a Rainbow Bee-Eater and a few others I haven't mentioned. I took over 170 photos but of course some will be deleted straight away. Still, I got some good shots including photos of Egrets in flight but I just wasn't quick enough to catch the Bee-eater in flight despite trying a few times. I had three photos of an empty branch to delete! No wonder it can catch dragonflies in the mid-air.(they are only called bee-eaters but they eat dragonflies!) It was fascinating to watch actually. We spent longer than we expected there as you do when it is so

enjoyable and interesting and I could have been there for hours more just taking photos but we went on to Batchelor and were there by about 3.15 pm only to find that so were a whole lot of other people so we had to wait quite a while to book in but we have also booked a billabong cruise tomorrow at Litchfield Park so that is something to look forward to and it will help us become familiar with what is here so we can decide what else to do.
In case you didn't know: If you click on the pictures you can see them enlarged!