Chris Gravett

Back to my Kimberley Trip today and a look at some of the wildlife I spotted, in addition to what I've already shown.

First of all a look at a Cane Toad.

 

The presence of the Cane Toad in Australia would be a comical irony if it were not so tragic.

If you have visited Australia you will be aware how paranoid they are about their ecology and preserving it. When entering Aus you will no doubt come across a customs dog. It will not be sniffing for illegal drugs but for foodstuffs, fruit in particular. This is for fear that seeds, disease or parasites will be introduced and pollute the indigenous flora. Even between states ther is the same paranoia.

 

But an Australian Government department appears to have made a decison some years ago to introduce the Cane Toad in an effort to surpress the Cane Fly. It must have been a moment of madeness with little thought or research. Some Cane Toads were set free to start controlling the Cane Flies. But the canny South American toad thought "Hey, we've landed in heaven" a land where we have no predators whatsoever, and a land with so much varied food on offer we no longer have to eat those awful cane flies.

 

The toads proceeded to cause disruption by eating a whole range of indigenous insects, normally the diets of indigenous reptiles. They bred prolifically, poisoned anything that got in their way - including humans, to the point where they are now totally out of control. And they've yet to dispose of a single Cane Fly.

 

The Aussies we met hate them with a vengence and there are massive efforts to find a way to halt their proliferation. many groups are focussed on this, we met a group from Australian Geographic at El Questro on a project to actually size the problem and determine ways to address it.

 

Meanwhile this photo is of a young toad, they do grow big and ugly. When camping at night we had to be very careful not to tread on one in bare feet or flip flops as they are seriously poisonous.

 

 

The Tree Frog - a different proposition

 

Also nocturnal is the adorable Tree Frog. It's been around for a long time so is 'Australian' and accepted unlike the  toad.

They are a great subject to photograph.

 

In their quest for both water and insects they can cause us humans a little discomfort. Leave a toilet seat up, even in a house or hotel, not just at a campsite, and you are likely to find a tree frog in the bowl - it happened to us at Cable Beach in Broome.

 

If it's an outside loo at a campsite the tree frogs may keep the insect population down in the small room but unlike the toad they do have predators, mainly snakes. So it's important to 'check the contents of the bowl' before you sit or you may well get a nasty surprise!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Another example of Aussies failing to do what they say on the tin. The Kimberley is home to thousands of these noisy birds but again they are not indigenous to NW Australia but have been introduced by humans. Being given the third degree because a spaniel detected that there had once been an apple in my rucksack wears a bit thin when there seems to be a total disregard for their own ecology rules. On the other hand had they not been there I would not have captured these images. ;)

Lastly the Blue Winged Kookaburra

What a magnificint bird. In the Kingfisher family but with a diet that consists more of snakes, lizards and other birds young, although pretty he is a viscious chap. This pair had a nest about thirty metres from my safari tent at El Questro  where although we did upgrade from our own tenet to a fixed one we did not, I stress, stay at The Homestaed!!!!