The Animals of WA: Part 1 - By Jai

Wyndham

On the 29th of June we crossed the NT/WA border, passed through Kununurra and drove to Wyndham. We saw quite a few interesting animals in Wyndham including; Finches, Whistling Kites, Black Kites, Saltwater (Estuarine) Crocodiles, Brahminy Kites and  Rock Wallabies. Out of all these animals, my favourite was the Brahminy Kite.

I spotted the Brahminy Kite soaring above us on the wharf. Many people mistake the Brahminy Kite for an eagle, because of its' white head, but it is a Kite.  This was also the first time I had seen the elusive Gouldian Finch. Did you know that the Gouldian Finch is classified as an endangered species?

Picture of a Brahminy Kite from my Birds of Prey book

Kununurra

Our next stop was Kununurra. In Kununurra we stayed in a caravan park called Kimberlyland. The park had an aviary with Gouldian Finches, Double Bar Finches and Crimson and Star Finches, some Freshwater Crocodiles swimming in the lake, and a cafe! Some of our friends were also staying at this caravan park, their names are Caroline and Wayne. Dad also caught his first Barramundi of this trip. That night, dad cooked the Barra and we ate it for dinner with our friends. We stayed there for 3 nights.

The Finches

Lake Kununurra

The Freshwater Croc that comes up to the shore for dinner!

Lake Argyle

Grandpa came to visit us in Lake Argyle and we stayed there for 5 nights. We did lots of cool things like make apple sorbet, swim in the infinity pool, go fishing on a boat that we hired, go on a helicopter ride and on the last day we went on a cruise. The cruise started at midday and finished when it was dark. On the cruise we saw Rock Wallabies, Wallabies, Kangaroos, Wallaroos, fish, a juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle, a Brown Falcon and heaps more birds.  The cruise guide also showed us some Golden Orb Spiders and their webs. The Golden Orb Spider's web is very strong and when the sun reflects on it, it looks golden. Did you know that the female Golden Orb Spider is a lot bigger than the male.

On the cruise we also got some zebra rock ...10 amazing pieces of it!!!  For food on the cruise, we had subway, fruit and biscuits with dip. The next day we left and went back to Kununurra for the agriculture show, then we went to Dunham River free camp to stay overnight. On the way to Dunham River free camp, we nearly hit a bull. Lucky we didn't!

On the cruise with Grandpa

The infinity pool

Fishing ; we caught heaps of Silver Cobler

Mum and Dad in a helicopter ride

Freshwater Crocodile that we saw on the cruise

Juvenile White Bellied Sea Eagle in flight

The Golden Orb Spider's web

Bungle Bungles

We woke up early the next morning and went on our way to our next free camp near the Bungle Bungles. On the way there we nearly hit a Wedge Tailed Eagle that was sitting on and feasting on roadkill. It didn't want to move and only flew away at the very last second! Two near misses in two days!

We got to the free camp site and met some nice people . Their names were Bronwyn and Colin. That afternoon we just chatted and played board games. I learned how to play a game called Sequence, it is a really interesting game.The next day we woke up early and left to go to the Bungle Bungles. It wasn't what I thought it would be like, but it was still good. We sang at the Cathedral Gorge, saw some beautiful sights, saw a dead snake, saw a bower bird and at the end ad flew our drone. Then we went back to the camp, had dinner and went to bed.

View from the lookout where we saw the bower bird

Walking through the bungle bungles

Walking to Cathedral Gorge

Fitzroy Crossing

We stayed at Fitzroy River Lodge for 2 nights. When we go there we saw our friends Jenna and Eli and played with them for a while. At Fitzroy Crossing we spotted Finches, Black Kites, Whistling Kites, Square Tailed Kites and Bower Birds. We also took a trip out to see Geike Gorge. At Geike Gorge we got one bush book book each. I got a book about snakes, Grace got a book about dolphins and whales and Emma got a book about deadly animals. I am looking forward to reading them all.

Derby

Next stop Derby, we stayed there for two nights. When we got there we went to a cafe and saw Ray Martin, then we walked the wharf, went to Woolworths and had chicken for dinner. The next day we went on a big day outing to Windjana Gorge and Tunnel Creek National Park. At Windjana Gorge we saw heaps of Freshwater Crocodiles stacked on top of each other, baking in the sun. We also saw Snake Necked Darters and Brolgas. After that we went to Tunnel Creek. Tunnel Creek is a limestone tunnel with water in it.

We didn't see many animals there, we only saw two tiny frogs hiding near the water in the tunnel. On the way back to the caravan park we saw a really big Taipan in the middle of the road. Dad tried to chase it to take a photo, but it was lightening fast so we couldn't get a photo. Did you know that Taipans are types of snakes that are very very dangerous, venomous and very fast?


Next stop Willie Creek. I wonder what animals we will see there.

 

Picture of a Taipan from my Snakes of Western Australia book