Bundaberg - Baldwin Swamp

A Lewin's Honeyeater having a healthy breakfast

Baldwin Swamp Environmental Park is a network of ponds and canals covering an area of about 77 hectares.  

Before European settlers came to the area it was home to the Bunda people. The name Bundaberg is derived from the aboriginal word 'Bunda' meaning tribe, and the saxon 'burg' meaning town.







When Bundaberg was first settled, the springs in this area provided the water supply.

In 1902, a water tower was built to provide reticulated water.  It is a masterpiece of bricklaying, with walls up to 1.4m thick and a height of 36.6m. It stored 40 000 gallons when in use. It is now heritage listed.

Ian and I were expecting a swamp, riddled with mangroves midgies and mosquitos, along with lots of bird life, however, it turned out to be a well kept area with barbecues, playgrounds, lots of paths, a huge shelter shed which you could hire and hold functions, especially if you got married in the Bush Chapel.








Although the mangroves were absent, there was a lot of bird life, and we weren't disappointed by the lack of mosquitos either.



 


















I've always wanted to photograph a frog on a lily pad, but I've never seen one to photograph.  Ian found this little fellow in the grass and after I'd had a good look at hime, he kindly deposited him on the lily so I could get my photo.

He didn't stay there long though.

It was quite a hot day.  This pelican and turtle were having a race in the shade.  

After a photo finish, I decided it was a draw since neither of them had moved.









We left the well tended path and went into the untidy area of the park.  That's where you usually find the good stuff.  I wasn't long before we heard the high pitched twitter of Fairywrens.  These Red-backed Fairywrens are one of my favourites. Ian took these photos.  The plucky fellow in the photo below has a little bug in his beak.  He's telling Ian to keep his beady little eyes off it.

A little further down the track we come across a Little Egret, feeding along the bank of a causeway.  His breeding plumage consists of two long slender plumes on the back of his head, along with the lacy plumes on his tail and breast.

He poses for us so we can get a better look.

On the other side of the causeway, the lilies and pond weed thicken.  A Pacific Black Duck struggles through in case we have something for it to eat.  We don't.

We come to an area of thickly vined forest and wonder whether we should start laying a trail of bread crumbs.

On closer inspection, the vines are actually climbing ferns.


















We find more good stuff as we venture deeper into the less popular area of the park. The mosquitos find more good stuff as we venture into their area.

A Nankeen Night Heron hesitates long enough for us to get a photo before he disappears into the thickets.  He is also wearing his courtship clothes.













The stick like camouflage let down this poor stick insect today as he became lunch. 

A bee goes in search of a vacant lily. It finds one already occupied, but there's room for two.








Back to the more civilised areas of lawns and playgrounds, we find some Black Swans gracing the lake. 

Now these beautiful birds seem to spend their time floating serenely around parkland lakes, like living ornaments but they could seem otherwise boring as you never seem to see them doing much else, so I thought  I would see what google had to offer on the subject and I found some interesting facts in Wikipedia.

They were once thought to be sedentary, but are in actual fact nomadic.  They'll follow areas of rainfall, sometimes quite deep into the interior of the continent.  If the wet conditions don't last, they'll leave again, abandoning their eggs and chicks.


Mostly they are monogamous, however, there is about a 6% divorce rate. About a third of all broods exhibit extra paternity.

About 25% of pairings are homosexual, usually male.  They steal nests or form temporary threesomes with a female, driving her away after she lays the eggs.

After hatching, the cygnets are cared for until they fledge at around 9 months.  Before this, the parents may carry them on their backs for longer distances into deep water.


Back to our anchorage in the Burnett River, we wait for good weather to take us to Fraser Island.  

The view takes on different hues, according to the time of the day.  

We watch a Brahminy Kite family go about its daily activities, which consists of sitting on branches and fishing.

Fishing?  How's the fishing going?  Well, after watching countless torpedo like fish leaping out of the water all around us but not catching them, Ian went to the fishing shop.  The salesman recommended a fail proof lure and Ian fell for it hook, line and sinker.  The fish didn't.

A couple of mornings later, while Ian was sleeping in, I decided to have a go.

The next thing "IAN, IAN, QUICK, I GOT A FISH", which translates to "IAN, IAN, QUICK, I GOT A FISH AND I WANT YOU TO GET IT OFF THE HOOK FOR ME".

Ian leaps out into the cockpit in time to see the fish get itself off the hook and try to escape through the cockpit drains.  Bravely, he grabbed it by the tail and got it back.  I would have just let it go, it had large sharp teeth.

Here I am, still in my nighty with my catch.  Its pretty harmless by now but I didn't take any risks and held it by its tail.

It was a beautiful looking fish if you didn't look at its teeth.

We ate it for lunch.  Unfortunately, it had to many bones in it to be enjoyable.

Oh, and Grants Fish Guide says its a Hairtail.