Judbarra (Gregory) National Park and Timber Creek

Tim Dolby

This report covers several trips I have done to the Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. A superb birding area, it is around ~500 km south of Darwin.  

Here’s the scenario of my first visit to Judbarra. Fly out of Melbourne (Victoria) at 6:00 a.m. Arrive in Darwin (Northern Territory) at 11:00 a.m. Pick up the rental car and supplies. Drive 600 km to the Victoria River Roadhouse in Judbarra (Gregory) National Park, not far from the Western Australian border. I arrived in time to drink a cold beer under the shade of a flowering Desert Bloodwood (Corymbia terminalis) that was full of Varied Lorikeet and Banded and Bar-breasted Honeyeater. How good is that! As you can imagine, I slept well that night.

A male Purple-crowned Fairy-wren.

 

Judbarra (Gregory) National Park

So, where do I begin? I had several goals while visiting Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. My first was to track down some full-breeding plumage Purple-crowned Fairy-wren. A stunning bird!. After that, I wanted to explore the region for a couple of days, look for some of the escarpment birds, such as the White-quilled Rock-Pigeon, visit a few birding sites a bit further west, and see some of the region’s wonderful finches, such as the Gouldian and Star Finch and the Yellow-rumped Manikin. That’s not asking too much.

Some background notes and where to stay
First, a bit of background on Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. It’s ~160 km west of Katherine on the Victoria Highway and covers 1.3 million ha, which is big. It was described to me by a friend as the most beautiful place in Australia. This is because it features open woodlands that are dissected by fantastic, rugged escarpments and deep gorges. The magnificent Victoria River carves and weaves its way through the top end of the park. To me, it reminds me of the area around Lawn Hill in north-west Queensland. Indeed, there are a lot of parallels in terms of plants, animals, birds, and the landscape generally. In my opinion, my friend was right, Judbarra is one of the most beautiful places in Australia!

View from the escarpment across Judbarra and the Victoria River

 

On my first visit to Judbarra, I camped at the Victoria River Roadhouse. It was in October which was the late Dry season. Another time, I stayed in the roadhouse cabins. Basic but, for a birdwatcher, really good. Staying at the roadhouse is a always a good option. They have some large trees that provided permanent shade and there are showers. The average temperature for the area is around 38 °C, so the order of the day was cold showers. Note: Another option for camping is at Sullivan Creek, located on the banks of a permanent waterhole, 17 km east of the Victoria River Roadhouse. It’s small, but not a bad campsite. There’s also a caravan park at Timber Creek and a range of campsites at the south end of the park.

My rental car for the trip was a Mitsubishi Outlander, which proved to be a perfect car. Being AWD, it can travel all the roads in the places I’ve mentioned. In addition, the new Outlander is designed so you can sleep full length in the back.

A final thing to note. When packing your bags for the Top End, don’t bother packing warm clothes, such as jumpers, warm long trousers, etc. You’ll never wear them. For example, to give you an example of the heat, while showering, I never used the hot water; the cold water was always warm to hot.

An enormous Boab (Adansonia gregorii) near Timber Creek.

 

Plants of Judbarra (Gregory) National Park

Here’s a quick rundown on the plants at Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. It’s an extremely remote area and features tropical and semi-arid plant life. There are a number of iconic trees in the park.

The Boab (Adansonia gregorii) is a widely recognized icon of the Kimberley and Victoria River Regions. It’s an interesting species in terms of phytogeography, representing the ecological link between Australia, Madagascar, and continental Africa. It is extremely culturally significant to the local Ngarinyman Aboriginal people. Some trees are sacred sites, while others have carvings dating to the pre-European contact period. European explorers carved names and dates on Boab trunks, the most famous of these being the ‘Gregory Tree’, which marks the site of the base camp of the North Australian Exploration Expedition led by Augustus Gregory in 1855–56. Ferninand Von Mueller was a member of this expedition. Von Mueller is one of Australia’s greatest botanists. For instance, as the director of the Melbourne Botanical Gardens, he pioneered an appreciation for the importance of Australian native plants. Von Mueller named the tree Adansonia gregorii in honour of the expedition leader.

Rainbow Bee-eater scanning for insects. 

 

Another iconic tree in the park is the Victoria River Palm (Livistona victoriae). It’s confined to sandstone range country, where it grows in escarpment gullies and along streams where there’s permanent seepage water available for its roots. When you first drive into Judbarra (Gregory) National Park, the sheer majesty of these trees is one of the first things you notice. The trunk can reach a height of 18 meters. The fruit was an important food source for the local Aboriginal people, and the fronds were useful as place mats and for covering food in bush ovens.

Aside from those two trees, the two most prominent woodland tree species were small-fruited Bloodwood (Corymbia dichromophloia) and Northern White Gum (Eucalyptus brevifolia). While the plateau side slopes and valley are dominated by Darwin Box (E. tectifica) and Desert Bloodwood (C. terminalis) woodland with tussock grass and Curly Spinifex (Triodia bitextura) understorey, In the open-woodlands, you also find Jigal Tree (Lysiphyllum cunninghamii), and Turpentine (Acacia lysiphloia).

One of my absolute favorite trees in Australia is the Yellow Kapok (Cochlospermum fraseri). When in bloom, it produces stunning roadside color when driving across the Top End. Culturally significant to first-nation people, there are many uses for this small tree. Its flowers and roots can be eaten raw or cooked. The fluffy cotton-like material, called kapok, was used for ceremonial decorations. Yellow Kapok, when in flower, was also a seasonal indicator that Freshwater Crocodile and turtle eggs were ready for harvest.

Along the ephemeral creek line and the banks of the Victoria River, there were Northern Swamp Box (Lophosyemon grandiflorus), Durin (Terminalia platyphylla), Ghost Gum (C. papuana), Broad-leaved Paperbark (Melaleuca leucadendra), Canary Cheesewood (Nauclea orientalis), River Red Gum (E. camaldulensis) and, of course, the iconic Boab (Adansonii gregorii).

In addition, it’s here that you’ll find River Pandan (Pandanus aquaticus), Leichhardt Tree (Nauclea orientalis), Freshwater Mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula), and grasses such as River Grass (Chionachne cyathopoda), Grass (Mneisthea rottboellioides), Black Speargrass (Heteropogon contortus), and Dardy’s Oats (Arundinella nepalensis). The grasses are important, as they hold the banks together when the river floods. They are also the preferred habitat of the spectacular Purple-crowned Fairy-wren.

One of the most interesting habitats at Judbarra is the vegetation that grows in and around the rocky overhangs and gullies. These plants occur in the caves and under the huge red sandstone cliff faces that tower over the foothills. These were the areas used for human shelter and rock painting. Although the surface is often barren, plants are able to tap the subsurface moisture by sending roots deep into the ground or relying on seeping or dripping water. The vegetation is usually safe from fire and includes species such as figs that are normally associated with remnant rainforest or monsoon vine thickets. This is the habitat in which the Victoria River Palm occurs, as well as plants such as Celtis (Celtis australiensis), Xanthostemon (Xanthostemon psidioides), Swamp Satinash (Syzygium angophoroides), Smooth Chastetree (Vitex glabrata), and Cluster Fig (Ficus racemosa). Another intriguing plant found here is a fern locally known as Ngabujbu (Dicranopteris linearis). It prefers moist, shady conditions where there is water seepage. From a birding point of view, it’s interesting because it’s one of the favorite roosting sites for White-quilled Rock Pigeon. The pigeons create a network of tunnels throughout the fern thickets, providing ideal shelter from predators.

Dicranopteris linearis, known by local Ngaliwurru people as the Ngabujbuj Fern. It is one of the favored roosting sites for White-quilled Rock-Pigeon.

 

If you have time to look, there are a few rare species limited to the park. Eucalyptus gregoriensi, first noticed in 1996 and only named in 1998, is a white-stemmed, small tree that’s known from four places on the sandstone plateau in the west of the park. Melaleuca triumphalis was also first discovered in 1996 and is only known from the Victoria River Gorge in the eastern sector of Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. In the Northern Territory, Grevillea miniata is found exclusively in the park, while the rare wattle Acacia stipulosa occurs around the Paperbark Yard camp. There are also several small woodlands of Lancewood (Acacia shirleyi), the most westerly recorded for this wattle species.

The main weed problem in the park is Devil’s Claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), a native to South Africa. The dried plants are capable of working their way into the mouths and hooves of the larger mammals, causing injury and discomfort. As a result, each year the park hosts the “Devil’s Claw Festival,”  an eradication program run by park staff and volunteers. Now that’s a great idea. A public festival to eradicate weeds! Perhaps this is this is an idea for other national parks in Australia to think about.

Animals of Judbarra
The main macropods I saw while visiting Judbarra were Common Wallaroo, Antilopine Wallaroo, and Agile Wallaby, the latter very common around the Victoria Roadhouse. Northern Nailtail Wallaby also occurs at Judbarra, and amongst the rocks, look for Eastern Short-eared (Wilkins’) Rock Wallaby, a species that’s also easy to see at Nourlangie Rock in Kakadu. The incredibly cute Spectacled Hare-wallaby is also patchily distributed in the Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. A bit of a puzzle, the Savanna Glider is only recently described. Formerly considered a sub-species of the Sugar/ Krefft’s Glider. Surprisingly, though, recent morphological research shows that the Savanna Glider is actually more closely related to the Squirrel Glider and the Mahogany Glider.

A panoramic view of one of the roads in Judbarra. 

 

Other native animals include the Dingo, Echidna, Common Planigale, Stripe-faced Dunnart, Rakali (Water Rat), Northern Short-tailed Mouse, Delicate Mouse, Western Chestnut Mouse, Common Rock-rat, and Long-haired Rat. The Long-haired Rat is known for spectacular population irruptions when the environmental conditions are right and is the preferred food source of the Letter-winged Kite. The Central Pebble-mound Mouse (formerly known as the Kimberly Mouse) has recently been recorded at several sites in Judbarra (Gregory) National Park. It occurs mainly on stony and gravelly hill slopes and is interesting because it builds mounds of stones and pebbles around the burrows in which it sleeps. Black Flying Fox and Little Red Fly Fox are common, not to mention over 15 species of bat.

Eastern Short-eared Rock Wallaby, an escarpment specialist.

 

There is a fantastic collection of reptiles found at Judbarra, with healthy 76 species recorded. The waterways are home to large numbers of both Estuarine Crocodiles and Freshwater Crocodiles.

Monitors and Goannas to look for are the Ridge-tailed Monitor, Pygmy Mulga Monitor, Long-Tailed Rock Monitor, Pygmy Rock Monitor, Yellow-spotted Monitor, Merten’s Water Monitor, and Sand Goanna. Many of the monitors are considered vulnerable because of their propensity to eat Cane Toads, dying from ingested toxins. This is a big problem for the future of the larger lizards and monitors across northern Australia. The good news is that researchers have been working on solutions to reduce the impact of Cane Toad. One solution that is proving quite successful is to train monitors not to eat the toxic amphibians. They do this by feeding them small, less potent pieces of Cane Toad. Many who tried the toads once did not make the same mistake again, a fantastic outcome.

Interestingly, Thorny Devil has been recorded at Judbarra, representing the northern extension of its range. Other lizards to look for include the Slender Blue-tongued Lizard, Common Blue-tongued Lizard, and Centralian Blue-tongued Lizard, as well as the Two-Lined Dragon and Gilberts Dragon. There’s three species of legless lizards, including the Hooded Scaly Foot, Burtons Legless Lizard, and Sharp-snouted Delma.

A curious Gilbert’s Dragon. 

 

A few other animals worth mentioning occur at Judbarra. Pig-nosed Turtle, the only living member of the genus carettochelys, has also been recorded in the Victoria River. In terms of frogs, one of the fauna highlights of Judbarra is the Magnificent Tree Frog. First described in 1977, it’s a large, impressive frog, mostly restricted to the Kimberley but extending eastwards as far as Timber Creek, Jasper Gorge, and Joe Creek. While the Victoria River contains healthy populations of Barramundi, Salmon, black, and silver bream, which explains why many of the people who visit this area are fishermen.

Judbarra (Gregory) National Park’s Birds

Judbarra (Gregory) National Park has a wide selection of key target species, most notable being the Purple-crowned Fairy-wren, White-quilled Rock-Pigeon and Sandstone Shrike-thrush. While it is also a brilliant place for Australia’s most spectacular finches, such as Gouldian and Star Finch, Yellow-rumped and Pictorella Mannikin. Other species to think about while birding are Chestnut-backed Button-quail, Pale-vented Bush-hen and Varied Lorikeet. Both Victoria River and Judbarra National Park also seem to generate more than their fair share of Grey Falcon sightings. Interestingly, the Australian Masked Owl is known to occur in the area, but little is known about this population.

The Roadhouse

While staying at the Victoria River Roadhouse, the Desert Bloodwood was flowering in the campground. When these trees flower, the nectivorous go crazy! Like a tree flowering along Victoria Hwy (discussed below), it was full of lorikeets, both Varied and Red-collared Lorikeet, as well as some honeyeaters such as Banded Honeyeater and Little Friarbird.

Great Bowerbird was a common campground bird, as were, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Silver-crowned Friarbird. Aside from that, birds seen around the campground included Red-backed Kingfisher, Pheasant Coucal, Red-winged Parrot, White-breasted Woodswallow, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Spangled Drongo, Paperbark Flycatcher and Crimson Finch. An unusual sight was seeing Blue-winged Kookaburra hunting insects at night at the street lamp near the campground. At night I heard Large-tailed Nightjar, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Barking Owl and Southern Boobook, while Agile Wallaby were everywhere. Also in the campground I found a Northern Delta, a wonderful little gecko.

Victoria River Boat Ramp
The Victoria River Boat Ramp is probably the most accessible site for seeing Purple-crowned Fairy-wren in the Northern Territory. Living in small family groups, they display a distinct preference for the narrow band of pandanus and cane grass along the riverbanks. As mentioned, one of the main reasons I was at Judbarra (Gregory) National Park was to see Purple-crowned Fairy-wren in full breeding plumage. I’d seen them before, but in eclipse plumage. They are an interesting species among fairy-wrens and birds generally. Most species, when they go into an eclipse phase during non-breeding plumage, simply revert to a dull grey form of their original selves. Purple-crowned Fairy-wren, by contrast, completely changes into another bird. Their plumage is almost as interesting in an eclipse as in full breeding plumage. However, in full-breeding plumage, they are spectacular!

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren habitat near the Victoria River boat ramp. 

 

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren has high tastes for real estate, with a preference for riverfrontage. This is certainly true. In fact, if you think about the places they’re found (Victoria River or Lawn Hill), these are some of the most spectacular and sublime places you ever visit.

I concentrated my search near the Victoria River Boat Ramp, which is located about 1 kilometer south of the Victoria River Roadhouse. To get there, turn south down the boat ramp access road (located 500 m west of the roadhouse). I got there early and found the best place to look was the cane grass around the carpark and the cane grass between the carpark and the boat ramp. Indeed, I heard them calling almost immediately within the first few meters of the walk to the boat ramp (here: -15.630781, 131.133018). (NB: It is worth noting that Purple-crowned Fairy-wren also occurs around the Victoria River Crossing Bridge next to the roadhouse.)

If you have ever wondered what the very top of an escarpment looks like? Well, here it is. 

 

There was a nice selection of honeyeaters in the trees around the boat ramp, including White-gaped, Rufous-throated, White-throated, Brown, Blue-faced Honeyeater and Little and Silver-crowned Friarbird. In addition, there were Pheasant Coucal and Dollarbird. Down near the boat ramp itself, Azure Kingfisher hunted for fish, and Crimson Finch were common. It’s worth noting that a range of uncommon species have been recorded along the river here, such as Pale-vented Bush-hen (in grassy fringes), Black Bittern, Star Finch, and yellow-rumped Mannikin.

Looking up the escarpment walk at Judbarra

 

Escarpment Walk and Around the Carpark

There are two main things to do when you get to the Escarpment Walk (3 km return), accessed from the Victoria Highway 2 km west of Victoria River Roadhouse.

Firstly, before heading up the escarpment, stop and look around the grassy areas that border the carpark. I found the best time here was immediately after dawn. (Later in the day, it was quiet.) It is a surprisingly good spot for birding. In fact, it can be fantastic! I’ve visited there a few times, and each time I’ve had several flocks of Yellow-rumped Mannikin feeding in the grass. In addition, there were Purple-crowed Fairy-wren, Star, Crimson, Masked, Long-tailed, and Double-barred Finch, Golden-headed Cisticola, a few Ground Cuckoo-shrike, some very friendly Rainbow Bee-eaters, and several Pheasant Coucal who bashed around the bushes looking for grasshoppers. I got the impression that it’s the sort of place where anything can turn up.

A Yellow-rumped Mannikin feeding in grass next to the escarpment walk carpark

 

Secondly, head up the escarpment. It’s about 3 km return. Again, best in the morning, so you’ll have to drag yourself away from birdwatching around the carpark. There are two main escarpment specialties at Judbarra (Gregory) National Park: White-quilled Rock-Pigeon and Sandstone Shrike-thrush, and you may also see Short-eared Rock-Wallaby. I saw a White-quilled Rock-Pigeon about three quarters of the way up, with the bird flushing from rocks before me. This was near an area with a large rocky overhang, pictured in the image above. I didn’t see Sandstone Shrike-thrush here, but I did hear them in the distance, their wonderful melodic call that echoed of a distant rock face. Other birds I saw here included Silver-backed and Pied Butcherbird, White-throated Gerygone, Silver-crowned Friarbird, Yellow-tinted, Banded and Blue-faced Honeyeater, and Black-faced and Little Woodswallow.

White-quilled Rock-Pigeon

Nawulbinbin Walk and Joe’s Creek Picnic Area
It’s worth having lunch beneath the towering foothills and escarpment along the Nawulbinbin Walk, a 1.7-kilometer loop. It starts from the Joe’s Creek Picnic Area, located off Victoria Highway, 10 km west of Victoria River Roadhouse. The Nawulbinbin Walk leads from the picnic area up a steep rocky slope to the base of the escarpment, where you will see fantastic examples of Aboriginal rock art, masses of striking Victoria River Palm on the scree slopes, and the intriguing Ngabujbu Fern. As said, it’s a good spot to do it around lunchtime because it isn’t until the afternoon that the sun reaches the walk due to the shade created by the large cliffs. The walk is a good spot to look for White-quilled Rock-Pigeon and Sandstone Shrike-thrush, and it’s a great place to see Northern Fantail. Listening to their call, they sound remarkably like Western Gerygone. On the road into Joe’s Creek, I saw a few Spinifex Pigeon, which was the only place I saw this species at Judbarra.

Fantastic art along the Nawulbinbin Walk. Judbarra continues to reveal complex First Nation artwork sites, likening it in importance to the artwork at Kakadu.

 

Timber Creek

From the Victoria River Roadhouse, it is worth heading west to the township of Timber Creek. Timber Creek has become well known amongst birdwatchers because Gouldian Finch, along with Long-tailed and Masked Finch, occasionally drink from the council sprinklers. As a result, it has become a destination for more and more birdwatchers. In town, Spotted Bowerbird can be very tame and will even harass you for food scraps. In fact, on my last visit, I lost half a salad roll. It was snatched from my table when I went to the car to get my drink bottle! In the trees in the main street, there are usually large numbers of Red-collared Lorikeet, while Black-chinned (Golden-backed) Honeyeater is the most common honeyeater. 

Another thing about Timber Creek is that it is one of the best places to see Buff-sided Robins! On one occasion, I was staying with my birding tour group at the Travellers Rest Caravan Park. I got the group together and said, “We are going birding.” The group got in the van, and I then drove 100 meters down to the creek located immediately behind (east) the caravan park and said, “We’re here!”. Joke aside, within five minutes we had located a pair of Buff-sided Robin, a generally uncommon species and a life tick for virtually every birder in the group. 

Double-barred and Masked Finch, Banded and Brown Honeyeater, just some of the fantastic birds drinking at Policeman’s Point.

 

West of Timber Creek, I specifically wanted to visit a birding site called Policeman’s Point. It is a well-known spot for finches, and it didn’t let me down. The birding here was superb! Policeman’s Point is reached via a track that goes north off the Victoria Highway, 4 kilometers west of the township. Park at the end of the track, and search in the scrub between the carpark and the river. These scrub provide a vantage point for finches and honeyeaters to roost before they’d fly down to the river for a drink. So, how’s this for a list of finches congregated in one group: Gouldian Finch, Star Finch, Masked Finch, Long-tailed Finch, Crimson Finch, Double-barred Finch, Pictorella Mannikin and Chestnut-rumped Mannikin! No Yellow-rumped Mannikin. But hey, you can’t see everything! There was also a nice selection of honeyeaters to drink with the finch, including Banded, Yellow-tinted, White-gaped and Rufous-throated Honeyeaters. Another pleasant surprise was a Caspian Tern hawking up and down the Victoria River. It still surprises me when I see these terns so far inland along these large watercourses.

The woodlands along the track to Policeman’s Point can be very productive. Here I saw Australian Bustard, Red-winged Parrot, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Northern Rosella, Brown Quail, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Masked and White-browed Woodswallow, Black-chinned (Golden-backed) Honeyeater, Northern Fantail, and even flushed a Spotted Nightjar.

Star Finch, Timber Creek Airfield.

 

Another spot really worth visiting is the Timber Creek Airfield, 6 km west of the township. This is an excellent spot for Star Finch, which feed in the grassy areas bordering the fence line. There is also a chance of Gouldian, Masked and Long-tailed Finch, and Yellow-rumped Mannikin. It is worth scanning the airfield itself; for instance, I have seen Oriental Plover, Australian Pratincole and Australian Bustard feeding on the airstrip.

West of the Timber Creek Airfield is the Bradshaw Bridge. This is another reliable place to see Purple-crowned Fairy-wren, who can usually be found under the start of the bridge.

Nearby, it is worth visiting Nackeroo Lookout. I have found it to be the best spot in the area to see Black-tailed Treecreeper. Listen for their distinctive ‘chip chip chip’ calls in the woodland in front of the lookout. It can also be a good spot for Gouldian Finch. Chestnut-backed and Little Button-quail also occur in areas of hip-high grass. Other birds I have seen there include Little Woodswallow, Sandstone Shrikethrush, and honyeaters such as Banded, Brown, Grey-fronted, White-gaped, and Rufous-throated.

Gouldian Finch along the start of the Buntine Highway.

 

Start of the Buntine Highway

This spot is a little gem! The roadside grassy areas on the Buntine Highway, where it turns off the Victoria Highway, is a reliable place to see Gouldian Finch. You drive past this spot if you are heading to Judbarra from Katherine / Darwin. I have stopped there several times, and to my surprise got Gouldian Finch on both occasions, along with Long-tailed and Masked Finch, and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin! The other birds here were good also, and included Diamond Dove, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Apostlebird, and honeyeaters such as White-gaped, Yellow-tinted, Rufous-throated, Black-chinned (Golden-backed) and Blue-faced (White-quilled) Honeyeater. So, birding along the beginning of the Buntine Highway is well worth a stop!

Both red and black-faced Gouldian Finch together. Nice!

 

Buchanan Hwy and Jasper Gorge

At the start of the Buchanan Highway (the road down to Jasper Gorge), it is worth visiting several sites which are particularly good for finches. The waterholes along a small, unnamed creek 4.5 km from the Victoria Highway attract Pictorella Mannikin and Gouldian, Masked, Long-tailed and Double-barred Finch. Skull Creek, a further 9 km south, attracts similar species. The Buchanan Highway is also a ‘reliable’—if that’s the right word—place to see Grey Falcon.

Spectacular Victoria River Palm along the Nawulbinbin Walk. Note the wonderful shade! A good place to be during the heat of the day!

 

If you have time, head down to Jasper Gorge. Here there is a permanent waterhole at the gorge.  The creek lines here hold a good number of finches, with a remarkable 10 species on the Jasper Gorges list, including Painted, Gouldian, Star Finch, Yellow-rumped, and Pictorella Mannikin. Sandstone Shrike-thrush, Spinifex Pigeon, and White-quilled Rock-Pigeon (its southernmost limit) also occur. Also, keep an eye open in the grassy woodlands around the gorge for the Northern Nailtail Wallaby.

Cheers,

Tim Dolby

The majestic Victoria River