The Desert Blooms

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I packed the picnic bag and we set off for Desert Park, just out of Alice. We had expected to do it in the morning and then see some other things in the afternoon as it is quite small on the map. Didn’t happen! It took us all day, admittedly at a leisurely pace. Size isn’t everything, it seems.

It was a lovely day, 25^oC with a light breeze and sunny so everything gleamed.

We’d missed the first Ranger talk but were there in time for the Free Flying Bird Show, which went for about 25 minutes. We all sat in covered seats around a small arena and waited to begin. I noticed a Tawny Frogmouth sitting up on one of the posts holding up the awning. He looked a bit grumpy at having all these people invading his space.

The Ranger came out and started telling us about a few of our native birds and as he spoke an Australian Magpie swooped in so close I could feel the wind of his wings on my face. He told everyone that this iconic bird, known for swooping attacks on people during nesting season, does not display this behaviour in the Northern Territory. He tossed a few pieces of food around for the Magpie to get and then pointed and the bird left the arena area.

He told us that many birds nest in hollowed out old tree stumps like the one nearby and as he spoke a Barn Owl came out of it and swooped past us all a few times, then landed on the wall behind us. The Ranger gave us more facts whilst walking backward and forward across the path behind us, with the owl staring fixedly at him until given the signal to come and get the food. Then he swept past really close to us, on completely silent wings. This is his greatest hunting strategy as the prey never hears him coming. He disappeared over the wall on a quick signal, too. They really have these birds well trained!

Next came the Tawny Frogmouth we’d seen sitting on the post, looking slightly less grumpy as he was being fed. Then the Black Kite zoomed in, catching its food in midair with its claws and eating it on the wing. We were told that kites rarely land to eat, although we’ve often seen them on carrion beside the road. This one demonstrated their amazing skill at flying with barely a flap and long glides.

Lastly, the other bird we often see feeding on carrion, the Whistling Kite, flew in catching tidbits midair. He also swooped on pieces dropped into a pool of water. This was demonstrating how well he could catch fish without landing. He picked the bits up every time – despite the small size –obviously a good fisherbird!

We had one more visitor, but he walked in – a Bush Stone Curlew, like the pair we’d seen at Rockhampton. We’d only ever seen them sitting down so it was a surprise to see how gall he was. The Ranger said that these birds are usually shy and are becoming vulnerable as they nest on the ground and are easy prey for cats and foxes. While he was talking, he walked along the rows the audience were sitting in and the Curlew followed behind like a little dog. This meant everyone had a good close look at him. I was amazed as we know that a characteristic of this bird is freezing when anyone is around. We’d watched the other ones for 15 minutes and they never moved a muscle.

Having gone near or along all the rows, the Curlew was signalled to walk off the way he’d arrived and that was the end of the show. They really know how to train birds here.

We all quickly left and walked to the next presentation done by an Aboriginal Ranger named Damien, about Red Kangaroos. This was odd as they don’t have Red Kangaroos in NT as they can’t digest the main plant that grows in the desert areas here – spinifex. He explained the way a marsupial gives birth and raises its young, up to three different ages – a newborn locked onto the nipple, a young one in the pouch, and one at her feet- feeding from different sized nipples and giving different milk to each. He also said they vary in colour and size so the best way to tell a Red Kangaroo is its facial marking of a light stripe and a dark stripe near the muzzle. We were a large group with quite a few noisy kids so the roos didn’t stick around long, but went to their safe zone under the trees.

There was a couple of hours before the next presentation so we continued looking around the various zones. The park was laid out so the birds, a few animals and the plants were in the correct zone – Desert Rivers; Sand Country; Clay Pan; Salt Pan; Gypsum Pan and Woodland. Some areas were quite small but it was really well done. In each zone there were aviaries with birds that would be found there. We could see them behind glass viewing walls and had seats to relax and enjoy watching. It was funny to see some wild birds of the same type as those flying inside the netted areas trying to get in to have the feed that was available for them. Insects seemed to get in easily, too, as we kept seeing the Rainbow Bee-Eaters spring into the air and land with something big and juicy to nibble on. The aviaries were quite large and had good habitat in them. It was nice to just watch the antics, although we couldn’t see some of the ones the boards said were there – well camouflaged, maybe.

We were getting hungry but there didn’t seem to be any picnic spots and we didn’t want to buy from the café, so we went back to the car, moved it into the shade, and ate inside it. The tree giving us the shade had a mob of Galahs in it who were dropping twigs and leaves on us. We’ll look like a tree by the time they’ve finished!

Next we went into the Nocturnal House and saw some bats, some hopping mice, a pair of Bilbies, with their huge ears, and a Mala. We learned that the Mala is almost extinct. It is only found in captivity now, as the last two colonies of wild ones were destroyed – one by a fox and the other by a bushfire. There were 28 left in zoos and parks so they quickly co-ordinated a breeding programme and now there are 200 animals. The dream is to repopulate an island as soon as one can be made predator free. The Mala is the only wallaby that can eat spinifex. The problem is they run away from a predator by leaving their nesting holes, going around in a big circle and coming straight back to the hole, tired out – straight into the claws of the waiting cat or fox who quickly found out they didn’t have to chase them to get dinner. The predators learned but the prey didn’t!

Bilbies are smarter and they tend to live in extremely arid desert areas where the predators can’t survive. They also hide in the spinifex, which is very spiky and keeps them safe.

We watched a 40 minute TV show about Desert Life, which was fascinating (and sitting down!). We also saw the outer display which was Diurnal reptiles, including a Mulga (King Brown) Snake who had just been given a dead mouse. He opened his mouth and eased it in by dragging it from side to side on the ground. Once it was completely in its gut you could see the muscles working it down into the middle of its body – quite quickly. Evidently that meal would last it a couple of weeks, although it would still hunt if something edible came by.

Our last Ranger talk was given by another Aboriginal, Annie, who took us on a Discovery Walk through the Desert Rivers zone. She was from Adelaide so some of the plants were not part of her culture but many were. She showed us lots of plants and explained how they would be used for food, equipment or medicines. The Witchetty Tree (one of the Acacias) was common to both areas and she said the women dig down to the roots and look for a fat bulge on one. They then cut this part out, not taking too many as they want the tree to continue growing, and inside is a fat witchetty grub. If you eat it raw you have to bite its head to stun it and then swallow it, preferably head first so it can’t work its way back up if it revives (don’t much like the idea of it working its way down either!). She said it tastes like raw egg or raw oyster (I think she means the texture). Annie prefers hers cooked, which is like peanut, she says.

Annie showed us another tree with hard rough balls growing on it. They call these “bush coconuts” but they are actually where the grubs of the Gall Wasp develop. The mother irritates the tree so that it produces the gall - a wooden covering which grows right over her. She lays her eggs in it and stays there to keep the space for her babies. She also chews a small hole at one end for them to exit the gall before she dies. She said it was quite nutty inside.

Then there was the Fruit Salad plant whose leaves smelled like apples and another tree with spiky leaves that she picked and stuck some of the needles into her skin. She said they were used to kill warts. You stick them all around the base of the wart and then leave them as long as you can (10 minutes to an hour – the longer the better) and repeat this every day. After about 10 days the wart will drop off.

The most surprising thing she told us was how little water an established desert tree or plant needs to stay alive – 200 ml a year. Yes – that’s less than a cup of water for a whole YEAR! That’s astounding.

As we’d been walking around the various area we’d seen lots of plants in flower. In a couple of places they had planted seeds and then watered them to simulate rains coming. Then they waited. We were lucky enough to see them all blooming. I may never see it in the wild but it is amazing how thick the flowering plants were and how many different types there were, most with small flowers – another survival technique. It was wonderful. We’ve seen some of the plants already – in little patches because there’s been no rain- but it was marvellous to see them as they would be after a wet. It made my day!

We finished by going into the last session of the “Changing Heart” Big Screen Movie in the cinema. It was showing how the Earth began; how country was formed then eroded; how forests developed; and how the flowers and birds came. Unfortunately, they had very bright lights over all the exits which made it difficult to make out details. The amazing scenes they showed on the big screen were also very muted – which we knew was wrong for this area. Still it was interesting. The surprise came at the end, when they said that this had all led to the final scene - they then dropped the big screen down out of sight under the floor and revealed a huge picture window (well lots of small panes really) looking straight at the face of the Macdonnell Ranges – in their full glorious colour. Quite a finale!

We headed home, stopping to buy some chips to go with the King Salmon I was cooking in the microwave. We needed to get a quick meal as the “Didgeridoo Show Outback” started at 8pm and he wanted us in our seats by 7.30pm. We got there early enough to have a look around the shop at the front and then found a seat in the theatre. There were a couple of racks of didgeridoos of various shapes and sizes on the stage, as well as percussion instruments and a keyboard.

Eventually, Andrew Langford, the didgeridoo player, came out and introduced himself and his performance, saying no photos until later. He told us some stories of his experiences with the local people and how he learned to play. He also told us about all the different jobs he’d had, including establishing and running an Arid Plant nursery for years. He had written some pieces of music to go with each story and while he played, accompanied by the keyboardist and the percussionist, we watched images relating to his theme on a large projector screen above the stage. He was very skilled and produced some wonderful sounds.

One of his stories was about the strange blue lights he’d seen in the outback. He told an elder and was informed that blue ones were OK but the red ones were very dangerous. He suggested the audience members take a look at Wycliffe Wells (which we’d seen last week) to find out more about UFOs in the region. That was one of his best pieces, for me. I also liked the one about the rains falling on the Todd River

He played a really long didg and one he’d made in the USA using Mulga that looked like an Austrian Alpenhorn.

He then called a volunteer up onto the stage and proceeded to teach her how to produce the sound from a didgeridoo by buzzing the lips together and doing it down the tube. He also explained the circular breathing but said it takes time and practice. Basically it’s like breathing in through your nose while pushing the air out of already inflated cheeks with your fingers. Sounds easy – isn’t!

We finished the night by all being given an instrument, hitting sticks, drums etc, and being briefed on what was required by the percussionist so we would have what he called a “Log Jam”. We all started doing our various parts and Andrew and his didg student played over the top. It was a big noise but good fun.

After the show I asked about the girl playing the didgeridoo as we’d been told in an Aboriginal Centre in Victoria that I was taboo for women. He said that was a modern myth and had been taken up by many clans who had not traditionally used the didg. They had only been used in Arnhem Land until very recently. He had asked an elder if they were taboo for women and was told no. It is used mostly in men’s rituals so women don’t usually play but there is nothing stopping them if they want to. It’s funny how things can get so twisted.

On the way back home we saw a very long freight train going along the “Ghan” track. I hope we get to see the “Ghan” before we leave.

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Photos

The Desert Park Blooms
I've always wanted to see the desert bloom and this may be as close as I'll get. Sections of the Desert Park had been sown with seeds of desert plants and then watered a few times. It was like a carpet of little flowers, as it would be after the rains. Spectacular, especially against the Macdonnell Ranges. You can just see the red centre soil, that is normally the main colour out here, showing through the plants.

Witchetty Grubs - Raw or Cooked
Annie explained how Aboriginal women dug down to the roots of the Witchetty Tree and looked for any bulges. They would then dig them out, like the one she's holding. Inside the hollowed out roots were large creamy white grubs of the Ghost Moth, which could be eaten raw after biting the head to stun it (in her right hand). Raw they taste like a raw egg, she said, and cooked they have a nutty flavour. She liked them cooked.

A Lizard Stack
These two Thorny Devils made a good resting place for the little Military Dragon while they rested in the "sun". They were smaller than I'd realised. Another Thorny Devil was standing at the end of a branch picking off ants as they walked along it almost into his mouth.

One Confused Tawny Frogmouth
I love these birds. They look so funny with their heads up pretending to be a broken limb of a tree. This one doesn't seem to have noticed that his camouflage is not so effective on the brown metal posts of the viewing stands. "You can't see me." Um - yes we can! He flew to collect food during the show.

An Amazing Backdrop for a Grumpy Owl
With the Macdonnell Ranges behind him, this grumpy Barn Owl seemed unhappy with being made to perform when he'd rather be sleeping. He's standing on the wall of the viewing stands looking expectantly at the Ranger for his next morsel of food. He flew past us really closely and completely silently. No wonder they are such good hunters.

Brave Bush Stone Curlew
This bird is usually very shy and even freezes when scared (as we saw in Queensland. This one followed the Ranger around along the rows of people in the stand just like a little dog. He was taller than I realised as we never saw the wild one standing.

One Fat Didgeridoo
Andrew Langford played all of the didgeridoos you can see at the back of the picture but the strangest was this one with its very wide bottom end. It was made of Mulga wood and he called it his "Mulgadoo". He was very skilled at story telling and playing the didg.