Fogg Dam and Leaning Tree Lagoon

Date 12^th September – 14^th September 2025

On route to Kakadu National Park is Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve, a place well known for its bird life. Of course, I wanted to go there. We stayed a couple of nights in Herbert, twenty minutes from the dam. The Lorikeet Bush camp is very quaint, very small but adequately appointed complete with composting toilet, water, power, and one of the friendliest hosts we’ve met during many years of travelling.

We got up bright and early to visit Fogg Dam before it got too hot. My research had shown me that Fogg Dam is one of the areas visited by a bird watching tour, so it had to be good. Yes, I hear all you non-birders sighing, “Not more birds.” But as a wildlife photographer I shoot what’s available, and right now…that’s birds.

Fogg Dam is very well set up. After a short walk from the car park, you find yourself on the boardwalks over the wetlands. This gives you good vantage points and offers shaded areas to rest and to watch from.  It really is a pretty area.

On the walk through the scrub, we came across some more Golden Orb Spiders, (mentioned in my last post). In the first image you can see the tiny males on the web next to the female.  They really are quite fascinating and completely harmless to humans, which makes a nice change from most of the other spiders found in Australia.

Soon after the spiders, I had my first sighting of the Forest Kingfisher. As with most Kingfishers they were a striking colour, these ones, blue on blue.  I was lucky enough to see a pair resting on an old dead tree.

There wasn’t a huge variety of birds here, I guess it depends on the time of year, but I was pleased to see the Comb-Crested Jacanas strolling amongst the lilies, along with the usual suspects.

There were a lot of Magpie Geese roosting and wandering around the muddy waters. I know the waters were muddy as the geese’s white feathers, were not. Magpie Geese are black and white, not black and brown. Peter thinks they are an ugly bird, I disagree. I also get the distinct impression that they are always smiling, and they are obviously doting parents. I watched this family for a while. A juvenile joined her parents, then a second tried to land but there was not enough room on the tree. So mum and the second juvenile flew off leaving dad and his little girl to themselves.

On the way back I spotted this Juvenile Brown Goshawk. Another first sighting.

Much like the birds, there are often Dragonflies around the water, and there were quite a few variations here.

Fogg Dam is a large body of water, and as well as the walkways over the wetland, you can drive over the dam wall. I was walking around trying to get photos of Crimson Finches when a ranger pulled up and told me not to walk too close to the water as there was a crocodile in there. “Sure,” I thought,” that’s what they always say”. And then I saw this lovely freshwater crocodile.

You know, sometimes we get a bit sick of all the warnings. The ‘Don’t do this’s’ and the ‘Don’t do that’s.’ Then we saw an idiot taunting a crocodile with a towel and I understand why these warnings are necessary. Sometimes I think we should let Darwin’s ‘Survival of the fittest’ take its’ natural course.

After all the croc excitement, I got back to my Crimson Finches. They’re quite a scruffy looking bird, I’m guessing they may be molting, or young birds who haven’t quite grown into their feathers yet. Still, quite a striking colour.

And that’s the end of the Fogg Dam story.

Our next port of call as the Leaning Tree Lagoon Nature Park. This is a lesser-known area, but to be honest, I enjoyed it much more. We managed to get up early enough to enjoy the sunrise, and we had heaps of time to explore. You can walk/drive all around the extensive waterhole.

This was the shot of the day for me. This Little Egret was strutting his stuff in the early morning light, his mating plumage screaming…”Look at me ladies. All this could be yours”.

I’ve seen a few Dollar Birds, but none have been as obliging as this one. He kept to the same flight pattern while looking for food. I was able to get a good bead on him resulting in some lovely in-flight shots.

While walking around with my camera, I often get asked, “What are you after?” Unless I am after something specific, I’ll reply, “Anything that moves.” Just to prove my point, I took this shot while waiting for the sunlight to soften. When I say this shot, I of course mean lots of shots, in order to get some nice ones, like this. Let me tell you, these little buggers move quickly.  But how cute is he, even though he looks grumpy?

You may wonder what Peter does to keep himself busy while I’m off chasing whatever it is that I’m chasing. This’ll give you an idea.

Great driver and shady spot finder for Arnie.

While Peter was ‘spotting’ with his eyes closed, this Forest Kingfisher landed on a branch above him. At the same time an Agile Wallaby popped into sight.

Seriously though, he is incredibly patient and I’m lucky that he loves the great outdoors just as much as I love photographing it.  

Back to the birds. This was my first sighting of the Green Pygmy-Goose, a very pretty bird, doubly so with the reflections.

I’m not sure what was going on with these Pied Cormorants, they flew together for quite a way, then boom, they started to fight.

The water was so calm and much cleaner than Fogg Dam, I was able to get some lovely reflective images, I particularly like these Wandering Whistling Ducks, but the water splashes from the Pied Cormorant landing adds an additional element.

Early morning seemed to be a good time for fishing. This Great Egret caught himself a substantial feed.

As we completed our circuit of the water, Peter spotted a juvenile Jabiru (Black-Necked Stork). Oh, by the way, we had always thought of ‘Jabiru’ as being the aboriginal name for the bird, but it turns out that the real Jabiru is a sort-of- similar South American bird. The name Jabiru means swollen neck and if you find an image online you can see why.  Our bird was misnamed a Jabiru but gradually, there has been a name change, so I guess I should start calling it what it is – a Black-Necked Stork.

  Soon after that, a Whistling Kite enjoying what was left of his meal.

All in all, we had a great morning here and would recommend it above Fogg Dam. There were many more birds, a greater variety and flocks of Wandering Whistling Ducks, Magpie Geese, and Rajah Shelducks flying back and forth. On top of that it truly is a lovely area.

Our next stop is Marrakai and our first wetlands cruise. This one is the Corroboree
Wetlands cruise and we hope to see a few more crocodiles, only this time, we expect to see the big salties.

See you out there somewhere

On tow and on the go!