
Fogg Dam is a Nature Lovers Paradise
Located around 70 kilometres from
Darwin, the bitumen road gives year round access and for Fiona and I it was special as
well, as the water lilies were in flower and it was a sight to see.
Being part of the
Adelaide River catchment area, a
dam wall was built in the mid 1950's to provide irrigation water for the Humpty Doo Rice Project.

The Dam wall at Fogg Dam

There is a well constructed walking track to give great access to the area
The
dam was constructed by the RAAF Airfield Construction Squadron and named it
Fogg Dam after Mr J D Fogg who was the Managing Director of Utah Australia Limited.
After the failure of the Rice Cropping Industry, the
dam area was declared a bird protection district in 1959 and in 1982 the area was upgraded to a Conservation Reserve.

View from one of the lookouts, looking over the floodplain

This is used to clear the dam surface of the Lotus Lilies
A large number of the birds here we had seen before, but the one special bird that we had not seen, and hoped to photograph was the Comb Crested Jacana, or as they are known, the Jesus bird for its ability to walk on water.

Croc trap set on the Dam side of the wall

We did not see this until we had walked to the other side of the dam wall
It was not long before I spotted our first Jacana's, but they were a long way out, even for my big telephoto lens. The more I looked, the easier they were to see and had I looked close the the edge of the bank, they were literally only a few metres away.

The Lotus Lilies were in full bloom

Lotus Lily flower

A new flower about to bloom

National Parks cull the wild Water Buffalo in the floodplains

Miniature Snowflake Water Lily - the flower is around the size of a 50 cent piece
We drove and walked the length of the
dam wall, one side holding back the water, while on the other side as far as the eye can see, wetlands covered with countless thousands of many varieties of birds. Reaching the other end of the wall, there was a
sign saying
dam wall walk closed due to recent crocodile sitings....bad luck for the other people and me who had just walk the length of the wall.

Dragon Fly on a Lotus Lily Pad

Small Dragon Fly on an old flower stalk
How recent the sighting was we will never know, but that would explain the croc trap set on the water side. Also does anyone know what the machine on the water is and used for?
These are now just some of the birds that I was able to photograph during our visits to this very special location.

Sacred Kingfisher

Great Egret
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Pied Heron
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Australasian Darter
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Little Pied Cormorant

Rajah Shelduck

Australian White Ibis

Straw Necked Ibis

Royal Spoonbill

Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike

Australian White Ibis in flight

Sacred Kingfisher

Juvenile Comb Crested Jacana

Comb Crested Jacana

Comb Crested Jacana

Male Crimson Finch

Female Crimson Finch

Male left and female right Crimson Finch

Australasian Grebe

Wandering Whistling Duck
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Wandering Whistling Duck

Green Pygmy Goose

Green Pygmy Goose

Magpie Goose