As I lounged in a camp chair, relishing a gin and tonic, the bush hummed with Down Under insects; Agile Wallabies hopped and grazed nearby; Flying-foxes squabbled noisily, and then dropped out of the trees, flying off in search of fruiting trees.
Before JP and I left for the Northern Territory or Top End of
Australia, we got field guides—guides to the birds, the mammals, and the
plants. Looking through A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia,
there were many in the “Ooh, I’d like to see that” and “Ahh, what a wonderful
animal” category. Not only were they
physically appealing, but have exotic and outlandish common
names: Quoll, Numbat, Kowari, Mulgara, Ampurta, Dibbler, Kaluta, Kultarr,
Dunnart, Bandicoot, Bilby, Wombat, Cuscus, Bettong, Woylie, and Potoroo. More mundane, but recognizable were the Kangaroos,
Wallabies, Possums, and Bats. As it
turns out, most of these are variously secretive, tiny, arboreal, nocturnal, rare or
some combination of all of the above and their distribution is very restricted.
They show up as a minuscule dot on the distribution map of Australia in the guide and that
dot usually isn’t in the Northern Territories.
So, realistically what might we see and see well? As it
turns out the commonest mammals were Agile Wallabies (Macropus agilis) and Flying-foxes. We saw Agile Wallabies on
our first day in Darwin and regularly after that in and around our campsites in the
National Parks of Kakadu, Katherine/Nitmiluk, and Litchfield.
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| Wallaby Lounging in our Camp |
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| Mother with Joey Safe in the Pouch |
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| Out of the Pouch Profiles   
Up and Away
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