Danger Soup
A wild life encounter in Kakadu National Park
Kakadu is a bucket list place for many people travelling around Australia. Wild country, a deep history and a plethora of animals waiting to be shot.. with a camera.
My favourite animal encounter was one with a fresh water crocodile seen below. It was well and truly into the dry season so the rivers weren’t flowing which means crocodiles/freshies seek refuge in the stagnant water waiting for the wet to roll in. I had just crossed an empty river bed and each side of the river bed were large pools of murky water, the stuff of nightmares. As my Landcruiser drove through this dried up bed in the corner of my eye I saw a large splash which instantly caught my attention.
I park the Landcruiser and grab my camera which is riding shotgun with me, half charged batteries and an SD card which is usually full. I creep a safe distance from the water channeling Australian icon Steve Irwin’s excitement wondering what I might see. And what I am greeted by is murky water and debris.
Over this danger soup a massive paper bark tree has keeled over and is hanging over the water. Presenting a perfect vantage point for a budding wild life photographer, or perhaps a tourist which is looking to be on the front page of NT News “Human Meat Stick Falls Directly Into Crocodiles Mouth”
I scale this tree and find myself perched over the water looking down. Plenty of Archer Fish are swimming about doing what Archer Fish do and after a period of time a Fresh Water Crocodile floats to the surface, legs splayed and I capture a few photos.
By this point 30 minutes had passed, so I am taking particular care to be quiet, slow movements, camera shutter is on the slower quieter option. The moment was serene with peace, tranquility, myself and a prehistoric animal doing what its always done for millions of years. Myself and nature sharing this moment together.
That is up until another bloody tourist comes roaring down the dirt road to a skidding halt at the crossing. Also intrigued by this murky death water they all get out the car to have a bit of a geeze. Which put me in a bit of a predicament because they weren’t aware of the disheveled bearded man in the fallen tree above them. Hoping they’d leave pronto so the freshies would reappear they eventually decide that staring at the murky water wasn’t overly interesting and tear off up the road.
A further 10 minutes pass and the freshie reappears but this time with a small barramundi in its jaws.
F*&K ME! I thought. Quickly fumbling with my camera I wasn’t sure whether to photograph this moment or video it. I decided to fire off one shot and then record it and I am thankful I did. Just as I started recording and focusing on this poor little barra which had met its maker a Whistling Kite (the bully of the sky) swooped out of nowhere and tried to pinch a free feed right out of the jaws of the Fresh Water Crocodile.
The Fresh Water Crocodile had milliseconds to react and managed to beat the Whistling Kite, with a quick 180 it darted off with its barra.
After witnessing this clash of nature I captured a photo of the Whistling Kite. And just like me it was looking dishevelled and hungry while being up in a tree.
After witnessing this clash of nature I captured a photo of the Whistling Kite. And just like me it was looking dishevelled and hungry while being up in a tree.