Wildlife

Birds

Birdwatchers have recorded up to 200 species of birds at Cooper Creek. There are always birds around the Dig Tree but when the big rains come and water flows into Lake Eyre, the Cooper is a bird highway.

There are many bird diaries from visitors to the Dig Tree:

  • King shot two crows Corvus orru for food on his way to see if Wills had survived.

  • Down on Cooper Creek, the wildlife greeted the dawn with a little more enthusiasm. Pairs of Little Corellas Cacatua sanguinea noisily checked out of their nests for the day and Whistling Kites Haliastur sphenurus prowled the skies above flotillas of Pelicans Pelecanus conspicillatus intent on an early catch.

  • Rainbow Bee-eaters Merops ornatus flitted across the water.

  • There are Hawks, Budgies, Willy Wagtails, Pacific Herons, Little Pied Cormorants, Spoonbills, Swallows, Ducks, Pelicans and more. It is an amazing sight at sunset when the birds all seem to be flying home to their overnight homes.

  • We saw Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena mud nests on the side of a Coolabah Tree.

  • There was excitement when a Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax swooped onto a small flock of four Ibis, but was unsuccessful as the Ibis got away.

  • Keep your ears open too for Innamincka’s fascinating Barking Owls Ninox connivens.

  • And many other birds sung, floated, nested and flew over our campsite.

Little Corellas Cacatua sanguinea. Photo by Calistemon - wikicommons

Animals

Red Kangaroo Macropus rufus. Photo by PotMart186 - wikicommons

Rainbow Bee-eaters Merops ornatus. Photo by PotMart186 - wikicommons

Cooper Creek supports an abundant community of animals from insects and spiders through to large mammals.

While on their expedition Burke and Wills heard dingoes howl. Dingos Canis lupus and the Red Kangaroos Macropus rufus are common in the Dig Tree area today.

At the Cooper’s edge you can observe Water Rats Hydromys chrysogaster most common at dawn and dusk and easily recognisable by their distinctive white-tipped tail. Tortoises can also be seen around the Cooper. After rain you might hear the sounds of desert frogs calling but they are difficult to see.

The most common reptiles are the Bearded Dragon Oxyuranus microlepidotus and the Sand Goanna Varanus gouldii which might be sunning themselves on a warm day.

You might be lucky enough to see a snake in the hotter months but take care as the Dig Tree is within the range of the Inland Taipan Oxyuranus microlepidotus, one of the world’s most venomous snakes. Other local snakes include Woma Python Aspidites ramsayi, King Brown Pseudechis australis (venomous) and the Western Brown Pseudonaja nuchalis (venomous).

The Burke and Wills Gulf Party ate snake on a couple of occasions but both Gray and Wills became ill afterwards and blamed the snake.

Also present in the Dig Tree region are numerous feral species including donkeys, camels, horses, pigs and cats.

Fish

Female dingo. Photo by Henry Whitehead - wikicommons

When visitors try their luck fishing at the Bulloo Bulloo Waterhole, their target species is Yellowbelly Macquaria ambigua also called the Golden Perch. The best bait for Yellowbelly is small yabbies and shrimp, although you can use a lure. The minimum size is 30 centimetres with a bag limit of 10 fish.

Aaron Paterson named a number of fish species which can be caught at ‘the desert paradise’ which Aboriginal people call Kinipapa and the rest of the world calls Cooper Creek.

  • Kapi – Catfish

  • Gampurru – Yellowbelly

  • Tharuwitji – Bony Bream

  • Mussels

To cook the fish, Aaron says, ‘I get the fish I have gutted ready, then place them in the coals to one side to bake them.’

Members of the Burke and Wills expedition ate a lot of fish they caught on their travels. Wills wrote about finding a large one-and-a-half-pound fish choking on a smaller fish. He caught and cooked them noting ‘the large one was in good condition’.

King Brown Pseudechis australis. Photo by Smacdonald - wikicommons

Macquaria ambigua. Illustration by Arthur Bartholomew - Museums Victoria