Hiding in the Swamp and eating sh!t
Early June 2023
Wurruma Swamp, 3rd June 2023.
For the last couple of weekends I have been swagging in the bush out near Mt Garnet. During the day I spent most of my time at Wurruma Swamp.
“Please note you are not allowed to camp at Wurruma Swamp. Their is a caravan park in Mt Garnet and free camping at nearby Archers Creek with toilet facilities.
After that there are some lesser known areas that you can rough camp at in peace. If you rough camp please do not spoil it for the rest of us...leave no trace. Thanks.”
On my visits the Swans that were usually visible were no where to be seen. I found the above Swan just before sunset in a portion of the Swamp far away from the main entrance.
Wurruma Swamp, 4th June 2023.
The next day I returned and continued my search and found that many of the Swans were not on the water but up on land in isolated areas around the swamp.
Wurruma Swamp, 4th June 2023.
It took me a little while but by the end of that weekend I had figured what was going on with the Swans. I simply had to return the following weekend….this was a must see.
Wurruma Swamp, 10th June 2023.
The next weekend I headed up to Ravenshoe Golf Course Friday night to swag it in luxury with the plan to rise early and head out to Mt Garnet. When I arrived at Wurruma Swamp on Saturday morning it was bitterly cold.
Wurruma Swamp, 10th June 2023.
The Swamp was also fogged over so I decided to make a hot chocolate and wait for the fog to clear a little.
Eating Sh!t
Masked Lapwing looking a bit sh!t face.
I am a runner and the mortal enemy of a runner in Far North Queensland is the swooping Masked Lapwing during breeding season. To say I do not like these birds is an understatement.
When this one started walking towards me I wondered what it was after.
Burying its head into a fresh pile of cow manure.
Wurruma Swamp is also cattle land so there is a lot of cow waste on the ground. I have no idea what it is they are gaining in the way of food from that manure but they shove their heads straight in.
Once they find what they are after the head comes out and the “food” goes straight down the hatch.
Wurruma Swamp, 10th June 2023.
With my hot chocolate finished and the fog lifting I turned my attention back to the Swamp and what I was there to see had revealed itself. The Swans at Wurruma have been breeding and many were spending a lot of their time near the edge of the swamp.
Sometimes during the middle of the day they could be found out of the water with their young cygnets in the safety of the long grass around the swamps edge.
This Swan hatched 5 eggs.
I am very patient and spent days at the swamp to get these photos. The birds are very skittish with the cygnets so young so it was very difficult to get close.
Mum stirring up the vegetation.
During that time I learnt a lot about the interaction between the adult birds and the cygnets, especially when it comes to feeding. The adult birds would stir up the food that was too deep for the cygnets to reach.
The cygnets feeding on whatever is rising.
Once it had floated to the surface they gather around and feed away. Very cute to watch.
Mum and Dad leading the kids.
As i was about to leave one day I got this photo of one of the cygnets trying to imitate Dad as he rose from the water to flap his wings. A couple of wonderful weekends in the Swamp.