Mary River Wetland

In the early morning on this beautiful billabong ("always water"--a waterway that has water even in the middle of The Dry) of the Mary River...

 

...we got to take a cruise to see more of the flora and fauna of the wetlands. I LOVED the lotus lilypads, which are actually an invasive species from Asia but are still darn lovely in soft sunlight.

But--and this is coming from someone who doesn't really consider herself a keen appreciator of birds--my favorite part of the cruise was all the incredible birds. A few of my favorites:

-- The jacana, otherwise known as "the Jesus bird" because its tiny body and enormous feet makes it appear to walk on water as it picks its way among the lilypads

- The white bellied Australian sea eagle, a relative of the American bald eagle

- The jabiru, a type of stork that is so aggressive it is willing to battle a croc to try to steal food from its mouth

Speaking of crocs, we saw several of those, too. Salties and freshies both live in this section of river.
If memory serves, this one was a saltie.

And, bonus--there was a wild buffalo lurking around the parking area after our cruise. I hadn't even known there ARE buffalo in Australia. They were apparently imported in the late 1800s so that sportsmen could hunt them as game, and they ended up going feral. Seems to be the story of Australia: imported flora and fauna taking over (Europeans included). Our guide warned us to keep a significant distance from this beast, as they are quite dangerous. I didn't need to be told twice; he looks like he's on the lookout for any excuse to charge!