Piccaninny Plains is an AWC Sanctuary found on Cape York Peninsula in Northern Australia. The Doc was invited to attend a Supporter’s Event. He flew to Cairns and then hopped on a charter flight to the Sanctuary. Piccaninny Plains is found on the Archer and Whenlock Rivers.

During the wet season, large parts of the property are submerged. There is a danger of salt and freshwater crocodiles, so we needed to be careful. Our campsite was on Watson Lagoon, which had at least one fresh water crocodile.

Life was hard with Jane, the chef, and her able assistant Lucy cooking up great meals 3 times a day, plus morning and afternoon tea. Hot showers as well. Life was hard. 🙂

There is great variety in landscapes, birds and mammals on Piccaninny Plains. So the photos will be broken into 5 groups being people, textures, fauna, landscape and aerial shots.

People

Four groups visited the property this year, our group was the smallest and last to visit. We managed to identify the largest number of birds, 111 species in total, two more if you include those heard but not seen. By “We” The Doc really means the 3 birders Dougald, Cameron and Ingrid. John and The Doc liked to refer themselves as the wildlife car.

We had great field ecologists and guides Leah, Gina, Joey, Chantelle, Bryony and Tim. Let’s not forgot the helicopter pilots Bungie and Nick. Bungie was the pilot on my 4 day Cape York helicopter trip and Nick the 4 day Arnhem Land Kakadu helicopter trip.

Textures

The main textures were bark, sand, grass, rocks and termites.

The Sanctuary has many species of termite; including magnetic termites that align their nest north to south. Other termites build rounder nests and others build them all over dead trees.

The bark textures were different from other places visited and the rocks and sand had less variation than the desert areas on Australia. Its the vegetation that varies a great deal here, savannah grasslands, forest, rainforests and everything between. This variety can be seen in the aerial shots below.

The grasses were drying out during the visit, but they are a bright green in the wet season. At Piccaninny Plains the contrast is between the wet and dry season, but all The Doc’s shots are dry season photos.

Fauna

Not surprisingly, water plays an important part in this area of Australia. There are plenty of amphibians, crocodiles and wetland birds. A few less mammals than in other areas of Australia, but those mammals include the elusive spotted cuscus which we saw and The Doc photographed.

Landscape

A selection of landscape shots from across the property, including wetlands, rivers and grasslands.

Aerial

Did The Doc mention we had a couple of hours in the helicopter around the property?

It is an exciting way to see the property and the extraordinary diverse landscape. Flying down the Archer River with trees on either side, above termite mounds, over Watsons lagoon sideways to name a few. Enjoy.