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At a vast wildlife sanctuary in the heart of the Kimberley three ecologists are flooded in, waiting for the next baby boom. Well over half a metre of rain has fallen so far this wet season, creating roaring waterfalls over towering escarpments and turning the Adcock River into a swollen beast. To say the animals are loving it is an understatement, stranded field ecologist Braden Riles says. The frogs are "going nuts", the birds are frisky, the termites are swarming in dense clouds, and reptiles, including whopper mulga snakes and olive pythons, are on the move. About lunchtime on Friday a plane managed to land and dropped off fresh food and other supplies to sustain the ecologists and two other staff while the 85km long "driveway" to the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is cut. Mr Riles is looking forward to what's ahead as the waters recede and the ecosystem makes the most of the drenching - the second good one in as many years. "We're out bushwalking every other weekend and we're already seeing (endangered) gouldian finches feeding on all the seed that's popped up," he says. The endangered purple-crowned fairy-wren is also doing well. "Their breeding has increased at the moment with the number of insects that are out and about following the rain, and with the creeks coming up. It's all pretty exciting." Mr Riles has worked at the sanctuary for the past three years, carefully monitoring the health of its many inhabitants including wallabies and wallaroos, northern quolls, big snakes, small snakes, blind snakes, and possibly his favourite, the semiaquatic Mitchell's water monitor. He says being in the grip of a period of plenty is always a thrill. "We had two pretty dry seasons, and we did see a bit of a trough in small mammals and reptiles. But now we've had two good seasons, I'd expect we're now going into a bit of a boom generally, across the landscape." But the rain - 670mm so far this wet season - is not without its downsides. "When the big rains come in the termites get really excited so if you leave a light on accidentally, you'll be in a cloud of them. They all come out of their mounds, and fly around." And there there are the snakes that are hard, if not impossible, to keep out of the sanctuary's living quarters. "Last year someone found a python in their bed in the middle of the night. It was coming in for warmth," Mr Riles says. "They're often around, in people's showers when they get home and all sorts. They can get a bit cheeky. "In fact our chicken population is dwindling because of them and when I say dwindling, they've actually gone extinct. We had one left as of a month ago, but it's since disappeared. "So that's another dry season job, to get a few more chickens in." Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is Australia's largest non-government protected area, covering 312,00 hectares of tropical savanna and spectacular escarpments and gorges. Home to more than 200 birds, almost 100 reptiles and amphibians and 35 mammal species, it's a hotspot for northern Australia's threatened wildlife and is owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Australian Associated Press
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At a vast wildlife sanctuary in the heart of the Kimberley three ecologists are flooded in, waiting for the next baby boom.
Well over half a metre of rain has fallen so far this wet season, creating roaring waterfalls over towering escarpments and turning the Adcock River into a swollen beast.
To say the animals are loving it is an understatement, stranded field ecologist Braden Riles says.
The frogs are "going nuts", the birds are frisky, the termites are swarming in dense clouds, and reptiles, including whopper mulga snakes and olive pythons, are on the move.
About lunchtime on Friday a plane managed to land and dropped off fresh food and other supplies to sustain the ecologists and two other staff while the 85km long "driveway" to the Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is cut.
Mr Riles is looking forward to what's ahead as the waters recede and the ecosystem makes the most of the drenching - the second good one in as many years.
"We're out bushwalking every other weekend and we're already seeing (endangered) gouldian finches feeding on all the seed that's popped up," he says.
The endangered purple-crowned fairy-wren is also doing well.
"Their breeding has increased at the moment with the number of insects that are out and about following the rain, and with the creeks coming up. It's all pretty exciting."
Mr Riles has worked at the sanctuary for the past three years, carefully monitoring the health of its many inhabitants including wallabies and wallaroos, northern quolls, big snakes, small snakes, blind snakes, and possibly his favourite, the semiaquatic Mitchell's water monitor.
He says being in the grip of a period of plenty is always a thrill.
"We had two pretty dry seasons, and we did see a bit of a trough in small mammals and reptiles. But now we've had two good seasons, I'd expect we're now going into a bit of a boom generally, across the landscape."
But the rain - 670mm so far this wet season - is not without its downsides.
"When the big rains come in the termites get really excited so if you leave a light on accidentally, you'll be in a cloud of them. They all come out of their mounds, and fly around."
And there there are the snakes that are hard, if not impossible, to keep out of the sanctuary's living quarters.
"Last year someone found a python in their bed in the middle of the night. It was coming in for warmth," Mr Riles says.
"They're often around, in people's showers when they get home and all sorts. They can get a bit cheeky.
"In fact our chicken population is dwindling because of them and when I say dwindling, they've actually gone extinct. We had one left as of a month ago, but it's since disappeared.
"So that's another dry season job, to get a few more chickens in."
Mornington Wildlife Sanctuary is Australia's largest non-government protected area, covering 312,00 hectares of tropical savanna and spectacular escarpments and gorges.
Home to more than 200 birds, almost 100 reptiles and amphibians and 35 mammal species, it's a hotspot for northern Australia's threatened wildlife and is owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy.
Australian Associated Press
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