The boardwalk passes through areas of palm forest and pandanus swamp (which looks like something from Middle Earth) before emerging at the lakes — one freshwater and covered with lilies, the other saltwater and fringed with grey mangroves.
A family of magpie geese (two adults, two juveniles) and a trio of wandering whistling-ducks preened on the bank for a while until the camera started to make them nervous. These geese were a lot muddier than their crisp and clean southern cousins I photographed at Serendip Sanctuary. It also dawned on me (because I'm a bit slow to grasp things at times) that I hadn't seen any young 'uns at Serendip. Maybe I'm not visiting at the right time or maybe they're breeding elsewhere.
When you approach a feeding flock of magpie geese, it can be difficult to get an idea of the numbers. There's a mass of black and white and a cacophony of trumpeting and bugling. It could be hundred, it could be thousands. (Down in the tens, it's a bit easier to tell.) Then one of them notices the intruder and they all stick their heads up like periscopes to check on what's happening. Then you start to get a better idea …
