10-17-2019, 07:02 PM
(COMMENTS MOVED DOWN THE PAGE)
The Big Swamp
Two of the main rivers that drain the interior plains join forces before their combined waters enter the coastal forest. The area where they merge is located “behind” a ridge of harder rock, through which the resultant river has cut a gorge and the western edge of which it descends in a series of waterfalls, and is normally quite marshy except in the driest of ‘dry seasons’. During the ‘rainy season’ the waters normally rise to form a temporary swamp, markedly wider that the marsh itself, with islands of higher ground. This attracts large numbers of herbivores to feed on the lush growth around its edges, and relatively large numbers of carnivores as well to feed on those herbivores. There is also a seasonal surge in the local populations of amphibians, fish, and aquatic invertebrates, which attracts members of various other species (e.g. osprey, pelican, heron, crane, kingfishers); that feed on such creatures.
Species to add to lists, and to describe as necessary:
‘Marsh Mongoose’ (‘Marsh groundstalker’? ‘Marshstalker’?); wetland-favouring Rodent species; a species of Goose that spends part of the year here but longer in a larger area of such terrain on the continent’s northern side instead; at least one local species of Kingfisher; a large Monitor Lizard; a fairly large [non-venomous] Snake; a species of Frog that (like some RL Amphibia) may spend the dry season “sleeping” within the dried-out mud; a species of Lungfish, which (again, like some RL relatives) may also spend the dry season dormant; Dragonflies.
The Big Swamp
Two of the main rivers that drain the interior plains join forces before their combined waters enter the coastal forest. The area where they merge is located “behind” a ridge of harder rock, through which the resultant river has cut a gorge and the western edge of which it descends in a series of waterfalls, and is normally quite marshy except in the driest of ‘dry seasons’. During the ‘rainy season’ the waters normally rise to form a temporary swamp, markedly wider that the marsh itself, with islands of higher ground. This attracts large numbers of herbivores to feed on the lush growth around its edges, and relatively large numbers of carnivores as well to feed on those herbivores. There is also a seasonal surge in the local populations of amphibians, fish, and aquatic invertebrates, which attracts members of various other species (e.g. osprey, pelican, heron, crane, kingfishers); that feed on such creatures.
Species to add to lists, and to describe as necessary:
‘Marsh Mongoose’ (‘Marsh groundstalker’? ‘Marshstalker’?); wetland-favouring Rodent species; a species of Goose that spends part of the year here but longer in a larger area of such terrain on the continent’s northern side instead; at least one local species of Kingfisher; a large Monitor Lizard; a fairly large [non-venomous] Snake; a species of Frog that (like some RL Amphibia) may spend the dry season “sleeping” within the dried-out mud; a species of Lungfish, which (again, like some RL relatives) may also spend the dry season dormant; Dragonflies.