'The tracking of Judith'   profiles a young female cassowary establishing its territory in the fragmented landscape of its essential habitat at Mission Beach. 

It was made possible by the community sharing information  which is being used to help protect the cassowary in our region. It helps identify individual cassowaries, their movement in the landscape, where they cross roads etc. 

Check out 'Judith's  story and lots of other information about the cassowaries and the identification  project. 

Thank you everyone for your contributions that make this  project possible.  More here.

See Boat Bay campaign blog

Today I had the great pleasure to meet Iain McCalman, acclaimed historian and author of recently published 'The Reef, a Passionate History'.

Friends of Ninney Rise (FoNR) members, Tony O'Malley (Terrain), Peter Rowles (C4) and myself representing (CCA) were invited to meet Iain who was in town as a guest of Mission Beach Tourism (also a member of FoNR) to discuss the Turning of the Tide project.

Queensland heritage listed Ninney Rise, John Busst's home, was bequeathed to the Qld government on the understanding it would be  conserved as National Park, but it was never gazetted.

On  Friday (15 Nov) Mission Beach Cassowaries (MBC ) attended part of a Cassowary road crossing trials field trip to discuss potential solutions to reduce cassowary deaths at locations where regular road deaths have been documented.

Present were representatives of CCRC, JCU, WTMA, Terrain and MBC.

'Joov' and 'Cyril'(ina) have got together as a cassowary couple this season. It is a big story because 'Cyril' is a four year old female who, it seems, has replaced a very aged bird, 'Barbara', well known to the  Bingil Bay/Garners Beach  community.
'Barbara' is one of Mrs Freda Jorrisen's birds. That means she is almost 50 years old. 

'Barbara' has been the mate of 'Joov' for the last three years and Joov, this year, as an 8 year old, has for the first time successfully raised a chick. (Larry)

Hello from sunny Coquette Point,

The suspense leading up to the solar eclipse on the 14/11/12 could have been written by Alfred Hitchcock. Dark clouds gathered on the days before the event and the weather gurus held very little hope that we, on the far northern coast, would have clear skies to see the sun. Thousands left the coast and travelled hundreds of miles inland to find clear skies.  However, that was no excuse for us to miss out on a neighbourhood get together and breakfast-party.

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WILDWATCH: by ANNE WILKINSON

I was delighted when I walked into Tully library the other day to find an excellent flyer displayed near the door for anyone to pick up.

Called “Protecting the little terns of the Cassowary Coast” it has been produced jointly by CCRC, the Federal Government, the Queensland Government and Reef Guardian Council. Apart from being an interesting document in its own right, it gives a fascinating glimpse into the lives of these tiny, endangered seabirds. Reading it, one can almost smell the sea and the beach.

Hello from Jungguy country,

Coastal wetlands are some of the most threatened habitats on the planet. The Melaleuca leucadendren swamps of Coquette Point are included in the World Heritage Wet Tropics and extended from the mouth of the Johnstone River to the Moresby Range, an area three kilometres long by ½ kilometre wide.

This swamp is a major fish spawning habitat and consists of large deep lagoons and shallow swamps of melaleuca, pandanus and tidal mangrove: this is the Johnstone River’s ‘everglades’.