Mission Beach Cassowaries
  • ABOUT CASSOWARIES
    • Cassowary ID and tracking >
      • Sightings maps
    • World Cassowary Day 2015
  • NEWS
  • Information
    • Developments
    • Thorsborne Trail NOT FOR SALE >
      • MARGARET 'T' AO 1927-2018
    • Walking tracks
    • Birding
    • Lot 66/Garrett Corridor
    • Publications
    • Mission Beach Naturally >
      • Community Identity
    • Heritage
  • Photo Gallery
    • Fauna >
      • Cassowary
      • Birds
      • Mammals
      • Reptiles
    • Flora >
      • Flowers
      • Plants and trees
      • Fungi
    • Scenic
  • Contact
    • Privacy policy
  • Mission Beach Cassowaries

News from Coquette Point / Nov 5

28/11/2011

 
Picture
Hi All,

Last night the heavy dew turned to drizzle and continued all day until a welcome storm with lots of thunder cleared the sticky air this afternoon. The frogs are in their element and every drainpipe and toilet bowl is resounding with a chorus of frog-croaks.
 
This morning all the ponds were covered in white frothy frog eggs. You can feel the pulse of the wet- season starting.

I was silly enough to leave a fluorescent light on in the kitchen on Thursday night and had an invasion of insects from the forest. In the morning I swept up two litres of insects. Perhaps that was why the frogs were so happy.

Life in the rainforest is abundant
Dragon-fly numbers have dramatically increased along with their food supply, mosquitoes. Beautifully coloured moths are laying eggs that will hatch out into plant eating machines. Life in the rainforest is abundant.

Mangrove crabs


The mangrove crabs were out and about in the rain and even venturing into the dampness of the nursery shed and along the road.

Picture



Jessie the matriarch cassowary disturbed the crocodiles and they slid back into the water leaving their tell-tale slide-marks on the beach.

Yesterday I heard a persistent drumming coming from the forest. Old man kookaburra was sitting on a dead tree branch hitting the wood with his beak. Perhaps he was trying to flush out a creature from the hollow inside or maybe he was trying to create a nest hole.  The banging continued for almost an hour. He was at it again today on another tree but without any sign of achievement. 
Picture
For almost a month now the cassowaries have been behaving secretly. The food has been taken from the feed stations but over the last month I have only seen them a few times. It all changed this week ‘secret cassowary business’ is over and they are back out and about again and very hungry.

I was getting a bit lax and not visiting the feed stations until after 6am. I was sprung on Monday morning and my tardiness was met with a hungry cassowary ‘Big Sis’ appearing as I was carrying the bucket of food to the station. Oh well one of these days I will get to sleep-in again now it is back to 4.30am starts.

I had hoped that the forest was at last able to supply the food that the cassowaries need. However, I ventured into the forest a little way and found no food on the forest floor.
Picture
The cassowaries being the ever resilient creatures that they are have found my vegetable garden. 

I caught cassowary sub-adult ‘Don’ eating my tomatoes and I found a paw-paw tree knocked down and the green fruit half eaten.  Not far away matriarch ‘Jessie’ was standing and looking innocent.  Did I complain about the pigs eating my vegetables?!!!!!!!!!!!!
Picture



‘Q’ came right into the nursery to eat fox-tail palm seeds. It is most unusual for the cassowaries to come into the nursery.

Four Corners  Monday night 7 Nov covered a story on Port developments along the Queensland coast, including Gladstone. Apparently over the next five years we will see a tenfold increase in shipping traffic within the Great Barrier Reef.

Picture
The shark (left)showing red-spot disease was washed up on the Coquette Point beach early this year. 

Cheers for now,

Yvonne C.


Picture




Hey Yvonne that shark pic brought back memories of our walk and here are some pics that show the red “Rash” on the shark.

What was strange was that it appeared to be in perfect health and sharks are extremely resistant to diseases generally.!


PMangrove dieback at Coquette point
That day you showed us the mangrove dieback at Coquette Point as well.
 

Cheers Russ



Comments are closed.
    Mission Beach Cassowaries facebook page
    Follow the lives of individual cassowaries on facebook

    Picture
    Friends of Ninney Rise
    Ninney Rise
    - the inspiring
     conservation history of Mission Beach



    Archives

    September 2023
    May 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    January 2021
    December 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    November 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Categories

    All
    Ash
    Birds
    Boat Bay
    Bush Tucker
    Butterflies
    Cassowaries
    Cassowary Coast
    Cca
    Coquette Point
    Cowley Beach
    Crocodiles
    Cyclones
    Cyclone Yasi
    Development
    Flowers
    Flying Foxes
    Frogs
    Fungi
    Insects
    Johnstone River
    Little Terns Nesting
    Mahogany Glider
    Mangrove Dieback
    Marine
    Mission Beach
    Port Hinchinbrook
    Rainforest Fruit
    Sediment Runnoff
    Snakes
    Spiders
    Threats
    Tourism
    Tully Heads
    Turtles
    Wildwatch
    W P S Q Tully Branch


© All content on this website (except where otherwise stated) is copyright Mission Beach Cassowaries All Rights Reserved If copying or publishing  content or information from this site please credit and link to Mission Beach Cassowaries Inc. website Except where otherwise credited, all photos on this website are copyright and must have permission to reproduce