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

News from Coquette Point

18/9/2011

 
Matriach Jessie

Hello from Coquette Point Cassowary Country (3C)! 

Jessie, the matriarch cassowary returned this week.   I photographed her on the 13th of August, as she went off with the male bird.  I have now established it was Dad 4. Dad 4 has not been sighted since that time. On her return Jessie looked very thin and I found her at the Eastern feed station Wednesday morning at 6.30am.  


I noticed the food in the feed stations was disappearing very quickly and I saw Jessie again on Thursday at the western feed station and she was visibly in much better condition. 
Picture
Later Thursday morning I saw her looking at the food in the pig cage.
Suckling pigs


I have had the cage set for the last week as I am after six suckling pigs that are on the roam around the nursery. The design of my pig cage is such that the cassowaries cannot enter. There was a horrible incidence of a cassowary ripping off its casque in a pig cage at Garners Beach.

The cage had a trip action door.

Picture


‘Big Sis’ has returned after an absence of six weeks and is now showing a developing casque.







Her first scat on return showed a good assortment of rainforest seed and pandanus fruit.





‘Big Sis’ dominates ‘Little Runt’ and Dad 4’s chicks but ‘Jessie’ soon put her in place and showed who was the boss. 







On Wednesday Dad’s chicks separated and they have been walking alone and a little lost all week. The older cassowaries chase them but they are still managing to get some feed from the stations almost every day.


Picture


A ‘pod’ of multihulls sailed into the Johnstone River on the high-tide Tuesday morning. I was delighted to catch up with Rod Watts and his wife Alilah on his new  17m cat ‘Majic’ It has been 20 years since I last saw Rod. Joining them in anchoring off the beach were Jeff and Carol on the ‘Nardu’.  We all enjoyed a couple of days of storytelling. Rod and Alilah have no plans they are just going where the wind directs. However, Jeff and Carol will be returning south within the month.

Both skippers reported large algae blooms starting north of the Whitsundays. The blooms are about five kilometres out from the coast they are around a kilometres wide, four kilometres long and ½ metre deep. They sailed through four of these algae blooms. Rod who sailed these waters over 20 years ago said he has never seen algae so thick.  

We all went for a walk around to the front beach looking for ‘Little Terns’ and ‘Soldier Crabs’ but the terns have not arrived as yet and the soldier crabs have not emerged. However Rod mentioned that in the Whitsundays and at Townsville the soldier crabs had emerged. 

We were delighted at the antics of a group of sanderling as they fed in the sand on the ocean front.

Lots of ‘spring frolics’ happening at Coquette Point. Two black cockatoos have been displaying their regard for each other with noisy acrobatics in the terminalia tree. The nutmeg pigeons are cooeeing and looking as if they are ready to build a nest and the buff-banded rail has laid eggs in the reeds around the nursery sediment pond.
Spring frolics
However, the week wasn’t all bird watching as my next door neighbour’s cows got out on Wednesday. Dee and John had gone to Cairns and somehow the cattle gate was opened! 
Picture
Thanks to Mathew and his father who are building the new house at the top of the range, we got the cows back in safely behind the fence. Luckily for me Mathew and his Dad were old cow-handlers and when the animals bolted they got them back in line quick smart. Many BIG thanks Mathew. Hungry cows in the nursery a little worse than pigs I think.

 Cheers for now Yvonne C.


Picture
Click on image  to enlarge this wonderful photo of a rainbow lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) on a bottle brush tree sent in by Bill Farnsworth.

Thanks Bill and Yvonne for these wonderful updates.


Liz

Sandal Hayes
18/9/2011 07:16:16 am

Thank you Yvonne for your fascinating insight into the world at Coquette Point, long may it continue. Your photos illustrating the stories are terrific and Bill's pic a gem!

Rod and Alilah Watts
18/9/2011 11:59:02 pm

Thankyou for a memorable 2 days we could spend with you. You such a phenomenal woman in the things you do, no wonder you left such a impression on Rod that he was looking forward making contact with you again after such a long time ! A couple of days in my life will leave me with a memory forever. Thank you again for looking after our beautiful animals and our environment.

Lotsa luv
Rod and Alilah


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

    Lot 66
    a Mission Beach buyback success story
     


    Picture
    Russell Constable's blog is packed full of information about Ella Bay and region

    Archives

    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