A Merry hello from sunny Coquette Point,
How lucky we are to have perfect conditions for a tropical Christmas this year. However Darwin may not be so lucky!
I received news from friends at El Arish this week, they received a wonderful Christmas surprise on December 19. The resident male cassowary which has been managing without official supplementary feed since cyclone ‘Yasi’ brought in three tiny chicks to show off. The event was reported to the Cassowary sighting web-site and within two days an official food station was established for them. I received a report today that Dad and chicks were fine and Dad was seen scratching the ground and unearthing insects and worms which the chicks were gobbling up.
How lucky we are to have perfect conditions for a tropical Christmas this year. However Darwin may not be so lucky!
I received news from friends at El Arish this week, they received a wonderful Christmas surprise on December 19. The resident male cassowary which has been managing without official supplementary feed since cyclone ‘Yasi’ brought in three tiny chicks to show off. The event was reported to the Cassowary sighting web-site and within two days an official food station was established for them. I received a report today that Dad and chicks were fine and Dad was seen scratching the ground and unearthing insects and worms which the chicks were gobbling up.
To date no new cassowary chicks have been seen at Coquette Point, however, ‘Dad 4’ and ‘Brown Cone’ have not been sighted for a few months so hopefully they are busy with chicks somewhere in the forest.
Cassowary ‘Big Sis’ turns two years old this week and her feathers are almost completely black now and her casque is growing quickly. ‘Big Sis’ is the first to attend the feeding station of a morning and has completely regained her agility after the accident that left her lame a month ago.
I have seen a lot of female Cairns birdwing butterflies this week. Many of them are very old and their wings are tattered with holes in them, however, it does not seem to impede their graceful flight. The female Cairns birdwing is twice the size of the male and hides her beauty underneath her wings.
Lots of strongly banded baby pink-tongued skink have hatched in the summer heat. They hide, in the shade of trees, under leaf litter and come out to sunbake late in the afternoon.
The last small stand of Lagerstroemia archeriana trees are in flower in the Ninds Creek wetlands. Not so many years ago there were hectares of these trees all blooming at this time of the year in this area: it was a sight. Now the sewerage farm and other developments have claimed the land and the trees have all but gone.
My French son-in-law wanted to see a crocodile in the wild so they went on a cruise to the Daintree. He told me he was very disappointed as no crocs showed up on the day. So I said to him if you really want to see a crocodile come with me and I will introduce you to Midget. We went for a short walk, 50metres, down to the beach and sure enough there was Midget right on cue. He not too sure about a mother in law that has crocodiles at her front door, but it will be a good conversation point for him when he goes home.
Russell and his Mum Jenny came over on Thursday and we all went for a walk around to the front beach. Russell had his GPS and mapped out the walk and points of interest.
We were very concerned that only two terns were seen on the spit ( beach far eastern end of map). No crested terns were seen however we did see a pair of pied oystercatchers feeding on the intertidal mudflats and Russell took a video of a pair of beach stone curlews catching soldier crabs he is putting it up on YouTube. A few of the soldier crabs have reached maturity and are displaying their tell-tale blue colour.
Strong winds that brought big seas onto the coast last week also brought in fresh sand. The midden which was uncovered a few weeks ago is now covered again and shells have been scattered.
We found the skull of a turtle and further along the beach a pelvis, thighbone and vertebrae.
We found the skull of a turtle and further along the beach a pelvis, thighbone and vertebrae.
On our return we noticed dog and foot prints near the rookery and saw only two terns fishing in the river. While we watched, the female flew down onto the sand and the male joined her offering her a fish. He did that repeatedly.
The tides have been low in the middle of the day this week allowing walking access to the spit and today a lot of people were around on the beach fishing. The people I spoke to were concerned for the little terns and could not understand why a sign had not been erected on the rookery.
We can but hope that the New Year will bring greater concern for the evermore compromised creatures of this planet.
My very best wishes to you for a merry and peaceful Christmas with your loved-ones.
Cheers for now,
Yvonne.
The tides have been low in the middle of the day this week allowing walking access to the spit and today a lot of people were around on the beach fishing. The people I spoke to were concerned for the little terns and could not understand why a sign had not been erected on the rookery.
We can but hope that the New Year will bring greater concern for the evermore compromised creatures of this planet.
My very best wishes to you for a merry and peaceful Christmas with your loved-ones.
Cheers for now,
Yvonne.
