News from Coquette Point

Hello from Coquette Point,

At long last Cassowary matriarch ‘Jessie’ has succumbed to the wooing of ‘Snout’.  For the last six weeks ‘Snout’ has been displaying and preening his feathers, vocalizing with low, low drumming  sounds while doing his best to approach ‘Jessie’. Until Monday his attentions had been rejected and  always ended with an aggressive chase.

On Monday afternoon ‘Snout’ was standing in the nursery looking at ‘Plastic Cas’ when ‘Jessie’ turned up. She looked kindly at him and after 10 minutes or so they started the courtship-walk.

They walked through the nursery and up the hill.  ‘Snout’ entered the rainforest and ‘Jessie’ followed. I followed behind for as far as I could go, however, due to cyclone debris and the approach of nightfall  I thought it better to leave them to their privacy.

This is ‘Jessie’s’ second courtship this year. Her first mate ‘Little Dad’ has not been seen for two months and we wait his reappearance and hopefully with chicks.

‘Jessie’ has been the matriarch cassowary at Coquette Point for the last 20 years. ‘Jessie’ was born in the winter months of 1985.  During cyclone ‘Winifred’, February 1986, she was separated from her father. ‘Jessie’ was cared for by the residents of Coquette Point and with the help of the Nation Park ranger at the time, Dave Bender. We called the chick ‘Little Orphan’ and were delighted to see it grow into  the matriarch ‘Jessie’ also known as ‘Faith’

‘Snout’s’ father was ‘Jimmy’. ‘Jimmy’ was easy to identify as he had a crack through his casque: he was a very good parent. Unfortunately ‘Jimmy’ was relocated by National Parks and Wildlife Service after cyclone ‘Larry’.  At the time it was the policy of the NPWS to relocate the cassowaries rather than implement a supplementary feeding programme.

‘Jimmy’ with‘ chick ‘Snout’ 1988.

‘Snout’ today.

All the birds that were relocated were fitted with tracking devises and  I am led to believe that none of them survived. Certainly none of the four adult birds that were taken from Coquette Point ever returned to Coquette Point. Fortunately that policy was not followed after TC ‘Larry’ and the local NPWS, have done and are still doing, an amazing job in providing supplementary feeding for the cassowaries affected by TC ‘Yasi’.

Two Jabirus turned up this week and are resident in the proposed Sea Haven development area.  Unfortunately they settled down into long grass before I managed to get focus on the camera.

Yellow robyn

Rainbow bee eater

yellow- eyed cuckoo shrike

Yellow Robin can be heard busily harvesting insects from within the tree tops, it seldom stops to rest and continuously calls an urgent note as it fly’s from tree to tree.

A flock of about 20  yellow-eyed cuckoo shrikes are feeding on insects in the canopy and fly in air-raid like conveys, then descend to feed on the insects they disturb.

Rainbow bee-eaters have returned and are also feeding on the insects that are active in the unseasonal warm, humid weather.

Moths that would normally be seen in spring are hatching in this warm spell and are busy laying eggs for the next generation. One can but be amazed at the complexity of the patterns and colours on their wings. This amazing little creature persists, with so many forms, in spite of the attempts to eliminate it because it causes so much grief to human gardeners: albeit  in its caterpillar life-stage.

I hope to be doing a bit of sailing in the months ahead. A friend of mine Peter has left his 23ft cutter for me to look after. Peter who lives on the Atherton Tablelands is a keen sailor and he intends to spend some time sailing around the Islands, with me as crew I hope. Peter was very grateful to Karl and Lyle for giving him a hand to bring the boat down to the coast.re to edit.

Before I go a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AUNTIE WHICH TURNS 80 TOMORROW.  Anybody who has travelled knows how lucky we are in Australia to have the ABC and the wonderful team who bring us so much entertainment, news and knowledge.

A big thank you to all at the ABC and a sad reminder that Alan Saunders, who gave us so much joy, died this month.

Yvonne (Glady).