 | Here is a feast of news from Coquette Point as we catch up the last five weeks.... Mar 3 2012 Hello from sunny Coquette Point, Another week and still no monsoon. However, we have been having more than enough rain from all sorts of other systems. We can do without the monsoon and its cyclones. My dear friends Santina Lizzio and Jacque Grima came over for a cuppa this week and we went down to the river looking for crocodiles: what else would a few old girls do on a sunny afternoon. All our chattering disturbed Charlene but Jackie and Santina had fun comparing their shoe sizes with Charlene’s footprints. Charlene’s shadow was someway in the water off the beach. |
The black cockatoos are back and they fly over the nursery every morning about eight o’clock. Jan from Innisfail Central School told me the cockatoos move into the large trees at the school every morning about six AM, then they fly to Warrina before heading for the coast. The Beach Almond, Terminalia catappa, their favourite fruits, are ripe and they are having a feast. So far there are only a dozen black cockatoos in the flock: well down from the thirty birds that were here last year.
 Flock of black cockatoos |  Cockatoos in beach almond tree |  Beach almond fruit |
 | I was delighted to find the praying mantis have hatched and many have moved onto my roses in the nursery. These amazing baby insects, no bigger than a green ant, are cleaning up the aphids on the roses. |
The Northern jewelled spiders have spun their webs strategically around the nursery and are catching a wide range of insects. The female (right) ate a stingless bee that accidentally flew into her nest as I watched. I managed to get a video of her eating it. |  |
 | Sadly the male St Andrew’s spider has disappeared. I think he may have got a little to amorous and was eaten by the female. She is looking very smug alone on her web. |
Birdwing caterpillars have hatched and are busy eating their host plant Aristolochia tagla. Meanwhile female birdwings, guarded by the male, are laying more eggs.
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 |  The Major Skink babies are growing quickly. One skink sleeps on the EFT machine and can be found there every morning. The light from the machine would attract insects and it is obliviously enjoying the warmth of the machine. Cheers for now, Yvonne C. |
