BLACK MANGROVE SPROUTS

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According to Diana Maikut, the flowers of the black mangrove Avicennia germinans produce a fruit resembling a lima bean which functions as its propagule. Propagules of the black mangrove detach from the parent tree upon ripening and may float in salt water for approximately one year without rooting.
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There were thousands of these propagules on the incoming tide so I suspect that the fruiting cycle has been completed in the last few days at Buffalo Creek.
[http://jrscience.wcp.muohio.edu/fieldcourses04/PapersMarineEcologyArticles/EcologyofMangroves.html]
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Daily Dose

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We are getting rain every day and sunshine every day. Yesterday on my town ride, the sun was shinning in Nightcliff while pouring down rain at Lee Point. Along the ride I encountered Galahs Cacatua roseicapilla eating off the ground. They are so concentrated in certain areas that they are becoming a traffic hazard.
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The Swamp bloodwood Eucalyptus ptychocarpa are in bloom and the pink flowers are highly visible.
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The Beauty Leaf Calophyllum inophyllum is also just starting to bloom. The Beauty leaf has a fantastic scent and seems to be protected by the usual every watchful green ants.
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The Broad-leaved Paperbark Melaleuca viridiflora are also flowering. I find it amazing that the same species of paperbark flower at the same time throughout the region, yet each of the different species of paperbark flower at different times to each other.
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Feather Star Graveyard

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I went for a walk on the beach and there were literally thousands of dead Feather Stars also known as Crinoids. There is a lot of sand suspended in the water and the westerlies have been blowing steadily at around 20 knots for a week non stop. There has been a lot of rain around 215 mm for the last half of December. Still It looks like a mass suicide.
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Catfish Frenzy

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Lee Point is currently experiencing westerly winds and lots of fresh water from all the run off. As a result, I keep seeing sharks foraging close to shore. After catching several Fork-tailed Catfish Arius sp. and one with three different small shark bites, I understand why I see the sharks patrolling the surf line.
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I also caught and released a Shovel-nose Ray Rhinobatos typus. I am not sure what these cat fish and rays are feeding on but they are attracted to the wave action which is certainly having an effect on the sandy bottom. At low tide the beach is no longer smooth and flat but full of troughs and pot holes for lack of a a more descriptive picture.
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One type of ray which looks like an Eagle Ray Aetobatus narinari is actually surfing the waves as it catches bait fish.
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The Westerlies Have Returned

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The westerlies have returned and turned the beach into a surf zone if your game. The sun is back, the mozzies have been snapped up by the Bee-eater Merops apiaster whose snapping noise is a most welcome sound, as I figure one more mosquito has bitten the bullet.
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FFI saw a pair of Emerald Dove Chalcophaps indica in the vine forest as fruit is everywhere although the pair I saw seems to prefer the ground.
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I caught a small Lemon shark Negaprion brevirostris off the beach in the surf zone. I was surprised to see many small sharks working in close to the beach & in such rough conditions.
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While I was fishing off of the beach a very large Caspian Tern Sterna caspia was also fishing. This bird was an excellent diver as well as hovering effortlessly when lining up a target.

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Tropical Cyclone Billy

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Tropical Cyclone Billy passed by and we have had 173 mm of rain. For the last two days, westerly winds have made kayaking impossible.

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Purple Yam

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When I first saw the distinctive Gardenia megasperma I was then surprised at just how many grew in the woodlands. Without their showy white flower they are easily just part of a green mosaic background. The same has happened with the yam vine.

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The yam Ipomoea abrupta has a very beautiful purple flower
that is impossible to miss.
Now that they are coming into bloom they are every where.
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