The Wet Winds Down

FF
This strange jellyfish was floating/swimming in the shallows at Lee Point. I expected to see box jelly fish and instead saw this amazing disk. After a lot of research I think it might be a jelly fish in the Order of Rhizostomatida. Detailed info on the marine world of the Arafura Sea seems to be limited to commercial interests and therefore is not located on the public domain.
FF

FF
I was lucky enough to see a small flock of Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis Subspecies:albipennis, comprising two adult birds and three offspring. They were eating insects and upon a close encounter noticed the blue around the eyes. The juveniles had a more greenish eye colouring.

FF

FF
It is found in north Queensland, west though the Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory and across into the top of Western Australia, with white on the wings and a discontinuous stripe on the nape. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomyzon]


The Blue-faced Honeyeater is one of the first birds heard calling in the morning, often calling 30 minutes before sunrise.[http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/finder/display.cfm?id=154]

FF

BOX JELLY FISH

FF

Today, even though the sea was still very rough, I saw three box jelly fish Chironex fleckeri floating in on the incoming tide. This is very surprising! Since 1977 when I first visited this coastal area, I have never seen box jelly fish during rough, wavy conditions.

FF

All were still alive and instead of looking transparent their gonads where enlarged about the size of table grapes which filled the entire bell shaped body. Reading about their reproduction it seems that the female produces eggs, so perhaps these were the eggs. [http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Chiropsalmus_quadrigatus.html]

Woodlands Wetlands

FF
The Weeping Paperbark Melaleuca leucadendra are just starting to flower.
FF

FF
The salt flats between the paperbarks and mangrove is awash with rainwater still seeping from the surrounds.
ff
FF
Anywhere there is running water small juvenile fish are in abundance. The water has little tidal movement at the moment and I wonder because of their size if they are not just waiting for a set of spring tides to set them free.
FF
FF
As I approached the creek at high tide a Black-ringed Mangrove Sea Snake Hydrelaps darwiniensis was fishing just off the bank.
FF

FF

Vines And Grasses Dominate

FF
The monsoons and westerlies dominate and it seems the grasses and the vines in the woodland are taking over. Every tree has been seconded as a support for some type of wild yam and the grasses betray every movement of the wind as it gusts between lulls in the squalls.
FF

FF
On my walk into the mangroves I found the black mangrove Avicennia germinans still producing the seed pods or propagules. It appears that it is the rainfall which washes the propagules into the river as these trees were a long distance from the creek.
FF
FF
The Broad-leaved Paperbark Melaleuca viridiflora has newly formed, delicate, soft leaves which are a complete contrast to the older, waxy, rough leaves that must survive the long hot dry season.
FF
FF
The billy goat plums Terminalia ferdinandiana have been on the tree for a couple of months. Its hard to believe these fruits are so high in vitamin C.
FF

FF
Still green these wild passion fruit Passiflora foetida will turn orange soon and they never seem to be around for long.
FF

FF

BLACK MANGROVE SPROUTS

FF
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.
FF

FF
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]
FF

FF

Daily Dose

FF
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.
FF

FF
The Swamp bloodwood Eucalyptus ptychocarpa are in bloom and the pink flowers are highly visible.
FF

FF
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.
FF

FF
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.
FF

FF

Feather Star Graveyard

FF
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.
FF