Litchfield National Park

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There is still plenty of water going over Florence Falls.

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The Grevllea pteridifolia is in flower and attracts insects to the feast.
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Many flowers such as this Water Lilly Nymphaea vioacea support a host of insects such as this native bee and grasshopper.
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The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita perches low enough on the tree to feed on the grass seeds which are out of reach from the ground.
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A Nine Month Investigation

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About nine months ago during my first visit to the vine forest and as I was extricating myself from the stinging barbs of a vine, I caught a glimpse of a startled bird as it darted away. What was striking was the white bars on its greyish wings. I thought that it would be easy to identify but how wrong I was. A month ago I caught another glimpse of the greyish bird with the sergeant’s stripe on its wing. I was beginning to think that I was imagining the bird.
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For the past two days I have been walking a new route to take some pics of a flowering gum tree and I am amazed to see a pair of these birds catching insects over a small billabong. After some patient watching, it turns out these birds are Dollar Birds Eurystomus orientalis which I have often seen perched on a branch, but never in flight.
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What a beautiful sight they are in flight. One moment they can seem a dull grey but then turn into a turquoise blue with an emerald sheen. All the while showing off the light patch on their wing tips. Who would have guessed!
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To see some amazing pics of Dollar Birds go to:
[http://www.flickr.com/photos/mendistan/472234722]

A Time Of Plenty

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The woodlands are full of shrieking Red-collared Lorikeet, Trichoglossus rubritorquis feeding on the flowering Broad Leaf Box Eucalyptus oligantha Schauer.
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The Wet Winds Down

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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.
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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.

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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]

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BOX JELLY FISH

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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.

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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

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The Weeping Paperbark Melaleuca leucadendra are just starting to flower.
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The salt flats between the paperbarks and mangrove is awash with rainwater still seeping from the surrounds.
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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.
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As I approached the creek at high tide a Black-ringed Mangrove Sea Snake Hydrelaps darwiniensis was fishing just off the bank.
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Vines And Grasses Dominate

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