Buffalo Creeking Again

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Walking through the quiet corridor between the mangrove and vine forest I came across the Caesalpinia bonduc seedpods. I recognised them as the seeds used by a local Great Bowerbird to line some of his bower. Not surprising when I read that the seeds remain vital for many years. The last thing you would want in your bower is rotting seeds.
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Caesalpinia bonduc
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I have also watched the Kapok Tree flower and now shed its bags of down like fibre which almost reminded me of the snow country the way the fluff collected on the floor beneath several of the trees.
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Kapok Tree Bombax ceiba var leicarpum
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I also saw swarms of elegant dragonflies.
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Slender Skimmer Orthetrum sabina
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Blue Skimmer Orthetrum caledonicum
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Dove Morning

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A cool morning hike around Buffalo Creek and plenty of leaf litter and flowering plants provided just the right ingredients for some of the shyer birds to poke their heads out long enough to get a picture.
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Emerald Ground Dove Chalcophaps indica
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Rose-crowned Fruit Dove Ptilinopus regina
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Yellow White-eye Zosterops lutea
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Walk In The Burnt Woodland

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A few birds seem to be making there way back into the burnt woodland and I am very happy to see the Dollar Bird again, but wonder where it will nest this year as its tree was burnt out. The White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike seems to enjoy the burnt offerings as I have seen them in the terees and on the ground since the day after the fire.
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Dollar Bird Eurystomus orientalis
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White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Coracina papuensis
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Walk Above Buffalo Creek

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The area has been burnt out recently but there is water and vegetation in parts. In the afternoon it was very quiet, but the vegetated areas were visited by a few seed eaters and amazingly a few honeyeaters. I found this surprising because I know the mangroves near the water are currently flowering.
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Rufous-banded Honeyeater Conopophilia albogularis
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Green Plum Buchanania obovata
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White-gaped Honeyeater Lichenostomus uniclor
eating a Cocky Apple Planchonia careya
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Crimson Finch Neochmia phaeton female
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Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus
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Masked Finch Poephila personata
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Radjah Shelduck Tadorna radjah
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Walk At Howard Springs

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Besides the hordes of mosquitoes, the walk at Howard Springs was a quiet and pleasant change from urban flux.
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Agile Wallaby Macropus agilis
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Agile Wallaby Macropus agilis
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Eucalyptus porrecta
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Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Microeca flavigaster
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Rainbow Pita Pitta iris

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Aftermath of the Woodland Fire

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After a huge area of Open Woodland has been devastated by fire, life just goes on. The Mangroves are just starting to come into bloom so it will be interesting to see if there is an increase in insect and bird activity. I noted more birds working the Paperbark Avenue which separates the Mangroves from the Open Woodland, but since it was immediately after the fire it might be temporary. It was in the Paperbarks that I saw what I believe is a White-throated Gerygone.
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White-throated Gerygone Gerygone olivacea
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River Mangrove Aegiceras corniculatum
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Holmes Jungle Insects

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Few insects were inside the cool dark woods. Most were in the grass near the Pandanus leaves or fallen Pandanus branches. I also noticed a sweet small associated with the Pandanus trees but I could not locate the source of the odor.
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Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans
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Long-tailed Duskdarter Zyxomma petiolatum
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Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia
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