Today I received this great story from my friend Liz Gallie. Her property at Bingil Bay is frequented by our endangered southern cassowaries. Liz regularly shares her observations with me I am sure you will agree that Liz’s cassowary photos are without equal.
Often when reading so many statistics relating to these amazing birds I worry they might become numbers on a page to me. When I get bogged down with the facts and figures (believe me a lot of the statistics aren’t very pretty) I sit down and have a coffee and think about Joov and other cassowaries Liz has shared with me in her emails and photos. I wonder how their day is going and what challenges they are facing but mostly I hope they are alive and well as with a total population of about 1200 birds every individual is vital if this species is to avoid extinction. Again thank you Liz and I invite you all to read about Joov the fringe dweller.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Indo-pacific dolphins sighted at Bramston Beach
Last Sunday I was keen on a beach walk. Perhaps I needed to thaw the cold that had crept into my bones during a recent visit to Victoria or maybe it was the perfect blue skies but the urge to visit salt water could not be ignored!
The tide was out and the ocean was very calm considering it was almost midday. As usual I scanned the ocean hoping to see a sea eagle or dolphin.
The tide was out and the ocean was very calm considering it was almost midday. As usual I scanned the ocean hoping to see a sea eagle or dolphin.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Sea Turtles - a poem by Matilda Bishop
Sea TurtlesSwimming slowly, in the sea
This is where sea turtles can be
Swimming straightly up and down
Swimming, blending, to the ground
Bunch of jellies, swim together
Lightly, lightly like a feather
There goes one, there goes two
Then scares another like saying 'boo'
This is where we find turtles in the sea
This is where they be
They would like to stay
on earth like you
So help these animals
stay here, too!!
Matilda Bishop aged 10, loves Ella Bay as well turtles!
Ellie Bock, President of the Cairns and Far North Environment Centre forwarded this poem for sharing on the Ella Bay blog.
The gorgeous watercolour of the splendid sea turtle is by Kimberley Payard, a Far North Queensland artist whose love affair with the sea goes as far back as she can remember. For nearly two decades, she has lived and worked on the Great Barrier Reef as an adventure diver and professional underwater photographer. Her website www.greatbarrierreef.net.au is dedicated to restoring the balance of nature on our planet.
Thank you ladies for sharing these wonderful expressions of our beloved marine life!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
King Ferns at Ella Bay
There are giants at Ella Bay!
They don’t eat small children or destroy whole villages and they’re no good at climbing beanstalks either.
These giants are botanical giants and of course I’m talking about the King Fern Angiopteris evecta. Satori’s environmental consultants have not mentioned this amazing plant once as it’s not a listed species in Queensland.
Jeff the entomologist and Angiopteris evecta
They don’t eat small children or destroy whole villages and they’re no good at climbing beanstalks either.
These giants are botanical giants and of course I’m talking about the King Fern Angiopteris evecta. Satori’s environmental consultants have not mentioned this amazing plant once as it’s not a listed species in Queensland.
Jeff the entomologist and Angiopteris evectaFriday, May 15, 2009
Ella Bay's Goshawk wins Award on "I and the Bird"
The special 100th edition of "I and the Bird" hosted by the superlative Nature Blog Network handed out many awards to a wide range of outstanding blog entries.
It was a great pleasure for the Ella Bay blog to win the "Best example of Raptor Reality" award for the post about Ella Bay's Goshawk!
Mike Bergin of 10000 birds put together this amazing post and he shared that "Once I began to process the torrential flood of posts from tonight’s stellar contributors, I nearly passed out. No seriously, it’s a good thing my wife is Red Cross certified."
Thank you Mike for featuring Ella Bay and its wonderful Goshawk in this very special edition of the carnival.
It was a great pleasure for the Ella Bay blog to win the "Best example of Raptor Reality" award for the post about Ella Bay's Goshawk!Mike Bergin of 10000 birds put together this amazing post and he shared that "Once I began to process the torrential flood of posts from tonight’s stellar contributors, I nearly passed out. No seriously, it’s a good thing my wife is Red Cross certified."
Thank you Mike for featuring Ella Bay and its wonderful Goshawk in this very special edition of the carnival.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Grey Goshawk: Ella Bay’s Deadly Forest Assassin
The Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae lives at Ella Bay.
This noble forest predator is listed as rare by the Nature Conservation Act although it may be found in every Australian state. It is not a huge bird, measuring from 40 to 55 cm long and weighing up to 680 grams (larger birds are females).
This noble forest predator is listed as rare by the Nature Conservation Act although it may be found in every Australian state. It is not a huge bird, measuring from 40 to 55 cm long and weighing up to 680 grams (larger birds are females).
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Ella Bay Mangroves
On the eastern side of the Ella Bay access road at the mouth of a creek you can find a beautiful small mangrove wetland.
It is so close to the road that gravel from the road washes down to the water’s edge.
It is so close to the road that gravel from the road washes down to the water’s edge.Sunday, May 3, 2009
A road to Cassowary extinction
There’s an access road between Ella Bay and Flying Fish Point that’s approximately 4 kilometres long. It’s not a wide road and much of it is single lane. It’s not a smooth road as most of it is unsealed. Most importantly it’s not a fast road as it has a speed limit of 40 km/hr as every metre of it is used by the endangered southern cassowary.
It’s a road I want to tell you about as it has the potential to kill off Ella Bay’s cassowaries to the point of local extinction.
Words cannot describe the beauty of this road in its present state so please forgive me if I am a bit heavy handed with my photographs.
It’s a road I want to tell you about as it has the potential to kill off Ella Bay’s cassowaries to the point of local extinction.Words cannot describe the beauty of this road in its present state so please forgive me if I am a bit heavy handed with my photographs.
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