Hello All
Yes, I'm still alive. However the computer died and when resurrected,
died again. This has continued for the last month and I'm still having
problems! It seems to happen every year, as soon as the humidity rises.
However in spite of computer problems and the hot, sweaty nights this is
my favourite season (Kuninjku people and others call it Gunumeleng, the
time of storms). Many birds are breeding now. A Yellow Oriole is
nesting outside my bedroom window and Orange-footed Scrubfowl are
gurgling away all night, Rainbow Pitta and Rose-crowned Fruit-dove are
calling at East Point and elsewhere, Mangrove Golden Whistler is singing
happily in the monsoon vine-thickets along the Adelaide River, Banded
Fruit-dove are easy to see at Nourlangie Rock. And of course migrant and
some vagrants are turning up as well.
Reptiles are also on the move at this time of year. Rainbow Skinks
(Carlia sp) are beginning to shed their drab colours, Ctenotus sp and
Wall Skinks, Burton's Snake-lizard, Frilled Lizard and Northern Water
Dragon are active as are Mulga Snake (found a nice one at Fogg Dam
recently). Water Pythons breed a little earlier but for snake-lovers
they are out and about as are Olive Pythons. Plants are flowering and
some are fruiting, most notably Red Apple (Mandjurrdark in Kuninjku) and
other Syzygiums and Green Plum. The white long-stamened blossoms of
Cocky Apple (Planchonia careya) are evident along the roadsides.
Denise Goodfellow
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