RAINING CATS AND DOGS , CANE TOADS , CURLEWS AND PUMICE

Curlew rain dance .

As  this  was   being written , a  bedraggled , rain-drenched  Curlew  was  standing at the  front  door of  the den, obviously intent  on coming in ; later it did , walked in, had a good  look  about, then strolled out  into the  tempest. On  another wet  day, one of the Little Darwin resident  backyard  Curlews  walked  right  in , inspected  the books in  the  enclosed  front  verandah , which bears  the impressive title,  Judy's Salon.

 

The  welcome rain  and high tides  in  recent weeks  has resulted  in  interesting observations and  many photographic  subjects .

Low  cloud across Cleveland  Bay  is  looking  like  erupting  geysers  from  the  Bay of Plenty volcanic region  in  New Zealand . 

 

Close to 200mm  of rain  has fallen in the  past 24 hours  and during the night the Curlew chicks were  seen  darting about in the  deluge , occasionally  taking shelter  under their  mother, who sat  out  in  the  open  like a glistening  Christmas  pudding .

At 2am, cascading  runoff  near sheltering  resident  ghost .   

Down at Horseshoe  Bay , a family interested in  wildlife protection  caught nearly 200  cane  toads , which  kill so  many  native creatures ,  in  a  billabong  and put them in  the  freezer . Large numbers of flying ants were  brought out by the  rain.   Last night , a Barking Owl , a threat to young   Curlews, was   heard  in the  distance.  

 

 

At popular  Alma Bay , mentioned  in  an article about Magnetic Island  by   novelist  Romy Ash  in  the latest edition of the Saturday Paper ,  the  runoff  from rain and  high tides produced  these  early morning  views of  the   beach  and  sea  with  vast  amounts of  pumice visible  in  the flotsam  , said  to  have been  from  volcanic activity  in  the  Solomons  years  ago .