The Wet Season

While rain has been intermittent, it certainly feels like the wet season in Daintree.
Warm, humid and with the ever-present feeling of 'it's going to rain soon'. 380mm in January, so a gentle start to the year. We have just returned from Western Australia where it was 42 degrees every day (dry, dry heat), so it's nice to be home.
A real treat in the garden at Red Mill House yesterday while pruning - a beautiful, huge Northern Barred Frog  (Mixophyes schevilli). Note the barring on the legs and the fully webbed toes. It is an adult man's hand that it is sitting on, so - rather large!

Northern Barred Frog

 Another treat for the week is the continued presence of the Spotted Whistling Ducks ( a Philippines/PNG species) of which a group of 11 or so have been frequenting local ponds and dams and waterways over the past few months. Every time you think they have gone, they re-appear.
A terrible photo I know, but at least I know I have seen them!

Spotted Whistling Duck

Pied Monarch in the garden today, and Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher still busy along Stewart Creek Rd. Lots of Channel-billed Cuckoos and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots this year.