Category Archives: Reptiles

Unexpected Encounters

Posted on 15 January, 2023 by | 2 comments

During a quiet read after lunch I was vaguely aware of a scrabbling sound coming from the other end of the house. Being deeply engrossed in my book it took quite a few seconds to realize that it couldn’t be a branch scraping against the house as we keep our house clear of vegetation. As I went to investigate I met a youngish Lace Monitor coming along the passageway. I spoke to it in a quiet voice suggesting it would be best if it returned from whence it came and so it turned around heading back into the guest room. As it had been a fresh breezy day I had earlier opened the sliding glass door, leaving the screen door in place but it’s a bit loose in its track and easily pushed to one side – I imagine that entry was gained by accident but who knows?

Lace Monitor (Varanus varius) looking out the window quite calmly.

I took this photo while lying across the bed so I could get into a suitable position without being too close. I didn’t want to cause panic as I had no wish to find out what those claws would do to my skin! I was simply delighted at such a close encounter – it didn’t take very long for the monitor to see the opening and so my unexpected guest was soon back into the safety of the garden.

Heading back out into the garden.

Last October we had a much smaller version of the above which I think gained access through ill-fitting louvres. As we often have skinks coming into the house at first I presumed the movement in my peripheral vision was that of a skink but the moment I looked properly it was obvious it was a very young monitor. Luckily I managed to catch it quite quickly as trying to move across the tiled floor was making it panic.

Such perfection – a rare treat to be able to look so closely and take a quick photo. Pity I didn’t think to remove the foot fluff before taking the photo; evidence of an inside excursion!

We also have unexpected appearances from plants which have quietly established themselves and then announce their presence with some lovely flowers. I noticed these flowers when I was working on weed eradication nearby so I took some time to enjoy them.

Dioclea hexandra is quite a rare climber in this region

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Posted in Daintree Plants, Reptiles, Restoration Rewards

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Taking time to enjoy the moment

Posted on 8 September, 2022 by | 3 comments

For the last couple of months I’ve been gradually working my way around our house, cleaning and painting whenever the weather has been fine and sunny. I’m now onto the final wall which just happens to have been the most tedious to prepare and so I’ve been more easily distracted than usual from the work in hand. Listening to loud calls of a Great-billed Heron a couple of days ago gave me a great excuse to down tools and head to the bird hide. Not a water-bird in sight, but just as I was about to leave I noticed our resident crocodile, Betty, was slowly swimming around the pond. She provided a perfect excuse to indulge in a few peaceful minutes of observation until she hid behind some water chestnut.

Native stingless bees have established nests, or attempted to, in many places on our concrete block house. Green Ants use the house as a highway, spiders make webs and occasionally Sunbirds make nests. A Black Butcherbird regularly patrols the verandah looking for frogs and baby birds so the populations are kept in balance. Sometimes I think the Butcherbird might be taking more than his share but the frogs are still around, they have just got better at hiding! Anyway, back to the cleaning which disturbed the Green Ants and then the bees got nervous and suddenly there was a cloud of upset bees and some brutal murders taking place on the wall.

An interesting star pattern of ants but a rather gruesome end for the poor little stingless bee.

Another creature to suffer disturbance from my activities along the wall was this delicate and very striking Humped Silver Orb-weaver. When I first noticed it there was no web (I suspect I had blundered into it, intent on my cleaning work), and it was running up and down a single strand of web. I managed a couple of photos when it had a rest on the wall.

Leucauge dromedaria – Humped Silver Orb-weaver

Yesterday the spider had rebuilt its web but unfortunately the victims of its sticky strands were native bees – they have certainly been having a tough time here.

In the family Tetragnathidae (Long-jawed spiders) the Humped Silver Orb-weaver is found in parks and gardens from north Qld all the way south to Tasmania.
The afternoon light shows the delicate web and highlights the spider’s light green legs.

And the day I saw Betty I did return to the hide with a camera after lunch just in time to see her emerged from the water onto the bund wall to bask in the sun. It was such a treat to be able to see her out of the water, they are amazing creatures and deserve to be treated with respect for many different reasons.

Out of ‘Graham’s Pond’ and resting on the bund wall in the sun.
I find it particularly interesting to watch her move – trying to maximize her sun exposure then having to open her mouth to cool down a bit. In this side view it’s just possible to see some of the unique markings along the tail.

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Posted in Arachnids, Reptiles, Spiders, Spiders

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Hard Rains ……

Posted on 11 January, 2022 by | 2 comments

Well not really – we’ve had glorious steady rain and much cooler temperatures have been a welcome relief to us after the recent extreme heat and humidity. So far the violent storms and torrential rain have missed us and my newly planted fruit trees have had a chance to settle in. When we plant trees we always give them a good watering but it doesn’t match the benefit of a decent rainfall. Allen thought this morning was a good opportunity to plant out a few more rainforest trees that he’s grown. His timing was perfect for the trees but as the rain got heavier I was very pleased he hadn’t needed an assistant!

Tarennia dallechiana flowers just visible through the rain. These beautifully perfumed flowers are one of the many rainforest species to make late summer afternoons such a sensory experience.

About a week ago Betty finally made a reappearance in our wetlands! She quietly slid into the water as Allen watched from the bird hide. She had been lying on a bank in the shade, blending so well into her environment that he didn’t see her until she moved. On subsequent days we saw her in the water, sometimes with part of her back exposed to absorb the sun’s heat. As the days have been so hot recently it wasn’t long before she quietly submerged, leaving a trail of bubbles for us to follow.

Only necessary to expose a small portion of the back when it was so hot as the raised scales have a plentiful blood supply transporting heat into the body of the crocodile.
Barely a ripple on the water as she swims quietly through the water lilies.

There has been some speculation regarding potential crocodile nest construction in our swamps. Although it would be confirmation of a successful wetland restoration project I must admit to some nervousness at the prospect. Continuing this theme one might consider why Betty has not nested when she appears to be a mature female. Might she, in fact, be Bob and not Betty?

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Posted in Pond Life, Reptiles

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The Garden Gate

Posted on 12 May, 2020 by | Leave a comment

As I lifted my hand to open the vegetable garden gate yesterday afternoon I noticed a very young snake lying along the top of the gate with it’s head tucked out of sight in a gap between two pieces of timber. I returned to the house, via the alternative gate, for my camera plus Allen (also with camera).

Dendrelaphis punctulata

I was fascinated by the flecks of blue, almost iridescent, on the snake’s scales, a highlight of colour on an otherwise pale brown upper-side. Green Tree-snakes are often described as having blue flecks, especially on the flanks but I have never seen a good example. The adults we often see here are quite black on their upper side so it would be interesting to know if this youngster will lose the ‘blue’ as it ages.

I became curious about why the snake had it’s head hidden as it seemed to ignore my gentle stroking. When it started wriggling I wondered aloud if perhaps it was stuck so I started encouraging it to back out by lifting up part of the body and it wasn’t long before we found out why it was ‘hiding’. It had a mouthful of frog!

Here I was thinking the snake was stuck and all the time it was just trying to get a feed.

We were interested that L. rubella made no sound even when it was first pulled out of the crevice. As many would be aware when a White-lipped Tree Frog (Litoria infrafrenata) is grabbed by a predator it screams like a human baby, and it is difficult to restrain from interfering.

Litoria rubella desperately fighting a losing battle for it’s life.

Litoria rubella has a wide geographic distribution covering the northern parts of Australia from desert to wet tropics. It is known by many common names; Desert Frog, Red Tree Frog, Little Red Frog and Naked Tree Frog but in this household we tend to refer it by it’s species name as that seems less confusing.

With each muscular contraction more frog was consumed by the snake. Immense strength for such an apparently delicate creature.

Unfazed by the paparazzi’s intense focus the snake concentrated on swallowing the frog. It was fascinating to observe the gradual swallowing process although it wasn’t so much fun for the frog! Although we do love our frogs we recognize they are also an important food source

This photo was taken a few minutes later and you can see the bulge half-way along the snake already. Snakes use quite a lot of energy consuming and digesting food so it was probably really pleased that we stopped trying to make it pose for a photo and left it alone. Hopefully it didn’t stay on the gate for too long as it would make a tasty snack for a Butcherbird or a Kookaburra!

As we both took photos, pushing each other around a bit of course, I have used some of his and some of mine!

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Late afternoon in the hide

Posted on 5 September, 2019 by | 1 comment

After my late afternoon watering routine today I strolled through the garden back to the house and suggested to Allen that we take a glass of wine and some nibbles to the bird hide. Magpie geese were calling to each other as they sorted out roosts for the approaching night. A male was standing with the three goslings at one end of the main pond then suddenly he took off leaving the goslings alone and looking very uncertain as to what they should do.

The gander landed in a Leichardt tree from where he watched the goslings as did at least two other ‘look-out geese’ in other trees. After their initial confusion the goslings rallied and started to move into a more sheltered position in the sedge. They were on their own for only about 2 minutes before more adult geese took off from further away. For a moment I thought they were all going to fly past the poor goslings but then one female peeled away and landed quite close to them. Oh the relief! The goslings rushed out from their partial hiding place and stood close to the adult female who then led them out into the water.

Female leading the goslings across the water in front of the hide
There is quite a size difference between the gosling on the left and the other two.

The goslings are growing very fast, they now have a few white breast feathers and in the photo above it is easy to see new tail feathers emerging. As Allen concentrated on the goslings, trying to see where they were being taken for the night I looked across the pond just in time to see the arrival of the Burdekin duck family. The light was just good enough for Allen to manage a photo or two of them.

Time for a quick drink no time for swimming at this time of day.

The ducklings are also growing very fast and we were delighted to see that there are still seven of them. After a quick drink the family moved up the bank and started to move along the bund wall with one parent in front and the other behind. Once out in the open the ducklings sped up, running with wing flap assistance until they were out of our sight with the parents close behind.

Once they were on the grassy top of the bund wall the ducklings moved as fast as they could to reach some shelter.

We don’t know where the ducklings or the goslings spend their nights and we never search for them in case we inadvertently alert a predator to their whereabouts.

For several years I have been pondering why ducks and geese moved off the property with newly hatched young. Was the habitat not mature enough? What was missing? These are questions that will probably remain unanswered but now I have another. With an apex predator now in residence, while enough water provides a safe haven for her, what has changed for the water birds? Could it be that the crocodile has ‘controlled’ our very healthy population of eels and turtles thus reducing the mortality of young ducks and geese? Whatever the reason it is immensely satisfying to know that we are providing habitat for these birds to breed successfully.

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Posted in Bird Observations, Daintree wetlands, Pond Life, Reptiles, Restoration Rewards

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Winter Update

Posted on 21 July, 2019 by | 2 comments

The wet season has drizzled to a close through June and we are now experiencing some dry weather with mostly sunny days and quite cold nights. River mist is often a feature of these cold, clear mornings as we experienced yesterday at the start of a tour with Murray the Daintree Boatman. In spite of the cold it was a wonderful morning excursion and we were able to enjoy lengthy observations of a Great-billed Heron both on the main river and in Barratt Creek. It was peaceful on the water in the early morning, watching the bird with only occasional quiet talk and the whir of camera motor-drives breaking the silence.

Murray heading in to pick up his passengers
Fabulous reflections in the still water as we waited for the Heron to move into better light

Back at Wild Wings & Swampy Things ……..in early June a little flock of Spotted Whistling ducks arrived and stayed for a few weeks. We watched their movements with interest as they shared a pond with Betty Barratt, the crocodile who frequently enjoys our hospitality. The larger and apparently more senior Spotted Whistling Duck, which we took to be the male, kept a very close look-out after one of the flock went missing.

Spotted Whistling Ducks in the background – living dangerously.

Betty continues her quiet life in our ponds while they hold sufficient water for her to feel comfortable. She is becoming a little more adventurous this year with more frequent movements between ‘Graham’ and ‘Rupert’ (all our ponds have names) leaving a muddy track on the bund wall separating the two ponds.

Many of the ‘bush birds’ have been a little quiet in the last week, possibly due to cold and sometimes windy weather. A few Magpie geese have been hanging around recently and several days ago, having noticed some trampled sedge, I was able to observe an adult goose with at least four, possibly five goslings. My dusk sighting didn’t enable a good view so Allen and I went out the next morning to see what was happening. We walked to Graham’s hide first; no visible goose activity but Betty was sunning herself amongst the waterlilies looking distinctly satisfied.

Is that a self-satisfied gleam in her eye?

We walked down to the ’07 ponds (never properly named!) from where we could hear geese. There were several lookout birds honking from surrounding trees and nervous parents on the water with only two goslings. As Allen saw both a Sea Eagle and a Brahminy Kite having a go at the goslings later in the morning he was loath to blame Betty but the next morning only one gosling remained.

One gosling closely guarded

This morning the geese were sounding very unsettled, Betty was swimming around below the trees in which they perched and there was no gosling to be seen. There was, however, a Black Bittern skulking around on a small island in between the sedge plants (Rhynchospora corymbosa). It’s fun to have the opportunity to observe a BB without being seen although I didn’t see any dramatic action. Their ability to hold a pose for minutes on end with no apparent movement is extraordinary.

Female Black Bittern in typical pose on Crake Island in Graham’s Pond

And so life on the ponds continues, a visiting friend today suggested that a renaming of the property to Wild Wings & Bitey Things might be appropriate as we await our official Crocodile warning sign! My mind immediately thought of the Faulty Towers television series and the fun we could have with an easily altered sign.

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Posted in Bird Observations, Daintree wetlands, Day excursions, Reptiles

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“The Wet”

Posted on 23 March, 2019 by | 1 comment
Our leafy tunnel of a driveway disappearing under water

Once again this season high rainfall in the Daintree Valley catchment area has pushed the Daintree River and Barratt Creek just over a moderate flood level. As this event coincided with king tides and steady rain for several days the water has just quietly backed up into our wetlands. The ground is so saturated that even very low tides have made only a minimal difference to the water level.

Only a short walk from the house, the hide is a comfortable place for contemplation

Allen is immensely patient in the hide and all credit goes to him for the photos in this post.

Not a floating log
Betty Barratt swam past the hide on her way back to her usual pond. We have been keeping a close look out for her on the edge of the floodwaters so we were pleased to have a sighting.

From the hide it is possible to see little birds dart about between rain showers and yesterday we watched a female Shining Flycatcher with a youngster hiding under the big leaves of a Leichardt tree (Nauclea orientalis) as big rain drops fell around them.

Even during the rain these gorgeous Azure kingfishers will be out looking for a feed

Although the rainfall has been much less overnight there was a heavy downpour at about 3.30 am. Allen started our little generator at 4 am to cool down the fridge and freezer and so it seemed like a good time to get up. I am awaiting daylight before deciding on the day’s activities.

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Posted in Bird Observations, Daintree wetlands, Reptiles

Garden News

Posted on 18 March, 2019 by | Leave a comment

The verdant wet season is an outstanding feature of life in the wet tropics but rampant growth in the garden can sometimes be a challenge. While making the most of fine weather before our next rain event, I’ve been spreading mulch over weeded sections to reduce the effect of pounding rain and hopefully slow down weed germination.


The result of some rather drastic pruning at the end of last year – our enormous mulch sculpture with aeration holes and tunnels.

Brush Turkeys and Orange-footed Scrubfowl started digging into the pile then as holes were extended into tunnels we realized that Bandicoots were also involved! Thanks to their assistance the mulch is maturing nicely and will keep me busy for quite some time.

Caterpillar of Four O’Clock Moth (Dysphania numana) feeding on young Corky Bark (Carallia brachiata) leaf

Carallia brachiata is a land-based member of the Rhizophoraceae family. Although it is not found in tidal areas, like other species of this mangrove family, it is able to cope with wet ground as it develops adventitious roots to assist with gas exchange. Their very small fruit are sweet and tasty and as they are consumed by a number of different bird species they often germinate in our garden areas. I don’t want them to develop as trees in the house garden but the new growth which sprouts after a ‘heavy pruning’ is perfect for newly hatched caterpillars.

Common Tree Snake (Dendrelaphis punctulata)

I glimpsed this beauty outside our bedroom window as she sinuously wound her way around the hanging basket, then hung down until she could reach the pot plant below and so return to the garden. No hurry, no stress, merely a delight to observe.



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Floods, mud and more…..

Posted on 28 February, 2019 by | 1 comment

It has indeed been very wet this summer and it’s probably not over yet. We’ve had several floods including one major one which deposited a great deal of silt in our orchard as well as all areas below our house and garden surrounds. While watching the flood waters rise can be ‘exciting’ at times the aftermath is not, but we are exceedingly grateful that our house avoided inundation.

A layer of silt over the track to the orchard

A thick layer of mud stuck on a Mangosteen leaf -although these leaves are quite shiny the mud doesn’t wash off even when heavy rain follows the flood.
Malay Apple (Syzygium puberulum) – bursting out with it’s brilliantly coloured blooms a week after total inundation.

During the big flood, a saltwater crocodile moved into our front wetland system for a holiday. There are no pesky tour boats to disturb her here so she is able to enjoy the peace and quiet, apart from Allen occasionally mowing the bank of her pond . We first noticed her after a flood last year and she stayed for a few months only returning to the creek when our ponds became too shallow for her.
Betty Barratt appears to prefer Rupert’s pond which is the deepest and has easy access to the creek as well as convenient sunny banks on which to warm up. While it is a privilege to host an apex predator her presence does limit the delights of loitering around the edges of the ponds.

Just looking……
Basking quietly in the sun

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Pruning hazards

Posted on 31 January, 2018 by | Leave a comment

During a pruning frenzy yesterday I came across this rather large Spiny Leaf Insect or Macleays Spectre (Extatosoma tiaratum).  She was looking decidedly nervous as I approached enthusiastically with my secateurs, snipping away at branches and so removing leaves she had been happily feeding upon.

1-Macleays-spectre head detail 30-01-2018 12-04-53 PM1-wild_wings_swampy_things_macleays-spectre 30-01-2018 12-04-15 PM

I don’t blame her for feeling under threat as she was left somewhat exposed, despite her good camouflage.  Needless to say I changed course and left that area of the garden for another day.  Luckily we have planted quite a number of Xanthostemon verticillatus as it appears to be a favourite food for a variety of stick insects.  A quick check today has revealed that she is on the same bush but safely tucked under some green cover.  This garden surrounds the pool where I found a male Spiny Leaf Insect in 2013.  Which leads me to wonder if I need to improve my powers of observation ….. or perhaps I haven’t been spending enough time tending to the shrubs in that garden.

And in other news ……….. the Amethyst python curled up around her eggs since November last year has now moved on.  My granddaughter and I checked under the cover on Jan 1st and both snakes were there.  When I checked on Jan 3rd the Carpet Snake was still guarding her eggs but only the empty shells of the Amethyst were left.  No sign of young snakes and no sign of the adult.  The Carpet snake is still curled up in the same area but in recent days I have seen her stretched out and I can see her eggs are empty.  We have no idea why she remains in the same position.

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Posted in Daintree Plants, Insect Life, Reptiles, Stick-insects

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