4/11/09 - RUFOUS OWLS
Nice one Jun. Good that Russell Wild and his wife were there to see. Let's hope this experience increased his understanding of the needs of wild animals in a man-controlled plant environment, as it's curious that so many nests of so many birds in all of those mangroves were allowed to be destroyed during the breeding season. And so much feeding habitat destroyed for those birds raising young in contiguous habitats.
Andy Anderson,
Birding Cairns.

03/11/09 - RUFOUS OWLS, Saltwater Lake, Centenary Lakes Cairns.
Brian Venables, Jun Matsui, Russell Wild (Cairns Regional Council Environmental Officer)and his wife Maria.
Round 1900 hrs we all met at the nest tree and were treated with an unexpected display. One bird emerged from the hollow and posed at the rim for Jun's camera. It then left the hollow and met another owl in an adjacent melaleuca (more pix). One bird appeared to pass something small to the other and eventually one bird went back to the hollow and disappeared down into it. My bet is the chicks have not yet fledged. I have been advised by council that an environmental assessment is underway.
John Seale.