Accommodation Mission Beach - Wildlife

Licuala Lodge

Cassowary and other Wildlife and Nature found at Licuala Lodge - Accommodation in Mission Beach Just click on the photos to enlarge
	Cassie, a female cassowary, born c1990. She stands about 1.7 metres tall. If she meets up with the male or the chicks she will chase them away - even though the chicks are her own. She doesn't come around as often as she used too, probably because she has three or four boyfriends that have certain cassowary needs.
	This is Charlie, a male cassowary who we think was born around about 1995. He stands about 1.4 metres tall and is slimmer than the female. After his short courtship the lucky boy gets to sit on the eggs for a shade under two months, and then looks after his offspring for almost a year. He really is a great parent - but such a coward if he meets Cassie out of mating season.
	And here is Charlie and his two chicks that he reared in 2003, at their favourite accommodation in Mission Beach. The chicks are just over four months old in the picture. One of the chicks was attacked by another rainforest creature (Oct 2003) and had a pretty awful neck wound at the time. However they are very resilient and the chick made a full recovery.
	Here's Rusty our Rusty Monitor - we are so predictable with our names aren't we ??? - I guess he's about 1 metre long from nose to tail. His eyesight is very poor but has a wonderful sense of smell.
	And another piccie of Rusty. If you look really carefully you can see that he is shedding his skin. He lives somewhere at the front of the Lodge, Great Barrier Reef accommodation, and waddles down the gravel path into the rainforest around about midday each day.
	And Clarence the crocodile having a snooze by the swimming pool. Just kidding !!! He can be found at the Johnstone Crocodile Farm about 45 minutes drive from this Queensland Accommodation.
	How cute is this guy - it is an Orange-Thighed Frog, which grows to about 60 mm in length. Photo courtesy of Ron from Cromer, NSW - see Ron and the gorgeous Sandra on the Sweethearts page (aka our Bed Breakfast Rainforest page).
	Our pair of Sunbirds keep building their nests each year in different parts of the house. This one was built near the laundry. The chicks seem very fragile and is there is anything wrong or if something untoward happens to the chicks, the mother will abandon the nest completely and start building a new nest, which takes 4 or 5 days once she has chosen the new site.
	We have got quite a few different orchids in the garden at the best accommodation Mission Beach has to offer - this one is pretty spectacular. It flowered late October 2004. Not sure of the name - if anyone knows let me know. Orchids - another good reason to stay in North Queensland
	Quite a big Green Tree frog, asleep in the hammock of our Tropical North Queensland bed breakfast. The frog was discovered by Luke and Hannah (April 2005) - well done !! And something I didn't know until recently - these cute creatures feed on geckos (amongst other things). How about that !!

	Here is a Laughing Kookaburra perched on the guest verandah. Sue managed to get within a couple of feet of the bird to take this photo. We haven't seen the bird for several months - perhaps they migrate somewhere for the first half of the year - but now there are a pair of them. Let's hope we hear the sound of a couple of youngsters soon.
	Photo taken July 2005. This is a female Cairns Birdwing butterfly, just a few minutes after she emerged from her chrysalis. There are quite a few more all in the Jade Vine waiting to hatch out. This is about the only time that you can actually get the butterfly to stay still and get a decent photo - isn't she beautiful !! Only to be seen at the best accommodation in Mission Beach.
	One of several Bottlebrush plants that can be found in the garden. Their proper name is Callistemon, endemic to Australia - mainly the eastern states. The flowers are much loved by a variety of native birds.
	The weird looking flowers belong to a shrub called Grevillea. A real favourite food source for Honeyeaters and Sunbirds. You should be able to see a Yellow Sunbird in the centre of the photo feeding on one of the flowers.
	A close-up of the Grevillea flower. Isn't it just amazing ?? Grevillea is named after Charles Francis Greville who was one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society in 1804. There are over 300 species in the genus, most of which are endemic to Australia but a few species occur in Papua New Guinea and islands to Australia's north.
	Here is a pineapple. I'll bet you didn't know how pineapples grew. Pineapples are in fact a Bromeliad. You can grow your own pineapple by simply planting the top bit (the stalk) with a bit of flesh. Just plant it in the ground water it in well for the first few weeks. If you live outside of the Tropics, use a plant pot and keep it indoors if it gets cold in your neck of the woods.
	And a picture of the magnificent Alexander Palms. We did have 9 altogether in the garden, and they can grow to 12 metres or more. I'm pretty sure it is native to Queensland, and can normally withstand hurricanes and cyclones, but we lost six of these trees during cyclone Larry. The seeds of these palms are just about 100% fertile - which can be a pain in the proverbial at times

Just completed in June 2007 a fabulous Rainforest Walk at the back of the Guest units. See numerous species of wildlife (including squirrels, spiders, snakes and gnomes). Dare you walk down Snake and Spider Alley ?? Will you be able to cross the bridge unaided ?? How long will it take you to spot all the creatures ?? Click here to see more details of the Rainforest Walk.