The end of Cyclone Tasha

Tropical Cyclone Tasha is now heading south west as a tropical low. It brought strong winds and a lot of rain to the coast south of Cairns and the southern Atherton Tablelands. Ingham and Townsville are catching the tail end.

Here's the flow record for the North Johnstone River. Small wonder that it sounds like a motorway, rather than a murmur.

Image: Bureau of Meteorology

I didn't get a great deal of sleep because of the frequent snap, crackle and pop of falling timber. It all sounds so close at night. And sometimes it is. This is the back garden. The second photo is the view from my bathroom window with a 50mm lens.

Tasha was a Category 1 cyclone, which is the way I like them. Still, I'm happy to go through the rest of the season with no replays.

A Christmas ... cyclone

The first cyclone of the season, Tropical Cyclone Tasha* is expected to make landfall somewhere between Port Douglas and Cardwell in a few hours. They should have called it Santa, but cyclone naming conventions don't work that way.

It's very wet and moderately windy up here now. The cyclone is intensifying, so the conditions will become livelier as the storm approaches. I thought I'd better post this just in case the power goes off. So much for a quiet Christmas!

Tropical Cyclone Tasha nearing NE coast of Queensland

(Image: Bureau of Meteorology)

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* This link covers current cyclones in the Australian region.

And now, Christmas tree ... frogs

The rain has brought out the orange-thighed tree frogs (Litoria xanthomera) for the first time this year. But it's also stopped me from taking pics of them. (Why, yes, I am a wimp. What made you think otherwise?) But the green-eyed tree frogs (Litoria serrata) have been out and about for a while.

No frogs in this picture, in case you were wondering. Just rain and fungus.

I photographed this one last night, when the rain was merely heavy, not torrential. It was picking up insects from my windows, obviously convinced that it was camouflaged against the spider poop-covered frame.

It eventually decided that the garden provided a more suitable background for its fancy colours and spiffy frills.

Season's greetings from me and the wildlife!

Christmas Tree ... Roo

Apologies for my absence. Camera non-functional. Computer non-functional. Brain non-functional. Oh, wait. That's not news.

So I'm back. Amd just in time for what looks like it might be the wettest Wet Season for a while. Expect photos of waterlogged fauna.

But before all that, here's a photograph I took a few days ago. This Lumholtz's tree roo was right next to the house. He looks very relaxed. Check out those hobbity feet and the long bell-rope tail draped over a branch.