ALL ABOUT THE BIRDS AND THE BEES...

In May bees went nuts for my agave spike! Fighting with the native bees for purchase on the flowers. Top right shows you how big it is and I had to tie it back to stop it getting involved in the clothes line. But look at its sweet little face when it was just starting out (bottom right)... Thought I had a triffid for a while.

 Now at the end of June the open flowers are nearing the end of the spike and still bees fight over the flowers...

...and they have to fight off the birds as well! Spotted this juvenile blue-faced honey eater the other morning looking a bit grumpy at the constant buzzing.  His not-yet-blue facial feathers are almost a perfect match for the buds.

Then a rainbow lorikeet got in on the act yesterday. A great colour combination...

*****

I'll be sad to see the end of the spike, not only because it means the plant has died, but also because I'll miss that buzzing when I put out the washing.

Let me tell you 'bout the birds and the bees
And the flowers and the trees
The moon up above, and the thing called love...

Dean Martin - The Birds And The Bees Lyrics | MetroLyrics (Songwriter Herbert Newman)

COOROY COLLAGES...

In July last year when I first visited the Noosa Botanic Gardens in Cooroy, I was fascinated by quite big fruits growing on several large shrubs/trees called Elephant Apples.  Today I returned and guess what? The fruits look much the same, slightly more yellow is all, despite the signage saying they flower in summer. When one was cut open it was layers of fibrous flaps enclosing what looked like banana flowers.  There were quite a few lying on the ground and let me say if one hit an elephant on the head, it would get a headache I think. They are pretty hefty "fruit". Read more about the apple  here. It appears I missed the flowering and so will have to keep returning to catch them. Tragic because you know how much I hate the Gardens... not!

Today I was also treated to a climbing frangipani. I've seen native frangipani but this one is a hardy looking vine which I'd not heard of before (not difficult as I'm fairly ignorant about lots of plants) which was climbing up a palm tree. The flowers were subtlety perfumed.

I love cassia and this Rainbow Shower example is also new to me. What a delight! From under the very shady branches the flowers look more yellow but you can see from outside more pink/red and in the close up, lots of different tones. An absolute stunner.

Honestly, the people who live near these Gardens are very, very lucky. I wish it was on my doorstep, not a 30 min drive away.  

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET...

You'd be forgiven for thinking this snap was upside down, but it's not. Just a couple of rainbow lorikeets hanging around.  Could watch them for hours, such acrobats.

The guy on the left caught my eye first and then I realised there was a family chowing down further up in the palm tree flowers. He looks young, maybe waiting his turn.

Yesterday I noticed a couple of cockatoos in a neighbour's ?bunya? pine. The one on top just looked like a Christmas tree topper. Then, this morning I counted 8 birds in the same tree with a magpie being the topper and some noisy miners helping complete the decorations.

URBAN BIRDLIFE...

Today I arrived back from my Sunday walk to find this beautiful creature marauding my tomatoes. She and a juvenile I couldn't snap because it was in the tomato bush were very cheeky and let me get fairly close before they flew off.  I hope they enjoyed the grubs in the tomatoes too.

 Here she is (on the left) chowing down but keeping one eye on me.  The other photo is a male just to show you the difference. A snap I took some time ago. The juveniles are similar colouring to the female until they colour up.

While I was reading the paper, I could hear some strange noises that turned out to be a couple of Lewin's honeyeaters having a lovely time in the bath I put up for that very purpose. I'd noticed a noisy miner coming down into the yard for a drink a couple of weeks ago, and put that up so they wouldn't have to risk being spotted by the cat on the few times he's outside. 

Call me suspicious but I think this drongo may have been in there too at some stage.  I filled it up again after the honeyeaters left.

During my walk I spotted this blue-faced honeyeater trying to eat a large insect (hopefully, a cockroach) or perhaps just getting a better grip so he/she wouldn't lose it on the way back to their nest. 

And finally, a common or as in this case, garden variety, peewee which bravely struts around the back yard chomping down insects, completely ignoring the cat.  Bruce doesn't seem bothered by it either. Such startling eye plumage.

"A bird in the bath, is worth two in the tomato bush"  SMuGly

A BIT OF BIRD BRIGHTENER FOR YOU....

 

Here's a few rainbow lorikeets to brighten your day. Mr Acrobat...

Ms Demure...

"Are you, lookin' at me?"

DOUBLE TAKE + SOME OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS....

(if you are reading this on facebook, you can click through from the photo to the blog and see the full post)

My last post (A slip of the tongue) featured a photo of a green headed parrot I had decided was a juvenile king parrot.  I was excited to find his dad in the front tree during the rain a few days later.  Isn't he magnificent? 

Another brown honeyeater, this time taken at Coolum Beach.  They have a distinct voice so I knew what I was looking for but, boy, were they hard to find in that coast banksia.  Finally, success; no tongue this time though sorry. 

 A pale headed rosella also featured and since then, I've put up a seed bar for them and they loved it.  I can find them there most days chowing down and it didn't take long to finish off that small one.  The photo on the right shows the new seed feeder.  Huge thing; and it took them a couple of days to come back.  I wondered it they were afraid of its size.

That takes care of the double take.... here are some of my favourite things...

I spotted this beautiful butterfly the other morning and was very pleased to get one or two shots of it. To be honest, it is a little blurry and I've just missed one of its antennaes.  I get so excited my hands shake and I'm terrified I'll scare the beautiful things away if I move too quickly.  I believe it's a common Jezebel (how rude).

This water lily taken at a friend's place combines two of my favourite things: bugs and flowers! Not sure what the bug is....  native bee perhaps?

 A black-faced cuckoo-shrike was busy snapping up insects around the yard when he spotted me.  Are you .. looking at me?  I love the look on his face.

 This drongo looks a little grumpy with those red eyes doesn't he?  He's a frequent visitor and enjoys the water tray I leave in the front tree for the birds.

I don't see a lot of galahs here (lots down the road at the church often) but always nice to see them. When I wear grey and pink I think I look like a galah!

The lady next door has an aviary and the day the galahs turned up was the first time I'd noticed them under the cages snaring some free seed dropped from the big cages. Messy photo but demonstrates some of the birds, which include crows, doves, lorikeets and pigeons, which can be seen feeding there every day.  

And to finish off some of my favourite things: how gorgeous are these two rainbow lorikeets?  I think they must be young birds as their feathers don't look as bright on the head as adults I've seen.

COLOURFUL CROTON WITH SURPRISE!

Don't think I was ever aware that Crotons actually produced a flower.......until I looked at this bush in my own back yard, when I noticed strange appendages hanging from the branches!  :)

It's a really pretty thing to look at right up close, and they are around 10 to 12 inches in length.

There would have been about eight hanging from the bush.

I'm constantly amazed at the beautiful colour display of this particular Croton at different times of the year!