Exotic feed station

We have an Agavae desmettiana (varigated) in a pot and this year it has sent up a large flower spike and the flowers are starting to open much to the delight of our local honeyeaters.

An Eastern Spinebill demonstrates that you can sip nectar whilst hanging below the flower.

A Lewin Honeyeater finds a more upright position for a sip.

 

Nectar attracts others as well as honeyeaters and a bee almost got out of shot before the Lewin Honeyeater snared it as a tasty addition to the nectar diet.

Catch up

Have been busy and missed getting a couple of posts up in the last few days so thought I would pop them up today.

Last Friday was a good day for birds and a few were quite special like this Eastern Spinebill that was having a sip from the flowers of the Kangaroo Paws Anigozanthos flavidus in our garden.
The Scarlet Honeyeaters are still around although not so numerous now the bottle brushes have almost finished their flowering period.

The other bird with a patch of bright red plumage is the male Mistletoe Bird and one was very active amongst the mistletoe that is on many of the branches of the spotted gum in front of the house.

On Saturday it was a female Orchard Butterfly Papilio aegeus aegeus getting some early morning sun that caught my attention.

 

This was followed by finding a day flying moth Dysgonia frontinus that was also getting some sun although on the underside.

 This moth's caterpillars feed on one of the native plants Breynia oblongifolia that is quite widespread on the property.