Plentiful supply

Our Gigantic Lily is now almost fully open and has become a busy feeding station for the honeyeaters as well as bees and other insects.

An Eastern Spinebill gets a fill up

 Today a trio of Little Wattle Birds worked over the flowers and as there is so much nectar available they were quite content to feed together.

Pollination in progress

Our most prevalent honeyeater is the Eastern Spinebill, Acanthorhynchus supercilious that are around the garden year round, attracted by our plantings of many nectar producing native plants. Grevilleas are particularly attractive and the Spinebills spend their day moving around from plant to plant. In one of our gardens we have a Banksia when in flower, the Eastern Spinebills cannot go past without having a nectar break. The shrub is "Hinchinbrook" Banksia, Banksia plagiocarpa "Hinchinbrook" a most attractive Banksia, that in the wild is restricted to parts of Hinchinbrook Island and adjacent mainland areas of Queensland. However it is not all take as the Spinebills do a great job of pollinating the Banksia; as on each insertion of the bill into the flower, pollen is deposited on the base of the bill. (as can be seen in the photo)