Silver on gold

This afternoon a small flock of Silvereyes Zosterops lateralis arrived in the Grevillea "Honey Gem" to get an energy boost from the nectar.

They are delightful little birds to watch as they go dashing from flower spike to flower spike chasing one another off the perceived best feeding spot. They are migrant visitors to our garden passing through on their way north for winter.

Candle power

A standout native plant hybrid that we have in the garden is Banksia "Giant Candles" a cross between B.spinulosa & B.ericifolia, both being standout plants in their own right. However "Giant Candles" combines the best features and has fantastic flower spikes that are a powerful attraction for honeyeaters.
We have a spike on ours that is 300mm in length and today the honey eaters were busy flitting down for a quick sip and I managed to get a shot of a Yellow-Faced Honeyeater before it dashed off.

The birds would alternate between the Banksia and the Grevilleas along side and they are not inclined to spend too much time at any one plant and were not particularly cooperative in getting in ideal positions for their photos.

Immature Eastern Spinebill on Grevillea "Orange Marmalade"

Eastern Spinebill on Grevillea "Honey Gem"

Colourful weaver

It is the season for Garden Orb Weavers Eriophora sp and we have lots of webs stretching between shrubs,across paths and that means you need to watch where you are going if you are to avoid sticky web all over your face. Once you know where the webs are built each day you learn when to duck and where to dodge aside. Today I noticed one that was a little out of the ordinary as it had strong red colouring in the upper leg segments and was quite striking; worth a photo.

Often overlooked

When things are ubiquitous we often overlook them, not actually seeing them because you see them every day and garden or grass skinks just fit nicely into that category. However today while we were sitting in the garden having coffee I just happen to notice the activity of lots of Grass Skinks or Delicate Skinks, just two of a number of common names for  Lampropholis delicata, as they scampered around on a log.

There were many different sized individuals, many obviously from this season's hatching and they were all enjoying sunbathing after many days of wet weather. They are one of a number of small skinks that are common in gardens and around houses and most likely one of them would be the first reptile remembered from childhood.

High & low

In between rain showers our Red-browed Finches Aegintha temporalis were out and about searching for grass seeds high and low.

A family group spent some time just working over the ground around the grasses and ground cover plants feasting on the seeds that the rain had knocked down. We have these birds around the property year round and at times it is easy to overlook them when looking for some of our more rare visitors but they are such gregarious guys they are very entertaining to watch . Their range is right down the east coast of Australia excluding Tasmania.