King for a day

Australian king-parrots (Alisterus scapularis) are abundant in these rainforests. I often hear and see them flying over the house in the late afternoon, but they rarely land in the garden. A while back, a couple of young male king-parrots dropped in, nibbled at the bottlebrush (Callistemon) and then flew off.

These fellows had almost moulted out of their olive green juvenile feathers, but hadn't quite made it into the immaculate scarlet plumage of adulthood.

They haven't paid another visit yet, but there are plenty of other birds around to make up for them.

More Chillagoe I

It's cold and wet here, so this is a good time to post some more pictures from sunny Chillagoe.

Some views across the savannah woodland to karst limestone and vine thicket. The rock is as sharp as saw blades.

Some of the caves had been flooded, but water levels were dropping.

Cardwell Lily (Proiphys amboinensis) had finished flowering, but the leaves were still spectacular. This species grows in NE Queensland from Mackay to the tip of Cape York Peninsula. It also occurs in the Kimberley region of NW Western Australia and throughout SE Asia. At Chillagoe it grows in the shade of vine thicket trees.

I wasn't the only one interested in the Cardwell lilies. The leaves were popular with these splendid grasshoppers.

Although it was hot in the sun ...

... it was cool and refreshing in the caves.

Mosses and ferns grow in miniature gardens among the rocks, wherever there is moisture and some sun.

And the spiders make the most of both worlds ...