Banksia

We never cease to be amazed at how spoilt we are with the birds that visit us throughout the year. We made a conscious decision not to feed them but we do make sure that the water bowls are always full to the brim when we're at home. One of the major attractions for the birds are the Banksia shrubs and trees that are prolific throughout the bush block.

Now I'm not even going to try and guess the botanical name of this little beauty because as you'll see from this link there are over 170 species of banksia in Australia. I do know though that birds like the Gang Gang Cockatoo and the Yellow tail Cockatoo that are regular visitors view the Banksias as 5 star gourmet food.

The image that I'm blipping today is a banksia flower just starting out on its life and behind it you will see the older member of the family. When they have reached this older stage they seem to be at their tastiest. Before they reach old age they must be as sweet as honey because they are a magnet for all of the little honey eaters. It's wonderful to sit and watch them as they flit in and out of the bushes having an absolute feast. In a sense we do feed them because we rarely pick the flowers, we prefer to leave them on the bush and watch the parade of bird life enjoying them to their hearts content.