The Next Day

FF
I assumed yesterday that the insects I saw hovering about the Billy Goat Plum flowers were being preyed upon by birds. How wrong can I get? After identifying the insects as belonging to the family Lycidae, it seems they are not preyed on by any predator because of the awful taste or effect their chemical makeup has on those who mistakenly eat them. They are so successful that other insects have mimicked their coloration to avoid being eaten as well. It seems they not only visit the flowers for food but also use the flowers attraction to find suitable mates for reproduction.
FF
Net-winged Beetle Calopteron terminale
FF

FF
As I strolled through a Paperbark and Pandanas lowland I saw Pandanas leaves repeatedly falling down from a tree which made me just a bit curious. I was even more curious when I saw that they were still green. Pandanas are usually very noisy plants when the wind makes the more dried leaves rustle and crack. I have occasionally seen piles of Pandanas leaves directly below the naked stem. I always thought it was shedding it leaves. Now I know different. Atop the Pandanas branch was a cocky quite happily surgically cutting down every green branch of the Pandanas until it got to the last frond whereby it sat quietly and munched the soft inner shoot. Another cocky was waiting in a branch not far away and it didn't take much imagination to work out that soon the pair would be on the ground gnawing away at the tender shoots.
FF
Sulpher-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita eating Pandanus spiralis
FF
FF
Sulpher-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita eating Pandanus spiralis
FF
FF
We have heard and watched the Fig Birds during their courtship, its now time to see their offspring.
FF
Figbird Sphecotheres viridis
FF
FF
Figbird Sphecotheres viridis
FF
FF