There is a “time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens”.
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If you are regularly out along the tracks in Nitmiluk National Park, you will see that this is reflected in the different species of grevillea that are in flower at different times of the year.
Anyone hiking the Sweetwater Pool track in Nitmiluk National Park at the moment will be forgiven if they feel the need for earplugs. The fern leafed grevillea, Grevillea pteridifolia, is flowering all along the upper reaches of the Edith River and it sounds as if every lorikeet, honey eater, fig bird and friar bird for many kilometres is indulging in the nectar-filled bright orange flowers. This slender tree will usually be in flower from the early dry season, right through until the weather warms up in September, providing food to a huge variety of birds and insects.
Forests of slender fern leafed grevilleas are a common sight along many local water courses, but another beautiful, usually less obvious, grevillea offers hungry nectar feeders a backup in the middle of the dry season.
The rock grevillea, Grevillea heliosperma, decorates the sandstone escarpment with its fine leafed crown and loose bunches of bright red blooms in the cooler months of the year. This grevillea can be found on rocky slopes and outcroppings much further from the water than the fern leafed grevillea. Nectar feeding birds are attracted to these flowers as much as they are to the bright orange flowers, however, the rock grevillea most often grows by itself in areas where there may be little else in the way of tucker for a hungry honey eater. Once the flowers have been raided by a passing flock of lorikeets there may not be much left over for anyone else, that is, until the plant has a chance to restock.
Understanding the subtle variation of the seasons will give you a really great idea of where and when to look for critters. Families of plants such as grevilleas that flower at slightly different times and in different locations, provide food for birds and insects throughout the year. Knowing what the plants are up to will give you a head start in your birdwatching.
A few hours wandering along the Edith River with binoculars and a camera will be well spent as the country around us moves into the warmer months.