A Zoo in the Forest

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There's a whole zoo
in the rainforest




Besides the creatures
that we are accustomed to seeing:

the koalas
carpet snakes
brown snakes
frill neck lizards
lace monitors
whip birds
kookaburras
rampant turkeys
and a host of twittering birds

I have also noticed

leopards

and crocodiles






zebras










elephants

more leopards

and more scaly crocodiles

hairy monsters

and even an underwater world





The rainforest park
has come alive-
It is wild
with life...

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Dripping

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I stand at the front door
of my friend's home
in the rainforest

while I wait for her
to put on her walking shoes,
and I look around...

I can hear large plops
last night's heavy rain,
falling from the higher palms
on to the understorey below

and the early morning sun
is breaking through the canopy

slashing bands of light across
the Raphis palms

picking out the tea tree trunks

and dancing on the soft tree fern

the stag horn fern
grabs a handful

and all the baby bromeliads
lovingly planted by my friend
in warm and soft palm trunk nests
wave and cheer
the day has begun...

while the bamboo
guards the tennis court
and holds the sun at bay...

the smaller plants
on the forest garden floor
will have to wait

to feel the sun
and share its rays

with the elephant eared palm leaves
and forest ferns

once the spider lily has
had her share

the umbrella grass
has spread and dried

and the giant leaf is done...



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Wet Rainforest

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Do you have your umbrella?

It's wet today ...

We are stopping
in the heart of the rainforest
in the National Park

to take a look
at the giant Hoop Pines
and Bunya Pines
that thrive here

This is the distinctive bark
of the native Hoop Pine
which can grow to 50 metres.

The Hoop Pine,
in the centre rear of the photo,
has a sap
that the Aborigines used to glue
axe heads to handles






Baby Hoop pine
reaching for the forest sky

the heart of the rain forest
has a mystical quality
It can be very quiet,
occasionally the whip bird will
warm up and crack his whip






Hoop Pine leaves

The Hoop Pine's
long straight timbers
are milled for joinery

to the left of this Hoop Pine
and old fallen log
appears to be smoking...
the sun is heating
the moisture sodden rotten log
creating steam...





half way up the trunk
an epiphytic elk horn fern
salutes the morning sun







on the forest floor
a buttress root wears
a mantle of green






a little spider's web
in the centre of this photo
glistens in the morning light

and way down below
the mushrooms
grow -
by magic

pink magic

double pink magic

orange button magic

gold top magic

even purple magic

brown shitake looking magic

and yellow magic

multiple button magic...





and the sunlight breaks through
the brown patched leaves
like Christmas lights
adorning the rainforest...




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Rainforest Surprises

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Today we set out for a walk in the rainforest
At the park gates we were surprised
to see a kookaburra
sitting on the street light

Look up in this tree,
you will be as surprised as we were
to find a sleepy carpet snake
too tired to raise his head

His head is off to the left in this photo
resting on the branch
his tail dangling through the central coil
What a gorgeous fellow

I was hoping he would remain coiled
and not drop down on my head
while I crunched in the undergrowth
below him
trying to capture him on camera

Australia's national flower is the golden wattle
This is another wattle species
with a most unusual
pale green flower

Photo from Wikipedia


Returning through the Tanglewood Track
we could hear the distinctive call
of the whip birds - their bird song a duet,
a long piercing note followed by the whip crack
and the female's responding notes.

The whip bird is a smallish olive green bird
with black head and breast
and a small black crest.
He has a white cheek patch
and a long dark olive green tail
tipped with white

The birds are not often seen
but I spied the pair in the gum trees
calling like this...

Today
it was a walk
full of surprises...



Oh Happy Days



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