From a rainforest gully …to some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos..

I’ve come back to the National Botanic gardens of Canberra on a beautiful summer morning, and all the more sparkling because we’ve had some steady rain last night for the first time in a month.

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The Rainforest fern gully was created in 1960 from a naturally occurring dry gully with a few eucalypts, shrubs and grasses….and as I step into the cool shaded area today it is hard to believe it was ever dry..

IMG_0365 (1024x727)The lower end of the gully begins with Tasmanian cool temperate rainforest plants..and gradually changes to the warm temperate rainforest of northern NSW and south eastern Queensland

…as I follow this path I’m effectively walking the entire east coast rainforest of Australia in ten minutes!

IMG_0776 (1024x932)To create this gully, fast growing wattles and eucalypts were grown, and 2000 fine mist sprays installed to keep the humidity high…

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the understory has small trees, fallen branches and ferns..

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Macrozamia miquelii

Now a canopy of tall plants, like an enormous umbrella protects the ferns below from the direct sun, heavy rain, drying winds and frost…all of which can happen in Canberra.

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Blackwood tree Acacia Melanoxylon

I expected to find some birds in the gully, but the rain and soft sunshine has sent them out to the Banksia and Grevillea bushes….a little bird flew into the ground cover and stayed there, forever it seemed, I guess a whole small world of activity is going on in there…

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Hakea minyma Proteaceae

Here is a New Holland Honeyeater having breakfast at the Banksia café..

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As good luck would have it, just as I headed for the car park, some noisy Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos arrived..

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Unperterbed by cars and people nearby, one of them began burrowing into the tree, possibly looking for grubs to eat..

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In no time at all he has almost disappeared into that hole….

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… so his mate is coming over to see what it is all about

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While the ”Boss Cocky” watches on…

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..A lovely way to spend the morning…

 

20 Replies to “From a rainforest gully …to some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos..”

    1. Thanks Sylvia, yes those Cockatoos are big, and their tails are so long it must be tricky sitting on branches of trees sometimes!

  1. I love the concept of walking up the East Coast in ten minutes. Such a diverse collection. The tree ferns are still my favourites though. I’d love to have some here but it’s possibly pushing the boundaries a little too far. Unless I had them swathed in fleece all winter.

    1. I can just imagine the ferns swathed in fleece for winter!…they would like some of your rain water though! Congratulations on getting a mention as ”a garden blog to follow” in Telegraph UK …I’m not surprised…great photos, interesting stories about your garden, and the odd trip to Norway throw in…wonderful!

  2. How lovely that you got rain! I bet the garden breathed deeply in relief and drank it all up swiftly! Gosh, the mind truly boggles at the thought of walking the east coast of Oz in 10 minutes! What marvelous pics, of such a wonderful place, and what an interesting post. My very first honeyeater! What a striking bird.xxx

    1. Thanks Dina, glad you enjoyed the post, and yes, the rain makes everything glow! The rainforest gully is lovely, I’m finding out more about my own city through blogging! I have just shown my husband (Paul) your post on Singapore, the Gardens by the Bay look fabulous. Canberra will soon have direct flights to Singapore, so thanks for that post.

    1. Thanks Jason, yes the fern gully is a favourite spot for Canberrans on a hot day. The black cockatoos are very striking, and I think they are just as much trouble for farmers as their cousins the white cockatoos!

  3. It is wonderful to see plants and wildlife in their natural habitat and to share it with us so that we can appreciate it too. Sarah x

    1. Thanks Sarah, blogging is great for sharing places and experiences…and I’m enjoying my own ”patch” even more since I retired!

    1. Thanks Carol…deciding to do a blog about Canberra has made me appreciate my own place much more. Thanks for dropping by..

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