Bower Birds and Orchids

What do bower birds and orchids have in common?  Nothing probably except that they both can be found at Mt. Lewis National Park.  I've written about Mt. Lewis before.  It is just a stones throw from our front door and we make regular trips there.  On Sunday we went with our friend Joan.  We decided to go right to the top of Mt. Lewis and set off at 9.30am.  The day was rather bleak with low clouds on the mountain and intermittent showers but that didn't stop us at all.  Overcast skies are a photographers dream condition and as we are all photographers - including my husband now - we anticipated some good photos.

We slowly made our way up the windy road to the top of Mt. Lewis.  It didn't take us long to spot our first orchids, quite high up in a tree.  We tried to take a few photos but the orchids were just too high.  We set sail again and not more than another kilometre along the road we found the same orchid at a height that we could photograph.

Joan assisting Philip with his photography

Beautiful colour in this little orchid

We then continued on our upward journey to the top of Mt. Lewis.  The gravel road winds its way through lush rainforest and we cross numerous little creeks.  Some are so beautiful that they really take my breath away.  I love this place so much.  We eventually arrived at the hut at the top of Mt. Lewis and as it was lunchtime we quickly set up our table and chairs and settled back to enjoy a cup of tea and sandwich.  The rain came and went but it was never heavy, just misty light rain.  It did turn quite cold and I was grateful for the extra rain jacket that I had packed in the backpack.  Hubby had forgotten to pack his so as he told me later he really was quite cold!  After lunch and repacking everything back into the car we made our way along the track to the escarpment.  Joan wanted to check the bower birds nest and was pleasantly surprised to see that it was even bigger and decorated as well.  We could hear the bower bird intermittently but he never came close enough for us to photograph.  Joan told us that she came one other time and sat quietly on a rock close to the bower to see if the bird would come close.  After almost an hour she turned slightly to look over her shoulder and low and behold the bird was right behind her....just watching her!

The Bower Birds nest

Such a lot of work goes into making this Bower...all those little stick brought in one by one.  They are an amazing bird!

I didn't walk to this lovely area below.  My knee is still not full strength so I waited on a ledge on the escarpment while Philip and Joan went exploring. They were not disappointed with what they found. Lots of orchids and some beautifully picturesque creeks. 

This is the view I had from where I waited.  It is breathtaking.  The GPS on my phone said that we were over 1200 metres high and I believe it.  It feels like you are on top of the world!  Such a truly beautiful spot.