The local bananabirds are visiting the flowering aloe on my balcony again. It's the second time this year. The first was back in May when this photo was taken.

For a large bird, the bananabird or blue-faced honeyeater is agile and swift. Measuring about 25cm to 30cm from beak to tail-end, they zoom onto my balcony from outside and perch precariously on the flower stems -- each flowering results in two or three bunches of blossoms at the top of a long stalk that removes the flowers away from the plant's sharp-edged leaves.

The aloe didn't start flowering until just before I moved to Queensland. That was in winter, too. I had rescued the plant from neglect when my downstairs neighbour moved house, leaving the pot sitting on their balcony between the building and the one next door. I bought a new, larger, pot at a nursery-supply business near my old flat. When the removalists came to pack my stuff, they placed the pot in a box and the plant is hardy so it survived the three-day shift which included several nights of darkness inside a container. Not all my plants survived.

The bananabirds come singly, most of the time, although today the adult arrived with an immature fellow who saluted me on departure by squirting a stream of goo onto the balcony tiles. They are the largest honeyeaters in Australia and are coloured delicately in an olive green plumage. Their faces are black-striped and bright blue and their chests are white. They are very timid and will quickly disappear if they see my head move as I turn to look at them out of the sliding glass.