Winters run has finally come to an end and we seem to be firmly in spring weather patterns, according to the bureau that is. So to see winter off, here’s some cheery daffodils doing what daffodils do best. Looking cheery that is!
Below you can see this beautiful daffodil, click here to read more about it.
This is part of the valley I live in, hope you enjoy.
A recent visitor to the garden was a Collared Sparrow Hawk. Accipiter cirrhocephalus is his botanical name.
He flew in and sat on the rose arbour for a few minutes then decided to move on. As his common name would suggest, the Collared Sparrowhawk feeds on small birds, the largest recorded bird taken has been crested pigeon and spotted bowerbird.
They grow to roughly 29-33 cm with a wingspan of about 55-78 cm. They also have a square tail, yellow eyes and long legs. Colour is slate grey with a brown wash occasionally with a chestnut half collar. Undersides are finely barred rufous and white. Legs are prominently yellow as you can see below.
Found throughout Australia and New Guinea in all habitats except for dry deserts.
I have occasionally seen tree’s full of sparrows suddenly make a racket and fly of furiously in all directions only to then see a hawk of some description fly off. Obviously it has glided in at a fast rate of knots, been successful or not in its catch and take off in another direction. Of course this happens in a matter of seconds or less. I can only assume it might have been a Collared Sparrowhawk. Watch out! He’s got his eyes on you.
Finally, here he is on his way, sorry I couldn’t get a clear shot of him, he just sort of leaped into the air and was off.
Look how his feet and tail are horizontal and in line with the body. Simply just an elegant outline. Glad to have these amazing creatures pop in for a short visit now and then.
Cheers!
Don’t panic, the sun will return. Here’s what a sunrise looks like if you can’t remember.
Why? Well I just stumbled across this photo and thought why not, lets put it out there. It was an impromptu sort of thing and I like this photo.
What is a waste product produced by plants?
Any guess’s???
Not sure, don’t know, couldn’t care less, whatever, LOL,.
I’ll narrow it down for you with 3 multiple choice answers.
Is it,
a. mycorrhizal association with fungus
b. autumn leaves
c. oxygen
If you picked a or b you would be wrong. The answer is c. Yes I know, hard to believe, oxygen a waste product produced by plants. Thank goodness they produce waste!
How is this possible? Without getting too technical, during the process of photosynthesis(plants making food for themselves using sunlight, carbon dioxide and water) the chloroplasts(specialised structures) inside leaves contain chlorophyll(green pigment that makes leaves green) which absorb energy from sunlight. This absorbed energy is used to join the carbon dioxide and water together to form glucose. The plant then uses this glucose as its energy source. The oxygen which is a waste product from this chemical reaction is then released into the atmosphere. Who would have thought!!
Plant a few and look after them….
As Autumn comes to a close and winter starts to move in(although we’ve had the mildest Autumn on record) I thought I would finish these collection of posts which has been running during Autumn( if you were paying attention, you would have noticed) with some colourful deciduous leaves.
I love this time of year when the days are nice and mild, the nights are cool, the mornings are foggy and there’s a heavy dew. It reveals the snares created by spiders(their webs) and the dew droplets that hang precariously from them and plants. Sometimes they just look fake because their so odd-looking. For this little show of nature you need to be up early or else you will miss it. Next time its foggy, get out there early and have a look because you won’t see this show during the day.
Autumn is a fantastic time for lots of different Salvia’s, and if your lucky and the weather is mild which it has been here, these plants will reward you with an amazing show of colour. Salvia’s are a great group of plants because they range from groundcover plants up to massive shrubs and even gigantic climbers if you happen to live in South America. Their colour palette is amazing too, ranging from white to nearly black and every colour in between. I could go on all day about them but that would bore some of you to tears. But I will show you some photo’s instead. Remember! this is only a sample of the hundreds and hundreds of Salvia’s that are available. Hope you enjoy!
Cheers!
Hope you enjoy these Roses that are putting on a good show in the middle of Autumn, I certainly am!
Cheers!
huon perennials 