Jack’s Walk

Milkweed, ©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack and I are having a better day today. It’s still humid, but the temp plummeted overnight and today it’s a reasonable 22 º.  We actually went for a real walk around the neighbourhood this morning and just down the street we found a front garden full of milkweed. When I was young I used to love pulling the pods apart and playing with the silk and it was awfully tempting to pluck one today. Instead, I took this photo, but the desire is strong and I cannot guarantee that I won’t pick one later.

Pollination Party – Moths 1

More perfect shots from Nightjar, this time Hummingbird Hawk Moth Macroglossum stellatarum.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

It reminded me of a fun anecdote – during my studies at uni, one of my half-classmates mentioned one evening in the pub that he has observed a beautiful hummingbird in his garden. Pedantic killjoy as I am, I have pointed out that there are no hummingbirds in Europe, so what he has in fact observed was in this moth.

It was mildly embarrassing moment, because he was his half-classmateship was the biology half (me studying Biology-Chemistry, him studying Biology-IT). But there was no real reason for him to be embarassed. Nobody has perfect knowledge about everything and their similarity to hummingbirds in flight is really uncanny.

I have seen these beautiful moths occasionaly in my garden, but never when I had camera in hand.

 

 

Roses

Nightjar has sent us some roses today and they’re all so pretty that I just can’t pick a favourite. The white rose looks so delicate and fresh, the yellow rose has that beautiful salmon blush and that last rose is bold and bright in shades of fuschia. Even better, they’re all memory roses from the garden of someone special. Nightjar says,

These are not from my garden, but from my grandma’s garden that since she died is kind of abandoned. I still go there sometimes to deweed a few things, but I don’t have enough time to properly care for it. Somehow, beautiful flowers still grow there every year, including these roses! The house is about to be rented, and from what I heard about the family that will move there, I’m hopeful they will keep the garden alive. But I will make a few cuttings of these roses, just to be sure…

 

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Itsy Bitsy Spider (for real)

Wonderful photos and a tongue in cheek title from Nightjar, who says,

Prompted by Charly’s post “Itsy Bitsy Spider (Not)”, here is a really itsy bitsy spider I found on one of my zinnia flowers. Not bigger than a typical ant, I only spotted it because it is totally not camouflaged.

Nope. Definitely not camouflaged, but certainly very, very small. Good eye, Nightjar. Thanks for sharing.(click for full size)

A tiny Crab Spider on a Zinnia, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Tiny Crab Spider, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

A Living Remembrance

Nightjar has sent us photos of a Barberry shrub that she planted in remembrance of Caine. She says:

Here are the photos of the shrub I planted in her memory, it was in such a small pot and badly in need of being planted. The colour red, thorns and berries that attract birds are all things Caine loved, and that’s what made me pick this shrub.

That’s a beautiful way to remember someone, Nightjar. I know Caine would approve. Thanks for sharing.

Barberry shrub, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Thorny and Red, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Berries, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

More thorns, ©Nightjar, all rights reserved

 

 

Not an Alien Facehugger.

The crab spider on our Sunflower has grown pretty big and fat. The diet of bees apparently suits it well (I have seen it to eat another unfortunate bee).

I think this picture shows how the spider manages to subdue much bigger prey without falling off the plant with it during the struggle, although I have not had the luck to see it in “action”. You can see that the spider has built a small web and has thus essentially tethered itself with spider silk to the plant. Ingenious.

©Charly, all rights reserved. Click for full size.

Barcelona: The City 5: Streets

While there are few green areas in the centre, there are wonderful planted balconies and lovely squares. One thing is that apart from the pretty fountains there are water fountains everywhere that keep the population on two legs as well as four legs hydrated.

A balcony with overgrowing plants

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Fountain in the middle of a sunlit place.

©Giliell, all rights reserved

Pigeons bathing in a fountain.

Another pigeon bath
©Giliell, all rights reserved