Signs of Life.

I managed a short wander today, might have pushed a bit too much. It’s still something of a shock that I have so little energy to expend, and have to stop and rest so damn much. The dizziness and ocular toxicity don’t help. Probably not a good idea to go wandering with just Jayne for company, but he did good today, sticking fairly close to me. Slowly, things are coming to life here. I saw one butterfly and one wasp, desperately searching for blossoms, of which, we have none. Surprised I got a shot of the wasp, I was shooting blind, into the sun. Most stuff under the fold, click for full size.

Box Elder Maple.

Box Elder Maple.

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Jack’s Walk

I’m so excited. Today Jack and I found new leaves on the maples. They’ve come so quickly this year, almost overnight, that it’s a bit astonishing. It’s likely because our temps have gone from the zeros to the twenties this week and seem to be staying there. All those plants that were waiting for some warm are making up for lost time. My grass already needs cutting. What a strange year.

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Wacky Winter and a New Hope

I mentioned already that all three of my fig trees and most of my pomegranates seem to be dead. Today I glimpsed a hint of green at the base of all three fig trees and although most of the pomegranates are indeed dead, a few of them sprouted fresh leaves from their trunks too.

 

Dead fig treeSprouting leavessprouting leaves
sprouting leaves

There is still substantial and irreparable damage that nearly makes me cry, but if the roots are alive and strong, these buds can grow into a meter and half long and on the fig two centimeters thick sticks, so I might have figs again next year. Provided the winter will not be totally wacky again and will not finish what this one has started.

I think this is one of the personally visible consequences of global warming. Frost bellow -20°C would not be a problem for neither of these trees – all of them have survived multiple winters like that. But this year the frost came suddenly in February, after it was abnormally warm from November through to January. So it came when the trees were already preparing to wake up. I will have to think of something to shelter them from such abnormal weather in the future.

I was relieved to see that the grapevines survived without damage and are growing like mad. And a little surprised too – I expected the figs survive without problems and vines suffer damage..

Jack’s Walk

It’s a perfect day here. The sun is shining in a cloudless blue sky and it’s 21° with a light little breeze. Jack and I decided to go see if there were any flowers up yet at the park and we found daffodils. Lots of daffodils, all just newly opened and at their best. The tulips are up too, but they’re still a few days away from blooming. It was also nice to see the willows already fuzzy with new leaves. Now, I’m going to go find every excuse I can to be outside.

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F Is For Fantail Warbler and Fuinha-dos-Juncos.

Fantail Warbler. Fuinha-dos-Juncos.

Common English and Portuguese names for the bird Cisticola juncidis, here perched on a maize tassel. It’s a small insectivorous bird with a characteristic “zit…zit…zit…zit” call and a zigzagging flight, easy to spot in flight but not always easy to figure out where it landed, as it rarely chooses such a conspicuous perch as in this photo. A funny thing is the Portuguese common name, which means marten-of-the-reeds. Yes, marten as in the mustelid. I don’t know why.

Click for full size!

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