It doesnt look like the first day of summer. It has been overcast all weekend and we had 7mm of drizzle yesterday and overnight. It hasnt been cold enough for a fire, but its not really warm either. There has been a cow in the bush, near the stream, for a couple of days, but there is no sign of it now, so hopefully someone has got it out and it isnt just hiding. There is no real damage that I could see, just grass eaten and squashed down.It must have come up or down the stream and then climbed the bank. Clare saw a patch of grass flattened beside the gate onto the drive so I guess that is where it was taken out.
The swallows have built two new nests after the first one came down once the babies had left. I wonder if they sometimes break down the old nest when they are finished with it as this is a common pattern. The first of the two new nests ids in the old spot over the kitchen window, but the other one is just out from our door. I am pretty sure that there is only one pair of birds active there, so maybe he built one and she built one. Neither appear to be occupied yet. We wont be here for the rest of the month so they can use whichever one they choose and then the one by the door will have to go.
The strange sounding Tui, if that is what it is, is still very vocal and it seems to have taught another the same call. Four or five high notes in rapid succession. Several Tui are still visiting the last of the Whariki, Mountain Flax, flowers beside the house and down the drive. They have also just started visiting the first flowers on the Harakeke, Swamp flax. There are over a dozen of these along the edge of the wetland and in the damper and more open parts of the slope up to the house.
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| Harakeke |
I saw and heard a Hedge Sparrow yesterday. It is easy to understand how he could go unnoticed as his song, while enchanting, is at a low volume and the birds brown coloration and shy habits add to the difficulty identifying him. We also frequently hear Chaffinches and Yellow Hammers while sitting with the door open. I have suggested to several people that listening to the calls on You Tube is a good way to identify the birds around.
The swallows are back and forth a lot this morning. I am picking they will start to lay soon. Maybe the reason they built two nests is the shelf that I put up for them. It has moved while or since they built and this could have been off putting and convinced them to build further along. I have now stabilized the shelf with a second screw, so hopefully that will encourage them to use the nest further from the door.
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| The new Swallow nest |
It hasn't been spraying weather this weekend, but we will need to get onto that job soon. the Tradescantia is moving rapidly down amongst the Kahikatea and weeds are coming up on the drive too.
I found an unusual fern along the drain bank at home and it appears to be a Royal Fern,
Osmunda regalis. Seemingly it is a problem weed in some of the wetlands around the Waikato so I had better get rid of it before it produces spores. Apparently it needs metsulfuron to kill it.
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| Osmunda regalis |
I saw the first cicada of the season for me this morning. I think it is a Clay Bank Cicada. Olly Hills and his mum have put together a really useful book of New Zealand Cicadas. It has good photos of almost all of our species and a helpful guide to identifying them. This one is on a Poroporo leaf showing lots of holes from the little bronze beetle which is so common around here in the warmer months and attacks a range of plants including Titoki.
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| Clay Bank Cicada |
The little beetles always are quick to jump off when they notice you, but Ian tells me he has had some success by spaying flyspray onto the plants and the ground beneath them when these little fellows are making a real mess of the plants.
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