Capture: Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand
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Waxeye outside the kitchen window this morning. I had never stopped to watch them and find out how they feed. This one is bending backwards to get his fair share of kowhai treat.
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Lilith __, in reply to
Waxeye outside the kitchen window this morning.
Beautiful! And yes, waxeyes are not fussy about which way up they are. ;-)
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SPRING! Here come the leaves : )
Toon.
Silver Birch.And anemone from the great florist in Kingsland.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Toon.
We've got lots of them or something closely related up here, called 香椿/xiāngchūn, Chinese toon, Toona sinensis. The xiāng means 'fragrant', chūn simply means 'Chinese toon'. The leaves, at least of saplings and younger trees, are edible and used as a herb - though I must admit to not liking the flavour and have no idea how they are cooked. The bark (椿白皮/chūnbáipí) is apparently also used in Chinese medicine, though I can't figure out what for. In spring I see some of my neighbours picking toon leaves from some of the rather young, short specimens in the garden downstairs.
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Nora Leggs, in reply to
I think they are probably the same, I have heard these called Chinese Toon. Interesting stuff though, I'd never have thought of eating them! Must watch out for locals harvesting Toons.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
I learnt about toons only after I escaped Tianjin and got back to the relative civilisation of Beijing. 'Relative' because the school I was working at that first year back wasn't the best. I had to spend my first summer teaching up in Changping District Monday to Thursday, weekends in Haidian in the northwest of downtown Beijing. Changping I really didn't like, and still don't having driving through a bit more of it since then, but the campus up there offered me either a dorm room or a basic apartment to stay in Monday to Thursday. I took the apartment, and it turns out my neighbour was a really friendly bloke who worked in the admin office of my department who would regularly call me over and show me various bits of the local flora and fauna. He'd picked a few toon leaves on his way back from picking up his daughter from kindy and saw me and explained what these leaves were all about and showed me various examples of toons in the immediate vicinity from the tiniest saplings to quite mature trees.
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Well my goodness me. I thought the trees you call toon were the rhus, a different tree altogether.
The Chinese toon trees (now I know what they're called) grew sparingly in Rotorua where I admired them. But in Whangarei they spread and coppiced or suckered like weeds and I had to remove them. Like the Taiwanese cherry they were taking over the bush and roadsides.
I'm sure both these trees are beautiful and trouble free in their native homes.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
Wow! Whangarei and Rotorua are very different climates from north China. But I see it grows natively across a wide swathe of southeast and east Asia. I had no idea. Clearly quite a versatile species, then.
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Hebe,
The Christchurch Botanic Gardens today.
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Taken by Josephine this morning whilst on her morning stroll around Hamilton Lake
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And another
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Just one more
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Cecelia, in reply to
A very handsome and reflective birdie
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Hebe, in reply to
What fine chicks and pukeko. Do you know what the chicks are -- I have not seen anything like them before.
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Geoff Lealand, in reply to
Not sure--either pukekos or coots. I will ask Josephine when she returns from the school ball (patrolling the bushes, I suspect); I am home playing Cinderella.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Pukekolings?
And another
what fabulous chicks!
paging Dr Seuss, please call
at the life drawing ward... -
Spring includes Kunekune piglet.
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Jos,
Great shots, and yes they are coot chicks, some even call them cute.
Amazing little piglet!The pongas are going for it.
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Fronds in need.
Spring camp activities.
Flying fox.
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Chris Waugh, in reply to
That flying fox looks very much like the one at the former Salvation Army Camp Akatarawa. I had a lot of fun on that as a kid.
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JacksonP, in reply to
I had a lot of fun on that as a kid.
This is at Carey Park in Oratia, West Auckland. Pretty good set up.
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On such a lovely spring day, I thought I would take Ruby and her friend Rocco to Bethells Beach (Te Henga) for a romp and a runaround. So very glad I did - they had such a lovely time.
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And the cave was very worthy of exploring.
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Jos,
And after reading about them in the paper this morning I tried onion weed flowers on my cheese sandwich. They were nicely garlicky oniony and I am still alive. Can recommend! Look purty too.
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Jos,
And we have evidence of baby plums
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