I had thought we might have had our first frost this morning. But no, just a heavy dew. It wasn’t too cold, just fresh as I headed off for my morning routine. You could tell it was going to be a nice day, with the promise of sunshine. It was such a relief not to be wearing a raincoat. High ‘mare’s tail clouds’ made it seem that there was a bit of a Nor’Wester up in the atmosphere. I didn’t know there is a small rhyme about mare’s tail clouds: “Mares‘ tails and mackerel scales make lofty ships to carry low sails.” Apparently they can be an indication that rain is on the way – what? More rain (sigh!).
I was captivated by spider webs again this morning. As I walked the sun was rising over the Radiant Range and it captured the webs that were laden with dew. They are on gorse bushes, rushes, low-lying foliage and set into banks and fissures on the side of the track. I didn’t venture too far into the bush – too wet! It is interesting that many of the webs on the rushes have long stabilizer like lines that secure the web to its place on the rushes.I suppose that is insurance against wind or hazards like myself walking through them. These threads are often surprisingly long, but very difficult to photograph as they are so small and fragile. I am constantly amazed and delighted by them!
Walking up the hill was still a bit of a slog but having so much to look at and enjoy is a nice distraction. I was thinking today that when I look back on this time of lockdown I will be thankful for the time I have had to get to know my home turf so much more intimately. Although I aim to be back home before Kayden has to start his lessons there really is no rush and I can simply enjoy the moment – such a special treat. When I was walking up the Loop Track I took a really close look at all the plants that are growing on the ponga tree trunks. Often we just think of a tree trunk as plain ol’ bark, but these are nurseries for many new plants growing. There is no waste in nature!
The rest of my day was pretty mundane. I helped Kayden with his school work.I had a Skype conference with some other conservation dog handler folk. I did some gardening and tidying up outside. I finished my book (a very good read) and I have all but finished my jersey. I’m a little disappointed with the jersey because it is too long and because of that the pockets are too far down to be useful! I will maybe have to knit more pockets and sew them on. Otherwise it will be warm. I’ll take a photo tomorrow in the daylight.
Tomorrow I have a zoom meeting to prepare for going back to work. My work to catch kiwi with transmitters on is considered necessary and reasonably urgent. Two of the birds have transmitters with the batteries due to expire in April (this month right!), so hopefully with Mica’s help we can get new transmitters on before the current ones expire and go flat. I’ll leave you with a photo from 2019 that gives an idea what that is all about.
Wild4eva 