Nature notes 2026 (1)
Feb. 15th, 2026 09:04 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
anna_wingCool season is ending and the weather is getting warmer. The local deciduous tree (there is one species that I can see around; everything else is evergreen, like most tropical broadleaves) is shedding its leaves in preparation for aestivaton during the hot season. The Magpie-Robins have begun to sing in the early morning, to my joy, and a somewhat confused Greater Coucal started booming around 2 am, but has now worked out that it is supposed to be diurnal. The Yellow-vented Bulbuls have hatched two babies successfully, as usual in a tree within vertical jumping distance of Bus-stop Cat. This morning, he, Lap-Cat and Scaredy-Cat (Three-Legged Cat is not allowed out; due to liver issues he cannot tolerate anti-parasite medication and therefore has to be a strictly house cat) were sitting by the pool looking in the same direction i.e. the nest. So far there have been no attempts to eat them, possibly because they are all rather elderly now. However it is early days, and I am keeping my fingers crossed.
Airbnb has been upgraded! Last year the sparrow's nest behind the air-conditioner in the kitchen corridor fell and destroyed the eggs, so I got a proper birdhouse and hung it from the air-conditioner rack. It was occupied last month, and the hatchlings are now shoutind for food. The nest is much too high up for the Beastie Boys to get at, so they don't even bother to sit and stare hopefully.
The calamondin lime bush flowered like mad so it is covered in the usual small, round green fruits. The Adeniums are blooming vigorously as are the Bougainvilleas and the Almond Verbenas (Aloysia virgata). We planted seeds of an interesting red lady's-finger which all flowered last week, so hopefully the fruits will set.
We had to cut down the big jackfruit tree, unfortunately, because it was badly infected with some sort of fungus, that was going to bring it crashing down at some point.
Airbnb has been upgraded! Last year the sparrow's nest behind the air-conditioner in the kitchen corridor fell and destroyed the eggs, so I got a proper birdhouse and hung it from the air-conditioner rack. It was occupied last month, and the hatchlings are now shoutind for food. The nest is much too high up for the Beastie Boys to get at, so they don't even bother to sit and stare hopefully.
The calamondin lime bush flowered like mad so it is covered in the usual small, round green fruits. The Adeniums are blooming vigorously as are the Bougainvilleas and the Almond Verbenas (Aloysia virgata). We planted seeds of an interesting red lady's-finger which all flowered last week, so hopefully the fruits will set.
We had to cut down the big jackfruit tree, unfortunately, because it was badly infected with some sort of fungus, that was going to bring it crashing down at some point.
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Date: 2026-02-15 01:41 pm (UTC)I hope the cats don't make any murderous attempts on the baby birds.
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Date: 2026-02-15 04:10 pm (UTC)Like Helen, I hadn't known that deciduous trees aestivate in the tropics. How clever of them.
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Date: 2026-02-15 06:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-15 08:45 pm (UTC)That's lovely!
We're still quite cold here (tonight will be 27F/-3C), with snow and ice still on the ground from a big storm three weeks ago.