Sunday, March 8, 2009

Signs of Drought and Heat

Last week the area experienced high winds, around 100 kph, so we were wondering how many trees might have come down. Luckily, very few - mostly branches, like the one above. The trouble is, when you take a closer look, there's an obvious reason why the branch decided to drop. It was rotten inside. Makes us wonder how many more are like this.



One of the effects of the continuing hot weather and drought which is most apparent to us is the butterfly population. I had great hopes around Christmas that our butterflies would be back in big numbers this year - they've been declining in the past six years. Yesterday, instead of being surrounded by them as I walked, there were just a few here and there. Hopefully, the ones I saw a couple of months ago went around madly procreating for the next season. The most common ones are yellow and brown (several different species), but of course once they land and close their wings, they disappear! This one obligingly opened up a couple of times.


 
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