Slow walking

How slow can you walk? I took a slow walk around my rat traps today and what would normally take 5-10 minutes took 2 hours - but I discovered a heap of things along the way. Our Labour Weekend weather has been a tad wintry with low temperatures, rain, hail, thunderstorms and wind. Nice and cosy inside my home but cabin fever set in and when the sun shone this morning I escaped!

First off, I discovered that the white blotch I could see from the lounge wasn't a bit of lichen, it was a mass of puawānanga, Clematis paniculata, the native clematis. In going for a closer look, I realised that blackberry vines were everywhere so went back for my camera and some secateurs.

 

Continuing around the boundary, I came across a number of tutukiwi or greenhood orchids, one of the Pterostylis species - I'll keep an eye on them and put up some photos when they are flowering.

 

Heaps of young tutukiwi

 A bit further on were more orchids, this time I think it's the peka-a-waka or bamboo orchid, Earina mucronata. It was growing at the junction where two trees met - one a live kamahi and the other a large dead trunk, possibly a rimu, see the pictures below. I'll be putting the photos up on NatureWatch to get an expert's identification.

 

Can you see the bamboo orchid towards the top of the photo?

Kamahi on the left, ?rimu trunk in the middle

 New Spring growth takes many forms; I love the new shoots on horoeka, Pseudopanax crassifolius, or lancewood - so delicate and soft at this stage.

 

 

Not quite as noticeable but just as perfect are the coprosma flowers - I won't even attempt to identify them but I love the way the 'petals' curl up.

 

Another coprosma but with a very different flower arrangement

I came across several deposits of whitetail poo out in the wetland area where the clematis was flowering - I guess there's new grass shoots in amongst the blackberry.

 



Think about slowing down on your next walk - I'd love to hear what you find :)