I'm a surrogate mother a thousand times over! I've been saving the litter from the mealworm beetles and the eggs have hatched into tiny worms. They are well camouflaged in the bran flakes but if you watch closely, you'll see the flakes moving and then you realise that there's hundreds of wee wrigglers.
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| New baby mealworm - one of the biggest ones! |
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| Lots of beetles laying heaps of eggs |
A slightly different crop, but just as amazing, was being able to have newly-dug potatoes for Christmas. I was late planting the potatoes that had sprouted in the vege drawer so was surprised to get any and the latest plant I dug up had these 5 potatoes - plus two that were being eaten by wireworm, quite a nuisance here. These ones have quite yellow flesh when they are cooked but taste really yummy.
The birds couldn't care less about my potatoes though as they have their own 'nectar of the gods' with the flax flowering extra well this year. The window by my desk at work faces out on to stunning flower spikes and I'm entertained by the birds sliding their bills into the flowers and sipping the nectar. Hard to get a good camera shot though as they don't stay still for long.
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| A juvenile tui trying to get the hang of sipping |
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| Dawn silhouette at the front of my boundary |
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| A tui and a kaka having an early breakfast |
Watching birds in the evening is more fun than watching TV although maybe I'd make an exception for Stephen Fry's QI that's on Prime at 7pm every week night. QI stands for 'quite interesting' although could just as easily stand for 'Quizzed Intellectuals'. Give your brain a stretch and catch an episode or two.
