I posted my
last blog hoping that the whitetail deer didn't get sick from nibbling the potato leaves. The next morning I woke to find that they had returned during the night and had feasted on what was left - I'm now wondering how I can free up space in the freezer for 4 young ones!
I have rigged up a fence and hope that there's enough stem to keep the spuds growing in the bags - fingers crossed.
It was raining early yesterday morning so a good excuse to grab my camera and look around for things to photograph. First up were these two spiders by the ranchslider - is it a male and female or is it one spider capturing another? I think it's one for NatureWatch.
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| Not sure what the 'bubble' is on the smaller spider |
Next up was the woodshed. I've been watching a ?puffball fungi over the last week. Here it is on 22 February...
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| White ?puffball on the right, orange slime mould on the left |
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| A lumpy white thing! |
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| Close-up of the edge - nothing particularly distinctive |
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| Close-up of the orange slime mould |
A week later...
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| Full of a brown powdery substance - ?spores |
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| The orange mould has dried up but here's some other slime moulds on the stump |
The Chiloglottis cornuta orchid has finished flowering and its stem has suddenly shot up - I presume this is to spread its seed over a wider area.
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The flower stems are usually down near the ground but shoot up as
the ovary matures |
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| Close-up of the flower head and swollen ovary |
