I was walking the dog in Legacy Park when I spotted the distinctive shape of an ibis! It’s the first time I’ve seen one in America (they are very common in Australia). The white-faced ibis Plegadis chihi is sighted so infrequently in these parts that my birding apps didn’t even offer it as a possibility. But I checked with my naturalist friend Suzanne, and she confirmed the ID. It was a pretty metallic bronze-green colour. Made my day!
I spotted my first Say’s Phoebe yesterday morning. Such a pretty belly!
Coming up: a big batch of pesto.
Like yesterday’s lavender, basil is in the Lamiaceae family—along with mint, rosemary, sage, savory, marjoram, oregano, hyssop, and thyme, and other medicinal herbs such as catnip, salvia, bee balm, wild dagga, and oriental motherwort.
Lamiaceae stems are frequently square in cross section, but this is not found in all members of the family, and is sometimes found in other plant families. It’s a good indicator, but not dispositive. It’s the flower shape that really indicates belonging. Hmm, that’s a good topic for a future nature journal page.
The lavender’s fading, but the bees are still enjoying it.
The English word lavender came into use in the 13th century, and is thought to derive from Old French lavandre, ultimately from Latin lavare from lavo (to wash), most likely because crushed lavender flowers would be added to water for bathing, and washing hair and garments. It belongs to the Lamiaceae (mint) family.
These handsome flycatchers have been evident in the garden lately. So dapper!
Ugh. Another one down. I don’t know why there’s a sudden spate of collision deaths, but we need to do something about it right away.
It’s fun when your curiosity leads you to a new food growing in your yard. I saw these little purple fruit and wondered if they were edible — and yes, they are!
Fuchsia fruit can be substituted for berries in any recipe (teas, sauces, ice creams, jelly, tarts, pies, cheesecakes, pavlovas …) The biggest fruit-producing fuchsias are the single petal varieties (which is what we have.) But we’d need a lot more plants before we could count them as an actual food source. But still, I’m delighted with this new knowledge.
We’re enjoying these cheery winter garden visitors.
I think it was either a female or immature Allen’s hummingbird sitting still among the bougainvillea flowers. It was a fat, sturdy little thing with mostly grey colouring.
hashiworks 