Thursday, July 14, 2011

Not-birding Reifel Island

There weren't many birds to be seen on Reifel Island this Tuesday afternoon, probably because the staff was out in force, mowing, cutting brush, watering. The rumble of mowers and carts was always in the background, and several of the paths we took turned out to be off limits for the day. Even the ducks had made themselves scarce; none followed us, quacking to get our attention; we didn't have to watch our step to avoid their toes. The few we saw were (mostly) sleeping on the lagoons.

Not a problem. It didn't spoil our enjoyment of the walk one whit. It's fruit and flower season; the paths were lined with all manner of goodies to exclaim over, to photograph. I've been sorting and id-ing our photos all evening.

For now, here are a few I couldn't identify, all from the same small patch. At the first crossroads, beside the log barrier, nestled in the grass is a mix of bright flowers, mostly tiny. The only ones I could name with any certainty were the forget-me-nots. But what are these?

This was maybe 1/2 an inch across. Along the stem, there is a wilted one, with the beginnings of the seed, then a developing pod. In the background, upper left, another pod is already round and fat.

I love these. I can't find them anywhere. 

(It's funny how, when I Google "five petals yellow and white flower", I get a page full of pink flowers, flowers with three petals, with dozens of petals, red flowers, yellowish pears, and a woman in a turquoise dress. If I add "mauve" for the upper petals, the fourth photo turns out to be a red strawberry.)

This next was a tallish, red-stemmed plant; the flower buds were covered with fine, white hairs.

Shape of the plant

Red, rosa mexicana, and a touch of white. Beautiful!

A mix of hairy stems, white flowers in a cluster (lower right), pink stars,  deep pink flowers (not the same as the ones above), and a small wild poppy.

I think this small patch must have been planted from a wild-flower mix; I don't think any of these are native, or even common invader plants. The rest of the ones we saw were; I'll post them tomorrow.

1 comment:

  1. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! I enlarged the pictures and am in awe of the beauty of these flowers - that first one is stunning.

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