Natural splendour, real musics, wines, wordpower
This is a sequel to the immediately preceding post.
It involves the same vantage point, on the same morning, but this post’s image (copyright Doug Spencer) was taken 13 minutes later, at 7.03 am, with a longer lens. (400mm, effectively)
Again, its musical complement is the work of a troubled genius who died young.
One CommentIts tautological title notwithstanding, the song is one of the loveliest “jazz standards”.
As is true of many “jazz standards”, it was not written as a jazz song.
This post’s photo (copyright Doug Spencer) was taken recently on a beautiful Spring morning in my favourite “Deep South”.
Australians do not need a passport to access it, but internal border closures currently render it “off limits” to most Australians.
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…most people who visit Margaret River – frequent visitors included – have never set foot in, laid eyes on, or paddled a canoe, in some of the area’s choicest places.
One CommentMost – around 80% – of southwestern Australia’s flower species are endemic.
Many naturally only occur in very particular, small portions of WA’s southwest.
Almost all are extraordinary.
Some are very obviously beautiful and/or highly unusual.
Others – this one, for instance – only reveal their singularity if you stop walking, get your head down to where the flower is, and look closely.
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When in full bloom, yesterday and today’s featured species lives up to its common name, but on one side only.
Comments closedPhoto (copyright Doug Spencer) shows a much-loved, petite and uniquely southwest Australian flowering plant at 4.05 pm on 21 September 2020.
Probably, its flower would have “opened for business” on 22 September.
Comments closedIn 37 years of visits to Albany (on Western Australia’s south coast) we had failed to achieve a key ambition: to experience a major storm there.
A few days ago, nature finally obliged; the image shows Lowlands Beach at 3. 54 pm on Sunday 20 September 2020.
Joseph Tawadros provided this post’s suitably tempestuous music.
Comments closed…at least if you are a Kangaroo Paw, seeking effective pollinators,
All Kangaroo Paw species primarily rely on birds; for them, bees are “useless”.
Kangaroo Paws are not alone in relying on vertebrate pollinators; in this respect, Australia’s southwest is the world leader.
And many West Australian plants that do rely on insect pollinators are “liars” – plants pretending to be “receptive” insects!
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…but bees are of little or no use to this – or any other – member of the Kangaroo Paw family!
A future post, coming soon, will explain why.
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The featured image shows Caladenia latifolia – the Pink Fairy.
If you are in southern Australia (Tasmania included), within one hundred kilometres of the Indian or Southern Oceans, and have access to somewhere bushy and sandy, chances are excellent that you can see this species in flower, right now…or very soon.
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