Hi Daffnetters,
I am enjoying the flowers as they are slowly appearing in
the northern hemisphere. Like many, I was impressed with the tazetta flowering in the Roman ruins in Morocco. It certainly made me reflect on the time span involved in these early civilizations. The first wave of settlers to New Zealand were the native Maori tribes; probably from Melanesia or Polynesia ( Hawaiki ) in the Western Pacific about 1300 or 1350, well over a thousand years later. We are still a very young country.
We are having a wet early summer here and the ground is
quite heavy still. Bulb lifting is a little SLOW as I dodge the showers. I lifted the early tazettas, including some seed grown
Papyresus, probably similar to those in the Moroccan photo, just last week. A warning to other Kiwis still lifting — the tazettas are enjoying the wet season and have started
making new seasons root growth already. ! !.
Most of my lifting in the longer rows ( which are slightly
molded up ), is done with a modified plough that turns a shallow furrow, hopefully leaving the bulbs on the
top of the furrow or visible in the soil slope. I needed more crates, went to collect them and came back to see a helper inspecting the crop.He was on guard duty as his lady was feeding about a metre away. We have quite a few Quail around the area and they are semi — friendly, — I got up to about 12 metres away before they scampered away.
It all makes a long day more enjoyable.
Cheers John.
John,
What a beautuful bird – he even has a feather in his cap!
Brian
And isn’t he a handsome lad!!
Phyllis
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John, this may seem a silly question, but NZ Quail also call “Bob White”?
:)) Darrin Ellis-May
Usually in Georgia, USA
Currently in VERY windy Virginia, USA
In fact, it is the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) that calls
“Bob White”.
Instead, California Quail call “Chi-Ca-Go, Chi-Ca-Go” with the
stress on the second syllable.
The bird shown in John McLennan’s photo is a California Quail
(Callipepla californica). These birds have been introduced in New
Zealand, and have naturalized across almost all of New Zealand,
excluding Fijordlands and the Southern Alps, in the extreme southwest
of the country. (ref: Hand Guide to the Birds of New Zealand, Hugh
Robertson & Barrie Heather).
Melissa
At 09:33 AM 1/13/2012, you wrote: