Dear Steve
Gilbert mentions Guernsey lizards being introduced at Oxford but not breeding. Is that the case? If so, are we lucky that we weren’t overrun? For how much damage do we blame people from the 1600’s onwards for the introduction of species from overseas that were incompatible with the UK?
Witnessing the migration of birds raises a question in my mind regarding starlings; do they migrate? I have seen none for several weeks now, and cannot believe they would ignore the food in the garden, even if insects were abundant and the like. Consultation with Google indicates they our starlings do migrate.
I had a bit of an experience with the clouds; I’d sat in the chair outside the shed, with my head back. It was quite breezy at ground level, and it made me wonder about how fast the higher clouds might be moving, but the perspective was relative; they were apparently crawling along.
Then there were the butterflies; strangely enough, they didn’t appear to be at all disrupted by the wind. I couldn’t help wondering if they were just amazing at calculating their paths, or if they did just go with the flow. Having said that, they didn’t appear to be interrupted in their flight path, even when there was a strong gust.
The highlight of the week came when I said I’d have another look at the passion fruits. The pods are now turning orange, so I cut one open to see what had changed since my first examination. The difference was remarkable.
Cutting it open was a fascinating experience; the outer shell came away very easily as I moved it away, and I found the inside to be very soft, very pleasant to the touch. The seeds were now bright burgundy red, and all clustered together in a protective membrane. I cut the membrane open; the seeds were individually moist, but there was no general moisture, and no smell. Of course, I took photos, something that Gilbert would not have been able to do. I think he would have loved some of the tools we have available to us today.
All The Best
Bill
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