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                         a   S T A M M E R  project              

2007 November 3 & 4, Saturday & Sunday

Autumn is at its peak now. The oak forest shows all kinds of colours between green, brown and yellow, offering a nice background for the red colour of the Dogwood.

Overview of the terrain, looking north-west.
Sunday 15:09

Dogwood (Cornus sanguinea) on the central eastern terrace.
Sunday 11:43

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Autumn is also the period to revise and clean the nest boxes. Only one box had really been used for a nest but it was an impressive one, with a moss layer of more than 10 cm. During summer I had spotted some Bluetits (Cyanistes caeruleus) going inside and also the box opening of 28 mm allows principally these birds. In the other boxes we only detected some bird shit and moss leaves.
 

We also revised and refilled the different bird feeders. After some experience (see the affair with the Wood mouse) we put  some feeders in a more inaccessible and open position.

The nest box for Bluetits (ex-drawer) on a Portuguese Oak of the neighbouring wood.
Saturday 16:51

A bird feeder hanging in an almond tree on the central western terrace.
Sunday 11:20

Bird feeder on the central terrace.
Sunday 11:21

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A typical but striking appearance for this time of the year is this heavily pregnant Cross spider (Araneus diadematus ). It is a very common spider but when the female is carrying the eggs inside its size becomes quite exotic, with a body length of almost 20mm, and also its colours may vary considerably. This one was ochre which seemed an adaptation to the current aspect of the terrain. After the deposition of the eggs the mother spider will die and the eggs will have to survive the winter.

A Cross Spider (or European Garden Spider) on the iron garden table.
Sunday 10:49

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Still detecting new plant species. This time a grass species that was even fullly flowering; not very common for this time of the year. It is Dichanthium ischaemum, a perennial grass whose dark red colour seems to advertise its haemostatic qualities. It prefers dry and sunny places and that is exactly the predominating weather for some months now: temperatures go down to zero in the early morning but during the day they still reach 15º to 20º C with clear skies, no rain and little wind. Very pleasant weather actually but the farmers are getting worried about their winter cereals and also the terrain doesn't look half as green as it looked last year's November. The almost complete absence of mushrooms is another clear signal.

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The Stonecrops of the rock garden (Sedum sediforme, S. album and S. acre) are feeling quite comfortable with this kind of weather. They suffer little competition and are expanding their territory.

The rock garden on the lower northern terrace.
Sunday 12:01

introduction
floristic catalogue
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gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
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>> 2007 Dec  1
<< 2007 Oct 13