The short days and low temperatures of July bring out the Christmas Stars!
The one below was captured in the Botanical Gardens in Sydney where a big Poinsettia shrub is currently in flower.
Month: July 2012
The bats are gone!
Quietly lies the Sydney Botanical Garden these days without its furry winged visitors quarrelling vociferously high up in the trees.
Much to the delight of plant lovers and tree protectors the forced relocation of the bats last month turned out to be very successful for now. Many trees and palms fell victim to the sharp claws of the bats that cut into the bark tearing open conductive tissue. This weakens the tree over time until it reaches a point of no return and dies. Many valuable old trees perished this way.
The bats themselves might also be better off in other locations that are closer to food sources than their resting place in the CBD. Tracking their daily commutes the bats living in the Garden flew out further and for longer than they would typically do from a location that had food sources at a closer proximity.
This might be a comfort to those who prefer having the flying foxes in the Garden.
Where I will miss the flying foxes personally is not so much in the Garden, but seeing them fly out to their feeding grounds at dusk.
Unlike European bats that swish past faster than you can blink leaving nothing but a shadow, flying foxes slowly wave past, imprinting their batman silhouettes clearly into the sky.
And what a great sight it was to depict them circling above the above the Harbour Bridge pillars being lit up from below.
Being reasonable about the bats now gone from the Gardens is one thing. Nonetheless I feel a pang of disappointment that they are no longer part of the inner Sydney night sky.
NutsAboutPlants 