Seasonal Update – May 29th

Today is an indication that the season of Djeran is waning into Makuru. The temperature has dropped and heavy rain has occurred throughout the night.

These are the names of the seasonal changes/times as observed by the local Menang people in this region of Western Australia. We are moving from cool and pleasant into the cool and wet.

It hasn’t stopped me from the occasional beach swim but it is a time when I begin to let the garden do its own thing. I will scatter seed and let winter greens take hold. A new consideration this year is going to be planning ahead for animal feed. The guinea pigs are hungrier during the colder temperatures and our two rabbits, Sprout and Marshmallow, are growing and have considerably increasing appetites. They also have an increased appetite due to the colder weather.

This is where the Tagasaste have really paid off. Not only in shade, but also now in providing an easily accessible food source that is relished by both guinea pigs and rabbits. Even down to stripping the outer bark clean of the branches. Native honeyeater species feed on the flowers of the trees also, which are starting to open. So it’s a handy food source for the colder months. I have seen New Holland Honeyeaters, Brown Honeyeaters, Western Spinebill and Western Silver-eyes feeding in the trees. During spring when the pods are developing and summer, when they are ripe and full of the mature seeds, we have had Twenty-eight Parrots, Red-capped parrots and Western Rosella regularly calling in to sit high in the branches and feed on the seeds.

Djeran is probably one of my favourite times of the year. Not being one to favour any particular season when growing up in Perth (I enjoyed them all), here it is distinctly pleasurable. The days are warm to hot, the wind is almost absent, the nights cool and make for easy sleep. Then there are the changes that flavour the season. It’s the local apple/pear/quince/persimmon season. The garden gets another lease of life. I sometimes call it the ‘second spring’ where there is a sweet spot for sunlight hours with the addition of overnight rain showers. After the exhaustion of summer and the drying, drying easterly winds of Bunuru, the land has a reprieve and newly sown seeds will flourish. The White-tailed Cockatoos have been passing this way throughout the summer months, but as the rains gather I expect to see more of them and in larger flocks as they ready for the breeding season.

It is also the time of year when those who are up early can witness some amazing sunrises. Images don’t really do them justice. In some instances the sky is a glow of orange, but comes across as closer to pink in digital images. This is not so much a dilemma as an observation. Really, I post the images here to convey a visual sense of what is happening. More often I am standing at the beach staring into their warming colours and appreciating the moment. Sometimes I am treading water, eyes closed and face directed at the rising sun to feel it’s warmth on my face. Or hiding from it’s intensity under the shade of the wattle foliage up on the hill. Grateful for the little forest that has sprung up quickly and will give rise to a more permanent one.