Surprise Treasure

This week I was picking up my post in South Perth, just like on any other day of the year, walking past the same bushes I see every day and was almost bowled over by the sight of this. What I had thought for years was just another Bottlebrush was a Bird’s Beak Hakea in full bloom.

The seed pods look just like small birds keeping watch over the blooms. These flowers, in turn, bloom directly out of the branches, not out of stems like any other plant.

Sometimes the most amazing things are there to be discovered on a perfectly ordinary day. (You can click on the images to expand them and see the bird- shaped seed pods.)

What have you seen recently that took your breath away?

Storm Damage

The recent storms across Perth certainly tested the river walls. Here are some photos of the Como beach area, showing the effect of waves, active erosion close to the freeway and the greater effect of back- flow erosion after waves, with traffic in the close background. (Click on the images to enlarge them.)

Here, too, are some pictures of the palm trees, a few weeks before, and then during the storms. Previous weather events had removed nearly all of the root supports for these trees. The City of South Perth wisely removed the trees when the weather forecast predicted storms. Had they not done so I am sure that the trees would have crashed across the bike path and affected freeway traffic.

  The world is in constant change, and always has been. Our challenge is to manage our place in this change.

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