Good morning, we had the most awful Spring storm here last night, with winds in places at 60 mph and over 2inches of rain. But here a few minutes ago by our local woods this little Greater stitchwort Stellaria holostea opening up all on it's own made us smile.
Just to add to the conversation about the Vancouver weather (the Reddit servers are being flaky at the moment, so this may have to be revisited later if you get a Reddit is down page): Vancouver had 204 sunny hours during April 2021, 91 hours above the median of 113 hours: https://www.reddit.com/r/VancouverW...couver_had_204_sunny_hours_during_april_2021/ For the 1st time in recorded history, Vancouver had more than 200 hours of bright sunshine during an April (April 2021) : For the 1st time in recorded history, Vancouver had more than 200 hours of bright sunshine during an April (April 2021).
Tbh Daniel, it was very bright over here in April, but also the coldest recorded in over 60 years. Some strange records being broken everywhere it seems.
We were able to enjoy our walk at the dog park without having to rush back home today. I was also lucky enough to have my camera with me today because I saw a very unusual bird (I was thinking of leaving my camera at home because I was going shopping after our walk) . I had seen this bird about 3 weeks ago but thought maybe I was wrong in what I saw. And then we saw it again today and I was able to snap a couple of photos. The bird itself is nothing unusual - an American robin - but it has leucism, so some of the feathers are white (sorry, the picture is a little grainy because I had to zoom to get the photos). Ponderosa pine ? Bleeding hearts Horse chestnut American robin
I post this one specially for you Margot. I decided not to post this shot originally because it does not show the characteristic redstem due to the angle of light.
Hi there @pmurphy - that photo of Aesculus hippocastanum looks so much like a rhodo blossom at first glance. Lovely if you take the time to look.
Good morning everyone, we had a long walk along the River Itchen this morning and whilst there we were quite shocked at the state of the river. It has been the driest April (on record) and the coldest in over 60 years. But to see this made us step back and take stock at how dry things really are here now. We have never seen it like this and especially at the beginning of May. Yes, it looked like this in August 1976, but now!!!!? But then in our local woods we came across this that cheered us up.
One thing I remember about the proliferation of berries was this. If the birds leave the berries on the trees, it's going to be a nasty winter. If they eat the whole lot, then it's going to be mild. Maybe we should replace all those high priced meteorological prognosticators with the birds!
With apologies for the late reply Daniel, it appears that this phenomenon carried over to the Shuswap part of the province. We had many sunny and warm days here, and that is what prompted us to add a filter cloth to the greenhouse in order to keep the temperature somewhat lower. May, thus far, has definitely been much cooler and wetter.
Here's a much closer version of the ornamental onion with a bee! Val shot these with her cell phone yesterday.
And a hummingbird! Anna’s or Rufous - I don’t know ÉDIT - i think a female Anna’s - a summer visitor to coastal BC Flower - Commonly called Columbine (Latin: aquilegia) Some old timer gardeners and vintage seed packs call it « granny’s bonnet » It is found wild in BC and Washington and the Alberta Rockies —- and fill me in about elsewhere The wild ones I see in Okanagan and south in same valley are tomato soup red w some yellow and bloom in mid June and bloom In moist areas (but not soggy) E-Flora BC: Species Search Page In the garden at coast - they self seed freely - i think they are lovely I believe technically this is a 2-year plant ... meaning it blooms and seeds spread in 2nd yr then the 2yr old dies off (biennial?)
That one is an Anna's. The Rufous are a very reddish brown with some bright red. Anna's overwinter here, but I believe the Rufous head for warmer climes in winter.