From: James.Bannan@f109.n321.z1.fidonet.org (James Bannan)
Newsgroups: k12.sys.channel12
Subject: Global Environmental Watch
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 92 21:59:50 PST
Organization: FidoNet node 1:321/109 - Pioneer Valley PCUG, Amherst MA

 * Original to All @ 1:321/109.0
 * Forwarded 12 Oct 92 21:59:11 by Helen Sternheim @ 1:321/109.0
=======
This isn't weather Data, but does give one a feeling for what is happening.
Helen
=========

DATE:  10 October 1992
.
GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT WATCH
.
Global Environment Watch was conceived to link people around the world to share  
 their experiences and observations of the environment immediately around them.
It doesn't require anyone to be an expert, just prepared to write what they   
see.
The more we share the more we come to know about the global village of planet   
earth.
You may find things very similar or very different, or you may just find out   
more about where you live.  Whatever it is, share it with the rest of us.
.
LOCATION
Suburb of Ringwood; City of Melbourne; State of Victoria; Australia
Latitude: 37o 47 ' South.   Longitude 145o14' East
.
STUDY AREA
My backyard and Ringwood Lake.
.
THE WEATHER
We have been having a number of coldfronts coming through.  Spring here always   
tends to be wet and windy, but this year has been wetter than normal.  Even in   
outback central Australia where it has been reported they have in drought for 5  
 years has experienced rain.  They are having holiday trips into the outback to  
 show the wonderful wildflower display that our deserts are turning on just at   
the moment.  The bits they have shown on TV have been magnificent.
.
The weather at this time of the year normally follows of roughly weekly cycle   
of rain for a couple of days, improving to a nice fine sunny sunny day to   
deteriorating back to the rainy day.  At the moment though it is just wet, wet,  
 wet.
.
THE PLANTS
The daisies in the garden are all in bloom.  There are pinks, whites and   
yellows.  The make a lovely display.  The apple trees in the backyard are just   
starting to bloom.  The larger buds are starting first.  I've watched the   
apples bloom for years and I don't know if the flowers bloom before the leaves   
or the other way round.  We will have to have a closer look at that this year.
.
The Black Wattles (maybe they are Silver Wattles - l'll have to check that as   
well) have just about finished their yellow blooms for this year.  The lake was  
 full of dropped flowers.  The pollen from the flowers is really bad for some   
hayfever suffers here.  Some of the other natives are coming out into bloom   
now.  The Grevilleas, Callistemon and bottlebrushes are some of my favorite   
plants with their red hairy flowers brush through with yellow against the pale   
green of the leaves.
THE BIRDS
There  have been a few birds around the neighbour. Noisy miners and red wattle   
birds will have a feast on the native flowers that are coming into bloom. The   
Grevilleas are a favorite of the Red watties as the do acrobats to get into the  
 flowers that just dribble with sweet nector.   There have been two pied   
cormorants and a Great black Cormorant at the lake.  Normally means that they   
have stocked the lake with fish again.  I didn't see them the next day, maybe   
the pickings were slender.  Ringwood Lake in not much more than a reclaimed bog  
 from years ago, still it is a nice place to go for a gentle walk.
The Welcome Swallows at the school oval will have to nest in a new location   
this year as the verandah they use to nest under has been walled in to for a   
new room on the sports building.  I haven't found their new spot yet but they   
still hang around the general same area as in previous years. I understand they  
 tend to mate for life.
Looks like the plovers have nested on top of the gym, they are mad birds.  They  
 either nest on a roof or an open field but I can't say that they actually  
build  a nest. Trouble about a roof is that sometimes the chick walks off the  
edge.
The Black Swan at the lake is a little unfriendly at the moment.  He was   
brought to the lake with a female companion years ago, or so I'm told, except   
his mate didn't like the neighbour and duly flew home again.  Maybe she had   
another boyfriend.  Anyway, the male stayed but he his having a go at the dogs   
that are walked around the lake.  My Border Collie was barking at him.  I   
warned Patches, but did she listen, no ! She got nipped right on the snout.    
Swans have a very long neck (about 40 cm) and this has distinct advance in a   
fight. The swan swam all around the lake after the dog, waddled out and then it  
 was a stand off until powl! right on the nose.  Swans have three toed fully   
webbed feet which makes them very strong swimmers (or are they paddlers?).
The wood ducks are in greater numbers this year.  I think a number of the brood  
 from last year are back at the lake.  The lake isnt very big but it has a lot   
of visitors for picnics.  Last year I saw a brood of 15 chicks and most of them  
 survived.  This year I have seen one brood of four chicks. They would each fit  
 inside a tennis ball at the moment and they have no wings to speak of.  I  
think  they are about a week old.  Their parents are very protective and take  
them out  into the middle of the lake when anyone or thing comes near.  The  
lake would  hardly be 100 metres across at its widest point.  Most of it is  
much less.
THE ANIMALS
I saw the big old european carp again in the lake.  It must be also a legend in  
 it s own lifetime.  We have a lot of social fishing in the lake, particularly   
families when they come on picnics, that is why the local council often put   
fish into the lake.  I have a few people who have tried to catch it and failed.  
  Carp are a problem in Australia because they breed quickly and stir the   
waterways into a muddy reflection of their former clear water selves.  They not  
 as good to eat as some of the other varieties and it is an offence to throw   
carp back into the river.
THE MINI-BEASTS
Well, I know summer is coming.  I have maggots in my worm farm. Gross!  I   
haven't had any maggots all year till now.  I think I let them grow and then   
use them for fish bait when I go fishing with my uncle.  Everything is so damp   
that the minibeasts are thriving at the moment.  When the hot weather comes ad   
the undergrowth dries off a bit, the minibeasts will reduce in number. Just   
about under everything you lift up in the backyard has these little jumping   
bugs.  Normally they are about 2 -3 millimetres in size but things mus the good  
 because they are somewhat larger.  They actually don't jump, they are called   
Springtails.  They curl their tails up and then quickly flick it out.  This   
propels them great distances (30 - 50 cm) and then they can escape by crawling   
under a rock. leaf litter or log.
Gotta tell you some news.  I found a bull ants nest near the High School (big   
deal you say).  You want to see the size of these ants. Its not how many ants   
to the centimetre but how many centimetres to the ant.  AND THEY'RE MEAN   
LOOKING !!!!!.  They are nearly 2 cm long and have fierce pinchers on their   
heads.  The nest has about half a dozen openings in a metre diameter.  I can't   
recall seeing bull ants in that area before.  I wonder if one catch a ride in   
someone's car, or has been blown here on the winds we've been having lately.
Some of the wattles are showing the signs of mite attack.  The leaves develop    
a bubble or swelling on the leaves inside which the mite lives.  I don't know a  
 lot about them.  I should check this out further sometime.
.
Cheers for now  Jimbo Down Under.

  --- Ezycom V1.02 00f90012
   * Origin: City Limits -Education,Australia 6 lines (3:633/369)





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