Nature Notes ~ Locust Plague and Sudden Autumn Colour

Autumn has settled in, temperatures have plummeted, rose

hips are gleaming here and there on the verges of paddocks.

The birds are enjoying hawthorn berries. It all sounds

so tranquil,

the resident huntsman in the living room enjoys the warmth

of the wireless internet router,

but not all has been an unmitigated pleasure. At the end of

summer there was a major locust plague. The swarms were

aerially sprayed yet not eradicated. We did not have enough

to demolish our pastures but certainly more than I bargained

for. The first wave stripped all the leaves off our broad beans

and damaged a number of other plants. Thankfully, they left

the citrus trees intact.

Unfortunately they came again while we were away and stripped

all the leaves from all my grapevines that provide shade for the

front and back of the house and were full of ripening fruit.

With the loss of the leaves, the green fruit also fell robbing

both us and our visiting birds of a delicious food source.

Then there were the crickets in unmentionable numbers,

invading the house and taking their toll on the vegetation.

On top of that, the grasshoppers were also out in force.

On a lighter note, I found this beautiful Dragon fruit at our

farmers' market.

The first mouthful was very sweet but the flavour became rather

nondescript after a few spoonfuls. It is the fruit of a cactus and I

got a piece to strike as well. In a couple of years I may have a few

fruit to brighten up my fruit basket. Even if the taste is nothing

spectacular, it is high in vitamin C.

My pomegranates have turned colour and the fruit glows

like a ruby in it's golden setting.

The pin-oaks are providing extra colour in the park.

I will have to go out and capture the wonders of the changing

colours for you to enjoy with me as soon as we get a sunny day.

Enlarge if you wish, the pomegranate is worth it.

Thanks to Michelle at Rambling Woods we can air our observations in this meme.