Right next to the deck on the western side are two palm trees that are constantly putting out flower branches, tiny delicate pale yellow flowers that develop into little green berries about the size of a peanut. Honeybees visit these flowers daily and compete for nectar with the banaquits, whilst the sparrows feed on the “nuts”, and there is one large lizard that lives on both trees and defends his/her territory viciously.
At the base of the palms where there are exposed roots, old stumps and new shoots, there are also sometimes some giant African snails that seek shelter during the day from the scorching sun, only to re-emerge at dusk to forage for food. Early in the morning you can see an army of snails heading out of the bush and back to gardens to shelter for the day - sometimes it’s hard to tell which are snails and which are fallen leaves as they can look so similar until you get quite close.
About seventy or so feet behind my deck is a huge bearded fig tree, and the space between deck and tree is an open grassed area - not special grass, just ordinary “sour” grass that we keep mowed and neat and tidy. But the blackbirds (grackles) love this space. A flock will arrive and march forward together like a little army, turning over leaves as they search for food. Then they fly back as one to where they had started and march forward again. Various doves like this space too and they bob along looking for food and twigs with which to build nests.
In the evenings, around sunset, the sky over this open area is alive with birds and bats catching insects mid-flight, especially if there has been rain as the air is alive with flying termites, rain ants, tiny moths and a multitude of flying insects. The bats are in constant motion as they swoop down to catch their supper. The rain birds (also called king birds) dive off their perch on a branch or neighbour’s fence to catch an insect mid-flight before returning to their perch before flying off again.
If there has been rain, an army of frogs also appears from nowhere and make their way to the bushes. They’ve been hiding in flower beds, plant pots and burrowed down in the grass waiting for the sun to set before making their entrance for a night of hunting and mating. These frogs (they are actually toads, cane toads), will be anywhere from two inches to six inches in length from nose to tail and they are very hardy, surviving through months of drought seemingly unaffected by the lack of moisture. Then there are the tiny little whistling frogs that come out at dusk and create a cacophony of sound, particularly if there has been rain. They too survive the dry weather and appear in droves during the rainy season, singing their song to attract a mate.
In the heat of the day, appearing to hover on the strong wind currents above the grass are hoards of dragonflies (I’m not sure what you call a group of dragonflies - a swarm, a flock, a bunch?). They don’t seem to move forwards or backwards, but they work as cyclists in a peloton, with the leaders breaking off and dropping to the back of the pack so that a new set can take over. They stay there for hours, and sometimes, if I’m really lucky, one will come down low just a few feet away from me, and I can see the beautiful iridescent reds, greens, purples and blues of their body.
To be continued ...
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