You have to look to see something

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Yesterday my wife and I paid a visit to our local botanical gardens. It’s that time of year when the leaves are falling, having passed the period of splendour when mother nature watercolours our world in autumnal hues. To be honest, the gardens looked drab and I was disappointed at how little there was to see. No colour. Nothing to detract from the dull grey-green of the vegetation now preparing for winter. To make matters worse, the dragonflies, a big attraction at the dam, are still underwater nymphs and will stay that way until spring, at least.

Suddenly I thought ‘hold your horses’, not that I can ride a horse – I mean they’re dangerous at both ends and uncomfortable in the middle. Anyway, I realised that if you want to see something, you have to look for something.

I started looking and started seeing things. Hidden amongst the foliage were tiny flowers. There wasn’t much competition so they probably don’t need to be big and bold to attract the pollinators. They simply have to be there. And they were big enough to catch my eye and make my day.

I went into the bird hide and, again, there was nothing to see. Until I focussed on a rustling in the reeds and spied a moorhen foraging. A slate grey bird with a flash of white on its wings and tail and a bright red beak tipped with yellow. (I couldn’t see them, but the moorhen has green legs and really long toes.) I sat for some time watching the bird, taking shots every now and then. Unfortunately, the surrounding reeds made a decent image impossible – but then who needs pictures when you can see the real thing. (Actually I do.)

My wife had sat on a park bench while I was in the hide. She’d been entertained by a family of double collared sunbirds – a male and two females.

The afternoon chill was moving in so we decided to call it a day and have coffee at the little restaurant on the way out of the gardens. Rounding the final corner of the path, there was another surprise – a dietes grandiflora, also known as the wild iris. The plant, as you can see above, provided a spectacular sighting.

I looked and I saw.