This morning I was up early-ish so I could go for a walk along Himatangi Beach before the sun's rays got too intense. Here is a 'whirlygig' I saw on the sand- the rolling seed disperser for a dune building plant. If you walk along the beach on a windy day at the right time of year, you can see zillions of these rolling along on the sand. This one has been trapped in some driftwood, and thus the cycle might continue...
You can find a few more of my photos at the beach here.
I saw the photo before I read the text and it instantly reminded me of my Foxton teaching days and walking along the beach.
ReplyDeleteFoxton and Himatangi.... just one big long beach really!
ReplyDeleteA fascining piece of duneland ecology you have taught us MB! A nice change from toilets and sewers ;-)
ReplyDeleteActually we learned a little about dunelands in the NZ Flora paper last year. I might do another post on the Nomad blog with a few more photos. Manawatu dunelands are quite massive on a world scale even!
ReplyDeleteBy the time I finally get to NZ I will know at least your area very well!
ReplyDeleteMichèle
You will Michèle. These places will seem like 'old friends'.
ReplyDeleteHow very, very pretty! I love it!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty amazing on a windy day to watch these in action rolling down the beach. But it was a very calm morning!
ReplyDelete