Nature's Symmetry - a flower hunt

Spring and early summer is a time for flowering. Many herbs, vines, trees and other plants in the wild have been putting on a colourful show.  I always enjoy seeing the great variety of colour, shape and size, but a recent discovery in the forest set me thinking about symmetry. 

Although kiekie vines are often in abundance in our temperate rainforest I've rarely seen a flower. A friend found this one when we were hiking in the Tararua Forest Park. The flower is striking in its '3 part' symmetry. 

kiekie flower (about 30cm wide)

Symmetry is pleasing to the eye. We often look with pleasure on patterns that repeat in some way. So for children (and adults) seeking out symmetry in nature can be a fun and engaging nature activity.

Signs of Spring and Summer - and the first cicada

The white star-shaped flowers of the clematis vine hung across the green trees across the valley, were the very first signs of spring.  

Native clematis

First Day of Spring - Tui and native flowers

The traditional first day of spring is cool, calm and sunny. We've had many winter days with settled weather, so it's been easy to get out and about. There have been signs of spring everywhere. The noisiest are the tui, usually solitary birds, they're gathering together, chasing, swooping and flying around the bay from tree to tree.

Five Tui silhouetted in a tree

Spring Cygnets in Waikanae and on NZ Birds Online

It has been such a mild winter that there are now signs of spring everywhere, although August is still officially winter. On a walk yesterday at Waimanu Lagoons in Waikanae I saw these cygnets.

I read up on black swans on the new NZ Birds Online website, which was very helpful http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/black-swan. This website makes it easy to find and identify birds. Once you've found the bird you are looking for, it has lots of photos, sound recordings, data about breeding and lifespan and quite a bit of written information. The writing is quite technical so children might need help from an adult to get the most out of this website.