Reminiscences of Past Mays-June

I am a bit curious how biological presence change in our area for the past years. This ensued because we have a very long and hot dry season this year, it is already June and rain is not yet heard when to first visit. This morning the temperature forecast for Metro Manila will be 39C with feeling intensity of 40.2C. Oh My God, can you imagine a feeling of 40.2C! That is already the temperature when kids get convulsions and lost their minds! Our farmlands are cracking dry, crops impossibly will survive. They just all dry and will later be fed as stover for livestock. There are also incidences of heat stroke and a few already died. Everyone is yelling for rain, yet no typhoons are already seen in the horizon. Typhoons are our wish now for they always bring rains.

So i searched my files for May 2012 or 3 years ago, if there really are big differences in terms of plants and flying wildlife.

The orioles are still heard chirping in some mornings, but i haven't seen them anymore. I guess they also hide in deep thickets or to areas with better vegetation for safety from heat. The above photo was taken at noon on a coconut leaf just as tall as the house. This month i haven't seen any of them.

 That red Clerodendrum is still flowering as usual, but the butterfly is nowhere to be seen. I guess the host plants for the larvae already dried from the extreme drought and heat.

 The small butterfly on a pea leaf is not around anymore too. Even that pea plant has long been gone and dried. Not even the goats were able to partake of the legumes.

Another butterfly on a green pea leaves is nowhere to find too.  I think it is a comma butterfly. 

In the past years, that Duranta erecta sustain the lives of butterflies and other insects, as they withstood heat and a bit tolerant of drought. However, this month it is also showing extreme stress and the leaves are closing and falling. Flowers are absent and no insects will be fed this time.

Ixora javanica above shows lush leaves and flowers. It is one plant whose roots are deep to get some water in deeper lengths. This month only a few flowers are seen and the leaves are turning yellow. Only some spiders are seen when i scrutinize the under leaves.

Three years is enough to compare the changes in vegetation and insect presence in our area. Climate change has proven its toll on our biological diversity. So the Intensity Feeling by humans as forecasted by the weather bureau is not really felt by humans alone, other live inhabitants feel it as well, and the resulting pictures are very revealing. As to how high the temperatures will get and how long our droughts will become for the years to come is already scary! If just 3 years can already show the evidences, we really must be scared in decades to come. OMG what do we do???!!!

P.S. This post was drafted in May, it is now June and there are already a couple of afternoon rains in the metropolis. However, in the province it is still very dry. The Weather Bureau has not yet declared that the Rainy Season has started. They need more continuous daily rains to officially declare it. And we badly need the rains too!

Nature Notes

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