Not much in the way of birding in the last few days. Only house sparrows looking for places to nest in the buildings, barn swallows on nests in a nearby bunker and the white-cheeked bulbuls courting.

Botany wise we have some activity. Someone has tried to plant Gerbera daisies and nasturtiums in flowerpots near one of the buildings. The direct sun seems to be killing them off. In front of our building we have several melon seedings coming up that I'm pretty sure are watermelons. Several of us are watering them and they are growing nicely.

The eucalyptus trees (E.microtheca) are starting to flower with tiny white puffball flowers. These are the same species of Eucalyptus I've seen in Arizona and S.California. This species has been planted all over the world in warm and hot climates. It is very drought resistant. The leaves are very fragrant with eucalyptus oil when you crush them. In addition to the Eucalyptus, oleander bushes are planted all along the roads. For the most part the leaves are covered with a layer of gray dust, as are most things on post. Also someone seems to have done a terrible pruning job leaving some bushes looking like a scraggly shadow of their former selves. In the last two weeks or so the Oleander has been flowering,mostly white and pink.

There are lots of smaller plants flowering in areas that have a little water. Thistles, small compositae, and even chicory. I'll try to post pictures when I figure out how to.

I promise to get out and see some birds in the near future.

Some of my birding buddies from back home have emailed me and let me know that spring migration is underway. My parents had an American woodcock calling and displaying on their back lawn. For me the woodcocks calling is a sure sign spring has come.