Purple excrement: a clue!

One of the most intriguing things I learned while researching Charles Darwin (for a children's book I was asked to write called 'Charles Darwin's Big Idea') was the way everything in Nature is interconnected. Life on earth is like a web.

On our walk to the beach I've been noticing that the seaberry saltbush (Rhagodia baccata) is bursting into bright reddish-purple berries, brought on by warmer days. Set against the green-grey of the coastal vegetation, this splash of colour is a welcome sight.

Birds are feasting on the berries, as evidenced by the splashes of purple excrement left on the boardwalk and along the bush track.

PS
I've included a photo taken from Opal Point, the furthermost part of our daily walk with the dogs. You can see the distinctive hump of The Nobbies, which was the feature of my past two blogs.

The rich tapestry of life in and around me: Ph. Is.

Every evening we walk from our house, down a bush track, along the boardwalk that goes over the mutton bird rookery and then, stepping onto the beach, walk for about 1 km to Opal Point. While Del and Major swim, run and play, Doug and I walk, talk and beachcomb.

Every beach walk is the same yet different: every day I see something unusual. Today my treasures included a cowrie, a cone shell,a sea urchin with unusual red spines, and a piece of burnt wood that's been smoothed and moulded by the combined action of rocks, sand and surf.

Coming back up the boardwalk I noticed purplish-red bird droppings splattered on the pine planks -- and then nearby, a seaberry saltbush shrub with its dark red berry-like fruits. Birds had been feasting! I know these are only small things in the scheme of the universe, yet each thing tells me a little more about the rich tapestry of life in and around me.