A couple of weeks ago, on the 9th of March, I spent some time, an hour or two, I think, in the area behind the suburban houses on the outskirts of the city. I left the car in the nearby repair shop and went for a walk in search of whatever nature in suburbia has to offer at the end of winter.
My old car needed a minor repair, and I needed something to fill the time while waiting for the work to be done. In this post, I'll show you what inspired me to take a bunch of photographs in the small oak grove on the outskirts of the city, near the road that leads to one of the surrounding villages.
Here you can see a portrait of the young shoot of some plant that I wasn't able to identify. Quite a few species look very similar at this early stage.
These mushrooms ...
... were found and photographed on the bark ...
... of one of the small oaks around me.
In this shot, I used the macro lens to get a better look at two very interesting small mushrooms that looked like some kind of tiny nests or pots. This is an early stage of the fruiting bodies shown in the three previous photographs.
Schizophyllum commune is the name of this species that grows on decaying wood and sickly trees.
In this wide shot, you can take a good look at the setting and you can see more oaks. While exploring the brown leaves on the lower branches of one of those trees ...
... I found a very cool example of mimicry.
It's a stick insect.
The Bacillus rossius ...
... commonly known as the Mediterranean stick insect.
If you enlarge this photograph by clicking on it, you'll be able to take a very up-close look at the cute face of this fairly young and small Bacillus rossius nymph that hasn't reached its adult size.
I encounter stick insects every year, and I photographed this species quite a few times, but never so early, before the spring officially started. Photographing the Bacillus rossius in the winter environment made of barren branches and sparse brown foliage was a unique, exciting experience.
This was a highly unexpected encounter.
Here you can see a friend that was there with me.
It was late in the morning, around 10 AM, so the dew was still present only in the shade provided by the shrubs and trees. Here you can see two blades of grass that formed a green X symbol above the carpet made of leaves fallen from the oaks. The droplets added a nice decorative touch to the scene.
This insect appeared when I removed a handful of dead leaves on the surface of the leaf litter.
It's a leafhopper nymph. I'm pretty sure that belongs to the genus Psammotettix of the Cicadellidae family but can't tell you what species exactly is this.
A meter or two further, I photographed two tiny flowers of the Cardamine hirsuta plant.
In the foreground of this shot, you can see the dried-out remains of a puffball mushroom that released its spores, probably a week or two ago.
This gall, created by the tree after being punctured by the wasp from the Cynipidae family, was photographed on one of the twigs above my head.
On the edge of the grove, one tree was in bloom.
It wasn't an oak, of course.
These beautiful flowers belong to the wild cherry tree (Prunus avium).
Here you can admire a nice mix of winter foliage and springtime flowers.
After this uplifting floral encounter, I walked back to the repair shop. My car was ready so I paid for the service and drove away.
But I didn't drive back home. Here you can see a portrait of one of the mannequins ...
... that were posing inside the Takko Fashion store. Can I safely assume that you didn't expect this shopping mall stuff after all those insects, mushrooms, and plants? Well, yes, I think I can.
Takko Fashion store is one of the many stores of the biggest shopping mall in Pula.
A friend who visited the repair shop and oak grove with me bought a spring dress there.
While waiting in the car parked in front of the entrance ...
... I had some fun photographing the mannequins ...
... and the shirts displayed outside the store.
AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS HERE ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK.