Maretha at Fauna Park Tales

19 August – Summer Garden Glimpses – Wonderful Wednesday – #FaunaParkTales

Another week, another WONDERFUL WEDNESDAY post. I thought being on lockdown, would give me so much time for things I normally don’t get to do, but somehow, mid-week comes around quickly – almost like bin collection day, every Wednesday, like clockwork. I’m looking at the beauty of butterflies, bees and other pollinators in the garden. My grandson, husband and I snapped these little creatures with my mobile camera, but they still tell their stories. The first image is of a Large Tortoiseshell Nymphalis polychloros; then a Speckled Wood Pararge aegeria; Peacock Aglais io and a few different looking bees.

  • Honey bee and Honeysuckle
  • Bluebells and Bees

Butterflies are much like flowers; their big advantage is that they flutter away to touch the sky!

http://www.luvze.com/butterfly-quotes/

Don’t forget why we need pollinators:

“Birds, bats, bees, butterflies, beetles, and other small mammals that pollinate plants are responsible for bringing us one out of every three bites of food. They also sustain our ecosystems and produce our natural resources by helping plants reproduce.” So, they need us and we need them more!

Pollinator Partnership pollinator.org/pollinators

Thank your for visiting my blog today. I hope you’ll look at some of these links and start planning your garden to welcome more of these wonderful and essential little creatures to your special spot. Feel free to comment and/or follow us. Enjoy the rest of your week and remember to keep a spirit of a sound mind during Lockdown!

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Published by Maretha at Fauna Park Tales

Maretha is a South African Italian, born in a small town called Montagu. She grew up in nearby Worcester in the Western Cape – a town reminiscent of living in Switzerland among the snow-capped mountains. Worcester had a small library. Young Maretha’s visits were limited to three times a week, because the librarian told her, “You spend too much time with your nose in a book and neglect your school work.” Nothing much has changed, because she's still a confirmed bookworm who constantly strives to raise more bookworms who enjoy reading, not just as a pleasant past-time, but as an excellent tool to be used when grown-up. Before immigrating to the UK to settle in Lancashire, Maretha worked as a librarian in a private school in Botswana, where one of her tasks was to encourage children to enjoy reading. That was a labour of love for this bookworm, providing valuable help in carving her own career as a children's author/illustrator. It brought her face to face with the literary industry’s toughest critics – children and preteens. She saw that many students also enjoyed reading about birds and animals, their care, habitats and general well-being, especially when a few added catchy rhymes here and there made reading sessions interesting and alive. In 2012 her job was localised and as things often happen, this unforeseen occurrence led to a new chapter in her life. To remain motivated, she wrote down everything she could remember about her family's pets – their little habits and characteristics. For example, the character of the working-dog hero in Fauna Park Tales is based on the different traits of every single dog her family ever owned. Researching habits, habitats and interesting titbits about martial eagles and eagle owls, as well as many smaller birds such as crimson-breasted shrikes and hoopoes,made it easier to illustrate them and tell a believable story. Her illustrations appear throughout Fauna Park Tales. Maretha Botha admits to being a chocoholic and unreformed coffee addict, a keen gardener and bird watcher, who likes to walk on the moors where the stiff breeze coming in from the sea, quickly clears her head, making way for more inspiration.

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