End of daylight saving spoils morning snooze

All good things come to an end and so here we are again. Welcome back to the 76th What’s With That.

I’m not sure how you felt about the column having a break over the last two weeks but it certainly gave me a chance to do a few other jobs around the office.I have to say, though, I missed writing it and seeing your contributions rolling in. There’s a certain comfort in having this column to fill each day with all sorts of things and my stream-of-consciousness ranting. Therapy, I think it’s called.

So, what’s happened while we’ve been away? Well, Easter has come and gone, autumn is here, and the region has enjoyed some amazing entertainment — with the three Ed Sheeran concerts in Dunedin and the Warbirds Over Wanaka extravaganza.

Now it’s the Commonwealth Games. One of the great things about the ODT is our very late print deadlines compared to most other newspapers in the country. The two-hour time difference between here and the Gold Coast, however, means evening events there are very late here.

I’ve just had two of those late, late finishes as night editor and on both occasions was hoping for a sleep-in the next morning. But — Murphy’s Law — with our clocks going back an hour, the mornings have suddenly become lighter.

I’m keen to hear what you think about daylight saving, particularly the changes in recent years to extend it.

My opinion is it now runs too late into autumn, which means you have very dark mornings and the benefit in the evening becomes negligible.

Oed  to Ed

The excitement of Ed Sheeran’s visit to Dunedin is still rebounding around the city’s hills more than a week later.

Elizabeth Wells sent in a poem to commemorate Ed’s time in Dunedin, entitled Dun-ed-in.

Dun-ed-in:
the red-haired god
set down
in our fair city
and the people
went mad.
Streets — closed.
Bars — open.
A mural — defaced.
Not even Stevie Nicks
cast such a spell over
our little southern town.

The mortal man
deified through
tweets and shared posts.

Will it ever be just
Dunedin
again?

Thanks Elizabeth. Any other Ed poems out there? Come on, get it out of your system.

Orange and white puffballs are scattered across this field on the cycle trail near Lawrence. Shame about the old tyres. Photo: Peter Hall

Autumn delights

Peter Hall of Lawrence had a close encounter of the fungi kind recently.

"I was biking along the cycle trail at Evans Flat, near Lawrence, on Tuesday, and spied what I thought were pumpkins initially. But as I got closer, I realised there was a grove of rather large puffballs, in various shades of orange and white.

"I’ve noticed quite a few biggies on the Lawrence golf course lately, too. Conditions have been ideal for them in the past few weeks obviously to get so big."

Any  other monsters out there?

Monarch mania

These delightful butterflies have really caught your imagination. Despite the break in this column, I’m still receiving emails and calls about your monarch moments.

Before we went off air late last month, readers were describing how the caterpillars had stripped their swan plants and were wondering what else they could give them to eat.

It’s not good news, I’m afraid.

An apple a day, err, makes you very full-up and probably a bit sick if they’re this size. Dorothy O’Donnell of Oamaru added the tennis ball as a useful comparison with her neighbour’s apple. Photo: Dorothy O'Donnell

Jacqui Knight of the Monarch Butterfly New Zealand Trust says don’t put pumpkin out for them.

"We are very wary about feeding monarch caterpillars alternatives such as pumpkin. So often the butterflies that emerge are deformed or in fact don’t pupate successfully.

"But it’s worthwhile remembering that a female monarch can lay 300 or 500 eggs — one female laid 1179 — so not every monarch egg is destined to become a butterfly.

"Some will be food for predators and parasites, some will feed diseases and some will even feed the soil. It will only require one or two eggs to keep the species alive and well.

"There are no good alternatives to swan plant, I’m afraid. We are concerned about the long-term genetic effects of feeding them on pumpkin, etc but it will be some years before we know more. What we do know is that if caterpillars get pumpkin, etc when they are not fully developed, the butterflies do not emerge successfully.

"The trust has set up a network (Facebook for Monarchs) where people have been sending plants to where there is a shortage of food, or adopting caterpillars. It’s in the forum on our website, www.monarch.org.nz/forum.

"We have been sending bundles of 30 seedlings (200-300mm) to people who need food for caterpillars — there are still some left. Only $30 plus $8 P&P."

Thanks Jacqui.

Meanwhile, Annette Carr of Belleknowes has a healthy 1-metre tall swan plant in her garden but no caterpillars. She asks if someone with a surplus can give her  a couple. Let me know. Her cellphone number is 027 477-1006.

More on the monarchs tomorrow.