TITLE: Thoughts on natural surroundings in Bicuar National Park
DATE: 2019-04-25
AUTHOR: John L. Godlee
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Having more time on my hands while the laser scanning is taking
place in our vegetation survey plots in Bicuar National Park, and
being confident in the protocol, has given me the chance to explore
some more of my senses in the miombo woodlands.
I've found, for example that the vascular cambium of some of the
tree species have very distinctive smells. Baikiaea plurijuga
smells like a mint cornetto, or sometimes a caramel chocolate. Some
other species with distinctive and pleasant cambium smells:
- Lonchocarpus nelsii - wall of a damp limestone cave
- Julbernardia paniculata - mild antiseptic like watered down TCP
I'm also noticing more of the bird song. There are lots of birds
around us all the time, of many different species. In a 60 second
window at Plot 13 in the Baikea woodland I heard 6 different calls,
some constant and others only ringing out intermittently. At the
side of the road there's often hornbill birds to be seen and groups
of guinea fowl. The Angolans hilariously call guinea fowl 'Galinhas
de Angola' (Chickens of Angola). The same for the insects, lots of
different types of fly, stick insect, beetles, grasshopper and
butterfly.
Having been exposed to far too many bees, I've now learned that bee
sting poison smells a little bit like cherry drops but more floral.
The box for the laser scanner and the tripod have picked up this
smell quite signficantly.
Digitaria eriantha is my favourite grass to take a piece of stem
and chew in the mouth. It's very smooth if you remove the leaves
and quite firm, like a plastic straw.
