Unexpected raindrops

We received a small amount of rain on Friday and an even smaller amount the next morning, totaling 0.07/inch in total.  I haven't tried to calculate how much rainwater my barrels collected but at least there's been enough to fill my watering cans several times so far.  The rain, virtually unheard of at this time of year, was such a surprise I took my camera out into the garden on Friday to take photos of the raindrops on various plants.

Acacia cognata 'Cousin Itt'

Agave attenuata

Artemisia 'Seafoam' - The droplets were visible to my bare eyes even though they don't show up clearly in my photo; however, I liked the combination of the silver foliage and the reddish peppermint willow leaves (Agonis flexuosa) enough to share it

Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'

Cotyledon in a pot but I can't identify it more specifically

Echium candicans 'Star of Madeira'

Leptospermum 'Copper Glow'

Leucadendron 'Jubilee Crown'

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

Leucadendron 'Wilson's Wonder'

Spiderwebs on Acacia and Crassula

I'd planned to get some additional photos but I got distracted.  One of the distractions involved this visitor, which I think was a female house finch:

She hit the kitchen window hard but was upright.  She had her eyes closed for a time as shown on the left.  She recovered as shown on the right and flew away within about 30 minutes.  I remained at a distance but kept watch.  No bird has ever hit that window before in my experience but my impression is that she was being chased. 

Our 2025 "water year" ended yesterday with a total of 7.03 inches of rain for the previous twelve months at our location, less than half our average total.  Predictions for the 2026 water year, which begins today, aren't especially rosy but I'm holding out hope.

All material © 2012-2025 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party