Monday, 12 August 2024
Gaudy Commodore
Saturday, 15 June 2024
Françoise Hardy - Dans le monde entier (1965)
Saturday, 9 December 2023
South African Paper Wasps—Vespidae
Don’t reach for the Doom!
Saturday, 30 September 2023
Black Snow
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Sunsets teach us
It was sunsets that taught me that beauty sometimes only lasts for a couple of moments. By the time I turned my back, went inside and closed the door, all the fiery orange had disappeared, leaving only a few splashes of pink and grey.
I also found out that sunset or dusk is a good time for photography--it lends a certain peaceful quality to the garden.
Monday, 26 June 2023
Thursday, 15 June 2023
Moles and Leather-leaf Ferns
Saturday, 10 June 2023
Mousebirds (Coliiformes)
Mousebirds are slender greyish or brown birds with soft, hairlike body feathers. They are typically about 10 cm (3.9 in) in body length, with a long, thin tail a further 20–24 cm (7.9–9.4 in) in length, and weigh 45–55 g (1.6–1.9 oz).
They get their name from the way they scurry along like mice amongst the tree branches. They eat berries, fruits, and buds. They have very strong claws and can hang upside down while feeding. Mousebirds are very social and often gather in groups.
Way back in the day, I was lucky enough to have a Mousebird in my life after rescuing it after it fell out of the nest. She used to cling to my bra strap inside my blouse, sometimes peeping out to the astonishment of whoever was around. Interesting about Mousebirds is that they do not bathe in water like most birds, but have dust baths, like chickens and guinea fowl. And after her sand bath, she would fly up onto my shoulder and beg for some fruit. Her favourite was banana, but I also served up apples and pears, with the odd orange which she wasn’t fond of at all.
She would also will feed on the buds of some plants in the garden and I’ve also seen her take the odd insect of it strayed too close to her.
The Zulu name is iNdlazi and in Afrikaans it is known as gevlekte muisvoel.
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Friday, 21 April 2023
Bag-shelter Moth (Ochragaster lunifer)
For about a week I've been watching these caterpillars as they crawled up the wall after some heavy rain. (This is my next-door neighbour's condo.) First of all they were all bundled together in one big mass (didn't think of taking a photo on the first day), but the next day I found them walking up the wall in straight lines.
Why do these caterpillars go in a line? They travel in long lines of hundreds or more in search of food or a suitable place to begin the transformation into their adult form : the Bag-shelter Moth. Together they present a formidable number of irritant hairs to predators and the conga line helps prevent them getting lost.
It is also thought that they walk in line to scare off predators who might think it is a snake. How clever!
These caterpillars are grey and hairy with a brown head. They grow to a length of about 4cms. When they mature, they will descend from their tree (or wall, in this case) to pupate in a silk cocoon in ground debris, and what hatches is the Bag-shelter Moth.
I have actually found that not many birds like to eat this moth. When touched it curls up, showing a black and red body, which I presume signals that it is poisonous.
By the way, lots of caterpillars together is called an "army". These ones are also called Processionary Caterpillars or a "train".
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Saturday, 7 January 2023
A newcomer to my garden- White-browed Scrub Robin
While relaxing in my lounge with a 1000-piece puzzle a few months ago, I heard a bird-call I’ve never heard before. Grabbing my phone, I slowly stepped outside to see if I could catch a glimpse — no luck. So my next move was to search for the bird-call on the Roberts Birds app on my iPad, and after a short search, I found him — a White-browed Scrub Robin! (Cercotrichas leucophrys).
)Still on my patio, I played the bird-call as loud as my iPad would allow and lo-and-behold, he suddenly appeared on the fence, trying to find the interloper who was, probably, trying to infiltrate his territory!