Black-headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus)

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Be like the bird who, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing she hath wings.

- Victor Hugo

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Right through the winter the Black-headed Orioles have stayed in my garden, gorging themselves on the nectar of the aloes and the fruit I put on the bird tables. Their liquid calls always have me running for the camera and this chap was fairly unperturbed at my being fairly close.

Every now and then, however, he would look up just to make sure the situation hasn't changed and that I'm not too close!

The male and female are fairly undistinguishable from one another but the male is striking, with the typical oriole black and yellow colouration. The plumage is predominantly yellow, with a solid black hood, and black also in the wings and tail centre.

The female is a drabber bird with greenish underparts, but still has the black hood. Young birds are like the female, but have dark streaking on the underparts, and their hood is not solidly black, especially on the throat.

Although it has bright colours, it may still be difficult to spot, because its preferred habitat is among the foliage of high trees and thick bush, blending in with the sun and shade spots. It is likely to be heard before being seen as its liquid whistles interspersed with lowish, drawn-out screeching sounds, are loud and draw attention.

They feed mainly on fruits, insects, berries and nectar and are said to have a very quick digestion period of around 5 minutes. They will nest in trees, placed in a fork at the end of a branch. The chicks get fed on caterpillars, eventually leaving the nest after 14-18 days. There is no record of the incubation period for this bird.

Egg-laying season is from September - February. peaking from September to December. 

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September gifts

All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else. 

- Mae West 

Today is what yesterday called TOMORROW and every tomorrow always offers you a second chance.

September is when nature gets a second chance, recovers from winter and prepares for tomorrow, when she will dress herself in her full summer finery, never looking back to what was and only living for now, doing her best and enjoying the moment.

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Isn't it amazing?

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always pick up the feather lying in your path

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Well, I've had a slight internet break, touched the stars and watched Spring as she fleetingly moved through my garden - her footprints were soft and quiet as Summer was impatiently pushing her from behind, cutting short her visit with hot temperatures early in the season, not allowing Spring's gentler days to last very long. 

During my small break, I connected with nature again and thought, "Isn't it wonderful what nature supplies us to play with?" Pebbles, leaves, bark, twigs, feathers, crystals, gold, silver, rubies, seeds and a plethora of beautiful objects for us to do what we want with! 

A collection of seed pods and found items from nature. I use many of these objects in the jewellery I make, preferring the earthy tones to the normal 'bling'. Nature is my inspiration for these creations and I take my cue from what naturally occurs all around me - a leaf gently swaying in the breeze or a feather floating lazily past, some beautifully textured bark on a tree, a stone perfectly smoothed by the rythm of water. 

A collection of some of the pebbles I like to use in my creations. 

Pendant - A river stone encased in silver wire and hanging from leather thonging. 

A brooch hand-crafted from Black Stained Glass encased in silver solder and sporting a Bantam Rooster feather 

A pendant made with a Porcupine Quill (found in the veld) encased with silver wire, a dangling glass bead and hanging from a silver chain. 

A Perlemoen shell (Abelone) pendant with silver solder, silver wire and glass teardrop bead hanging from a silver chain. 

A Blue Gum leaf (Eucalyptus) and seed earrings hand-crafted in copper and antiqued for a vintage look. 

A Dragonfly ornament hand-crafted with a blue glass jewel and silver wire. 

Some of my hand-crafted insects using glass, shells, silver wire and solder. 

Pendant - Quartz Crystal encased in Silver wire and hanging from a silver chain with turquoise beads and a white feather 

Citrine Crystal pendant with a silver cap and hanging from a silver chain. 

Refreshed with what nature has to offer us, never tiring of her beauty, I recall Ruess's words in his last letter to his brother on November 1934, 

"I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities." 

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Time away to touch the stars

 

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yet now gently taking an internet break . time away to touch the stars . if only just a moment . be well friends . blessings always

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Are Hedgehogs Intelligent?

The answer usually given to this question is, "not very". The hedgehog is a primitive animal; its brain and the rest of its anatomy have remained largely unchanged since the first hedgehogs rolled off the production line some 15 million years ago. This is because the hedgehog's way of life - for example, having a food supply which is abundant and readily available - does not demand the sophisticated mental and physical skills that are required by, for example, a leopard.

People who have a tame hedgehog often report that their pet has acquired a number of basic skills, such as responding to its name and using a litter tray. Many hedgehogs can distinguish between their carer and other people. Researchers have taught hedgehogs simple tasks, such as choosing between a black trapdoor and a white trapdoor to reach food regularly placed behind one but not the other. One researcher even taught his tame hedgehog to roll and unroll in response to the relevant commands! 

Hedgehogs seems to have quite a good memory, especially for places, and, remarkably, this memory is not affected by hibernation - during the winter, the hedgehog brain shuts down almost completely, yet when the animal emerges in the spring, its memory is 'switched on' again, unimpaired; it will head without hesitation for a place where food has been regularly put down for it. As human beings, we tend to think of sight as the most important of the senses, but hedgehogs are chiefly active during the hours of darkness, so good eyesight is not particularly important. Also, as the hedgehog's eye-view is only a few inches above the ground and is often obscured by vegetation, it relies heavily on other senses.

 

But they can distinguish between shapes - particularly silhouettes against the sky - and moving objects. They may have a limited degree of colour vision, but as they're usually asleep during the day, they don't often have the chance to use it. The sense of smell is the one on which the hedgehog chiefly relies. It is mainly by smell that it finds its food (even under about three centimeters of soil), detects the approach of danger and recognizes other hedgehogs. The hedgehogs external ears are small and inconspicuous, but its hearing is very sensitive and is important in locating food and recognizing danger. An earthworm moving gently in the soil of a beetle rustling in leaf litter is making really loud noises to hedgehog ears. Its hearing is particularly sensitive to high frequencies; clicks, squeaks and hand-claps will cause a hedgehog to instantly crouch down, bristling its spines. 

Info from "Everything You Want To Know about Hedgehogs - Dilys Breese"

False alarm!

May all seasons be sweet to thee... 

A few weeks ago, we had what I call a "false" spring - green buds on the Celtis africana (White Stinkwood) and my peach tree sporting tiny little blossoms. It happens most years, and yet I never learn. Absolutely keen for spring, I start cutting, watering and clearing, only to be caught out by a late frost or a sudden cold spell, ending up with now-exposed plants being damaged or killed off by the frost.

My Tree Fuchsia (Halleria lucida - to the right of the terracotta pot) managed to stay green all through winter and then, suddenly, Mr. Frosty entered the garden and whipped everybody for daring to be so brash on his watch! Luckily the Aloes (aloe ferox) had a good start with mild weather as it started flowering and was strong enough to withstand the onslaught. 

The fact is, plants have to get ready for the cold. They have to make all sorts of interior preparations — battening down the hatches, so to speak — before winter comes. They essentially create an antifreeze, converting easily frozen carbohydrates in their stems to freeze-resistant sugars, and they quit producing the kind of young, tender growth that will be most vulnerable to spring. But as this warm spell of 'early' spring arrives, plants aren’t battening down the hatches anymore, they’re throwing them wide open, and putting on flowers and new growth like summer was just around the corner.

The plants are now so delirious and careless with this warm weather, that it won’t take much to do damage. Just a few hours of serious cold could do serious damage to plants that have, like me, fallen for this early "false" spring.

The birds are still extremely grateful for the feeders I fill every morning - here the female Weavers are dominating this feeder and I noticed most of the males at another feeder - girls sharing some secrets over a snack? "Do you see him girls? He's the one I told you about! The nests he builds are absolute master-pieces!"

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So, here's to spring -

begin . bloom . fresh . subtle . bright . begin . simple . new . soft . cool . burst 

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Listen to the Guinea Fowl

Be grateful for nature. 

Pay the thunder no mind – listen to the Guinea fowl. 

And don’t hate anybody. 

W&N watercolour on DalerRowney 220gsm heavy-duty sketching paper. 

The Helmeted Guinea Fowl is an African family of insect and seed-eating, ground-nesting birds resembling partridges, but with featherless heads and spangled grey plumage. They are the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free pest control and if your garden is already established and can withstand the scratching, you’ll have a healthy and pest-free garden. And be rewarded with some wonderful antics from these lovely birds! 

It is interesting to note that they are monogamous, mating for life. The hens have a habit of hiding their nests, and sharing it with other hens until large numbers of eggs have accumulated. Females lay 25-30 tough-skinned, smallish, creamy eggs in a deep, tapering nest and undergo an incubation period of 26-28 days. The chicks are called “keets” and are highly susceptible to damp. In fact, they can die from following the mother through dewy grass. After their first two to six weeks of growth, they can be some of the hardiest domestic land fowl. 

 They are highly social birds, and hate to be alone. When you see a lone guinea fowl, it usually means trouble, like that the family has been scattered by a predator. Guineas spend most of their days foraging. They work as a team, marching chest to chest and devouring anything they startle as they move through the grass. When they discover a special treat — a rodent, for example, or a small snake — they close ranks, circle their prey, and move in for the feast. All the while, they keep up a steady stream of whistles, chirps, and clicks, a sort of running commentary on the day’s hunt. 

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August gifts

Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment. 

 - Ellis Peters 

Don't ask me where I was on the first of August (in mind and body!) when I was supposed to do this post, but life has been a bit hectic on this Southern side of the globe. I got a new Tablet, the Samsung Galaxy P5100 and you know how it goes once you start playing with a new toy - everything else goes out the window. I've been learning it's ins and outs, playing on the internet and with all the apps and time just slipped by!

I was wondering if it's not a bit early to celebrate Spring because we suddenly had a retreat into Winter, with SNOW and freezing temperatures! It snowed all over South Africa and here in Tarlton we suffered -2℃ in the middle of the day! Now I know that sounds like a joke to some of you living in the Northern Hemisphere, but for us, used to winter temps of around 18℃, it really was something major!

Unfortunately we were not lucky enough to have a thick blanket of white here in Tarlton as some other places in the country, but the pic below gives you a fair idea.

 A scene in Nottingham road, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa

But my Celtises (White Stinkwoods in the pic right at the top) and peach trees refused to believe this and are full of buds, positive that Spring is just around the corner. So I'll take my cue from them and quote an old Chinese proverb, "Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men!"

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The thorny side of life

When things are shaky and nothing is working, we might realize that we are on the verge of something. We might realize that this is a very vulnerable and tender place, and that tenderness can go either way. We can shut down and feel resentful or we can touch in on that throbbing quality.  

—Pema Chödrön 

We all have unpleasant things that happen to us. How do you handle this 'thorny' side of life? Do you look upon it as a curse you wish you had never experienced? Or do you think you could use these experiences to your benefit? 

When I saw this nest in one of my Acacia trees (Vachellia karoo), the thought came to mind that we could take a lesson from nature and use the 'thorns' to our advantage, like this Sparrow has done. She could have chosen any tree, but she has learnt that these thorns can provide safety for her family. By looking at the thorns in our lives as a lesson, learning from the experience so that we can handle a similar situation better, we can also have protection against the thorny side of life.

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As winter fades to spring...

… hangers-on will be forced to let go, 

making room for new growth 

fresh color, 

life. 

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 A little corner created in the shade 

It's almost August and the warmer weather has spawned an activity of going through my garden to check on what needs to be done and I was horrified to notice that the chickens had just about annihilated my whole garden - what the winter didn't get, they did! I haven't been totally oblivious of this, it's just that it's been too cold to do much about it.

 The start of a new garden 

First it was the major job of cutting down and/or removing dead stuff and then taking stock of what was left - lots of open space! Many of the plants I removed were those that needed sun and had totally deteriorated because of too much shade in my garden now that all my trees have matured to 10m beauties - it's amazing how things creep up on you without you noticing… 

 So some new spaces were created in the sun with old favourites. 

 Progress - a little pathway for easy access and still have to add a few more plants 

After removing Red Hot pokers from a shady patch and not having anything to replace them with, I thought it easier to create a feature for the time being, below, but will have to get to the nursery some time or another! 

A temporary feature in a shady patch It's amazing what a bit of crusher stone and things found will do to help out when you're stuck without any plants…

Joseph filling up an empty spot with some crusher stone and turning it into a new pathway.

 

 And of course, no day in the garden is perfect without our feathery friends enjoying a snack! 

Make way, I also need some!

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