The first Guineas on the last day of the year

Camera : Canon EOS 550D Taken in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) 31 Dec 2013

Whoot whoot! What a wonderful way to say goodbye to 2013! On the 31st December 2013 and for the first time in 10 years, some Helmeted Guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) visited my garden again! We used to have huge flocks of these delightful birds pass through our smallholding, but for the past ten years their sightings have become less and less as progress takes it toll in the area. I am absolutely thrilled that they honoured me with a visit!

There were only two in the garden while the rest of the flock grazed just outside the fence and they were constantly chattering to one another, keeping in touch.

Upon spotting me with the camera, this one stopped grazing and gave me the beady eye, as if to say, "Now what do you want?" but didn't seem particularly worried about my presence. I tried to move closer to get a better shot, but that sent both of them scurrying along the fence, finally taking flight and joining the rest of the flock on the other side.

I'm really hoping this would not be the last time that they come and visit.

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Juvenile African Mole snake (Pseudaspis cana)

Walking in the garden yesterday morning, I noticed all the chickens gathered in one spot on the lawn, necks outstretched and a general look of alarm and consternation on all their faces. Upon closer inspection, I found this little juvenile African Mole snake (Pseudaspis cana), equally alarmed at being surrounded by such a curious audience.

I didn't have my camera with me, and besides which I feared the chickens might attack and hurt him, so I had to pick him up and go inside to get the camera. I apologise for the pics not being better, but it's rather difficult working a camera with a zoom lens with one hand! After these couple of photos, I carried him to outside the garden wall and released him in the long grass on our smallholding. It's no guarantee he'll be safe there either, the closest trees where he might find some birds' eggs is either our blue gum bush further down the plot or the neighbour's garden.

Before I had chickens, I always used to leave them in the garden where I was sure they would be quite safe until they decided to move on. This little chap is about 30cm long and they reach a length of up to 2m.

The Mole snake can be identified by its uniform brown, grey or black colour (juveniles have zigzag or mottled markings), its preference for burrowing, a round pupil and highly aggressive self-defence display. (Read HERE about Mollie, my resident mole snake). It grows to an average length of 1.4 meters but may reach 2 meters in length. The Mole snake eats rodents (particularly rats, mice and gerbils), moles and birds. Juveniles however are largely restricted to lizards, probably why this juvenile was attracted to my garden, I have a lot of lizards (African striped skink).

Mole snakes give birth to live young), gives birth to between 25 and 50 young (or up to 95 in rare cases) in late summer. They have been known to live for 20 years in captivity.

PS: Never pick up any snakes, even small ones, if you're not 100% sure of what it is!

Molslang [Afrikaans]; Inkwakhwa [Xhosa]; uBhulube, umJungendlu [Zulu]

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New life

Summer is the time of new life - baby chicks and  birds are hatching, my bathroom court-yard garden is full of new baby lizards and virtually every day I witness the birth of something.

Yesterday morning, as I was packing my garden tool basket, I came upon a spent cocoon and it was rather large, almost three inches. I wondered what on earth could have hatched, obviously a moth and I hoped she was still around somewhere. A search revealed her sitting on the edge of the patio step, trying to unfold her shrivelled wings. I quickly picked her up and carried her to the nearest tree, and only afterwards thought that I should have taken a photo of her before picking her up!

Once in the tree she started crawling up and vibrating her wings, making it very difficult to get a photo!

She's not this blurry in real life! Even while sitting still for a moment, her wings were trilling and vibrating, pumping blood through to strengthen them. I've come to the conclusion that she's one of the Hawk moths but have not been able to find a positive identification (there are 7 000 species of moths in South Africa!)

The Sphingidae are a family of moths (Lepidoptera), commonly known as hawk moths, sphinx moths, and hornworms; it includes about 1,450 species. They are moderate to large in size and are distinguished among moths for their rapid, sustained flying ability. Their narrow wings and streamlined abdomens are adaptations for rapid flight.

Some hawk moths, such as the hummingbird hawk moth or the white-lined sphinx, hover in mid-air while they feed on nectar from flowers, so are sometimes mistaken for hummingbirds. This hovering capability has evolved only four times in nectar feeders: in hummingbirds, certain bats, hoverflies, and these sphingids (an example of convergent evolution). Sphingids have been much studied for their flying ability, especially their ability to move rapidly from side to side while hovering, called 'swing-hovering' or 'side-slipping.' This is thought to have evolved to deal with ambush predators that lie in wait in flowers.

And now there's a spin to the tale. As soon as I finished photographing her and had moved away, I noticed my Robin in the tree, hopping from branch to branch, trying to get a good look at what might be the biggest snack of the week! I immediately climbed up the lower branches of the tree, retrieved her and took her to another tree at the other end of the garden, hoping the Robin didn't know what I was doing. Upon my return to the patio, I noticed the Robin still hopping around in the tree, trying to find out what had happened and where that snack has disappeared to all of a sudden! Hopefully he, or any of the other birds, won't find her hidden in the foliage of the other tree.

Just before dusk I checked on her, and she was quietly hanging onto the trunk of the tree, quite well camouflaged, so hopefully she would be safe until night time. All moths are nocturnal and some species fly only for short periods either around dusk or dawn, while other species only appear later in the evening and others around midnight, but such species may occasionally be seen feeding at flowers during the day. A few common species in Africa, such as Cephonodes hylas virescens (the Oriental bee hawk), Leucostrophus hirundo, and Macroglossum trochilus, are diurnal.

Most species of Hawk moths are multivoltine, capable of producing several generations a year if weather conditions permit. When I checked early this morning, she was nowhere to be found and hopefully she survived the dangers of the night. And maybe I'll be seeing a lot more of these moths in the future.

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Happy New Year!

Snoodles, the dustbin chick I saved out of the egg.

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2014 - I am ready!

2013 was an amazing year, filled with lots of joy and love, lessons learned and also a few sorrows. I am ready for 2014! and here's wishing that your year ahead is filled with LOVE, JOY and INSPIRATION!

Thank you all for visiting and the wonderful chats we've had, hope to see lots more of you in the coming year! 

Happy New Year everybody!

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Season's Greetings! 2013

Camera : Canon EOS 550D

My chooks taken in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Background texture by Kim Klassen
Edited in MS PowerPoint

We have never had snow over Christmas in South Africa (not that I can remember anyway), but I’m sure if we did, my chooks would be absolutely thrilled!

May you have a wonderful festive season with friends and loved ones this year!

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The shy Glossy

I have never known Glossy Starlings to be shy. Whenever we visit the Kruger National Park, they are as brazen as can be, stealing food out of your plate as you're having lunch on the deck and will readily take food out of your hands. But the Glossy visiting my garden is terribly shy. I've been trying to get pics of him for months, to no avail. As soon as they see me, they head straight for the tree tops.

The other day I was having coffee on my patio, camera at the ready, and finally spotted one of them at a bird bath. I was quite a distance away, but daren't move for fear of him taking flight. So the next best thing was to try and zoom in through the maze of plants and tree trunks. Moving very slowly and scarcely breathing, I managed to get a few distant shots of this gorgeous bird with his metallic sheen and very bright eyes.

As he was testing the water and getting ready for his bath (and I saw that he knew I was there and keeping a close eye on me!) a not-so-shy African masked Weaver landed on the bird bath and I thought, "Oh no! that's going to be the end of this now!

Not phased by the Starling's dirty looks at all, the little fella hopped right in and started splashing away.

The Starling got a good soaking in the process!

Shortly after the Weaver left, so did the Starling, without having his bath. Maybe he had gotten wet enough from the Weaver's splashing, but I got the feeling he wasn't happy with my spying at all!

The Glossy Starling - Lamprotornis intense (family Sturnidae) - is endemic to Africa and occurs from Angola and Zambia to Southern Africa, where it is locally common across much of the region, excluding central Mozambique, the Karoo, Namib Desert and the fynbos biome in the Western Cape. It can occupy a variety of different habitats, especially wooded savannah, forest edges, riverine bush, plantations, parks and gardens.

It eats insects, fruit, nectar and scraps of human food, doing most of its foraging on the ground, running and hopping in search of food items. It often associates with antelope, removing ectoparasites from them as well as catching the insects they disturb.

Interesting Info :

- It is a monogamous, cooperative breeder, meaning that the breeding pair may be assisted by up to 6 helpers, who often remain with them through many breeding seasons.

- It usually nests in tree cavities, either natural or excavated by woodpeckers or barbets, but it may also use a hole in a riverbank, metal pipe or even a post box used daily. It adds coarse material such as twigs into the cavity until the platform is close to the entrance, after which it adds a lining of dry grass, dung and snake skins. It often uses the same nest over multiple breeding seasons, in fact one breeding pair was recorded using the same site for 20 years.

- Egg-laying season is mainly from September-February.

- It lays 2-6 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female.

- The chicks are fed by both parents and helpers, leaving the nest after about 20 days after which they remain with the group for at least week.

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Greater Striped Swallow fledgling

Camera : Canon EOS 550D 

Taken in my back-yard (Tarlton Gauteng, South Africa)

After my Greater Striped Swallows (Cecropis cucullata) returned on the 25th September 2013, a bit late, normally they’re here at the beginning of September, they managed to rebuild their nest in the pump house and 3 days ago I found one of their fledglings inside the walled yard surrounding the pump house. This in itself is not a problem as it is quite safe there, I just hoped the parents knew it was there!

But I needn’t have worried. As I was taking photographs, they were circling overhead, twittering warnings and in general looking like they were going to attack me any moment. I sealed off the gate so nothing could get inside and left it in peace. Of course I will be checking on it often and probably put it inside the pumphouse for the night as we’ve been having heavy showers every night for the past week.

The Greater Striped Swallow is a large swallow and breeds in southern Africa, mainly in South Africa, Namibia and southern Zimbabwe. It is migratory wintering further north in Angola, Tanzania and southern Zaire.

The eggs are glossy white with a few brown spots; three eggs is a typical clutch (so I presume there might be one or two more babies somewhere). Incubation is by the female alone for 17–20 days to hatching. Both parents then feed the chicks. Fledging takes another 23–30 days, but the young birds will return to the nest to roost for a few days after the first flight.

This is a bird of dry open country, such as grassland, and has a preference for hills and mountains. It avoids more wooded areas, but is often found around human habitation.

 I actually brought him inside for the night as it started raining heavily just before dusk. This is the little fellow sitting on my calculator at 4am as I was awakened by his constant chirping. I put him back outside at dawn and the parents were there in a flash, answering his calls! I didn't bring him in last night and when I checked on him this morning I was greeted with a hungry chirp. It is now the third day and he still can't fly and I'm wondering how long the parents' patience is going to last. He is SO small...

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The Story of Hedgie

Hedgie

Hedgie, the African Hedgehog, came into my life in July 2000, at a time when I felt I couldn’t handle any more responsibilities, (I was already looking after 2 Mountain tortoises and 2 fledgling Laughing Doves, plus 2 baby Guinea fowl) and all I wanted to do was find a safe home for him as quickly as possible, but after the first hour of getting to know him, I’d lost my heart completely!

Hedgie was brought to me after being rescued from some dogs rolling him around the field, presumably quite puzzled at the prickly ball which seemed quite alive, yet yielding not one inch to any prompting or buffeting of any kind.

What attracted him to Bridgette’s garden was the garden light left on at night and under which he could snuffle around for any insects also attracted to the light. And after finding him two or three times in the morning being harassed by the dogs, Bridgette decided it was time for a change of venue for the prickly character who would not even let her catch a glimpse of anything inside the bunch of prickles.

She arrived with him one Sunday afternoon, not sure whether he was still alive or not, as he had not unrolled for quite some time. Cupping him gently in my hands, I took him to the ‘holding pen’, which was a fenced area normally housing the two baby Mountain tortoises that were currently in hibernation inside the house, snug in a box, emerging from time to time for a drink of water and a quick snack before returning to their selective corners. We left Hedgie in peace for a couple of hours and after Bridgette had left, I fetched Hedgie to make sure that he was indeed all right.

After a couple of minutes of gentle coaxing, I was rewarded with a little black nose and black hairy face (juvenile, the hairs later turn white) peering out cautiously, taking in the scene for any possible danger, flipping back into his protective covering at the slightest move. It was not long before he seemed to decide that there did not seem to be any danger and he gently uncurled into his full length, with a soft, warm tummy resting in the palm of my hand. My movements had to be gentle and slow, as he was startled very easily.

After making sure that he was in quite good health, I offered him some bread and milk (for lack of having anything else to possibly give him at such short notice, as it was in the middle of winter and insects were decidedly in short supply). He lapped at the milk quite thirstily at first and after a while ate quite a bit of the bread. He then acted quite strangely, scrambling madly in my hand and I quickly took him back to the holding pen and put him down gently. He seemed quite agitated, running around for a while and then the reason was obvious – nature had called!

Then came the task of making him a shelter in the one corner of the pond area, filled with dried grass and formed into a hollow in the one corner of the shelter. I gently put him to bed, leaving some more bread and milk and fresh water and decided to check on him later.

Hedgie's home

After dark, I went to fetch Hedgie and saw him investigating his new home, trotting the perimeters in an ever-widening circle, starting in the middle and walking the same route over and over, extending the range every couple of laps, until he had satisfied himself of where the boundaries were. Picking him up carefully (I still got pricked because he rolled into a ball, trapping my fingers inside his soft tummy!), we went into the house, where he spent some time curled up in my lap until he couldn’t resist the temptation anymore and started opening up, peering out slant-eyed, as if I wouldn’t be able to see him if his eyes were closed!

We established quite a cozy relationship, with him uncurling at the sound of my voice and peeping out to see the reason for this disturbance and if he’s not willing to be disturbed right at that moment, he does little hops combined with grunting and huffing noises, letting me know in no uncertain terms that this is not the right time for any play.

Hedgie weighing in at 450g, can go as high as 750g

His diet has progressed to canned dog food (his favorite), still the milk and bread occasionally, and any insects I collected from under rocks and bark, him delighting mostly in the large wood lice, which he virtually grabs out of my hand and devours in a flash. I also started breeding meal worms, which turned out to be his total favourite.

Come summer, and when the threat of veld fires is over, I will try and find a suitable place to release him, and I will surely miss him lying on my lap or crawling up my chest, licking any bare skin he comes across and then, to my utter horror, trying to anoint himself on my smell, prickles scraping bare skin and little claws scratching until I’m forced to return him to my lap or the floor. One thing I know for sure, it will be a great emptiness in my life once he goes.

PS : I never did release Hedgie, and he went on to spend 8 beautiful years with me, and sadly passed away in 2008, from some bowel obstruction that the vet was unable to treat. But I have been left richer for having him in my life and the memories will last forever.

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Hairy wonders

As I was watering the garden this morning, I discovered a whole clump of caterpillars at the base of my Acacia karroo tree. These are the larvae of the Lappet Moth and I am lucky enough to have them hatch in my garden every October.

Their appearance also coincides with the return in mid-October of the Red-chested Cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius – Piet-my-Vrou) as they make out a large part of this Cuckoo’s diet.

Eutricha capensis, the Cape lappet moth, is a species of moth in the family Lasiocampidae primarily found in South Africa. During the larval stage, cape lappets feed on a wide variety of African plants and can often be found aggregating in gardens. The caterpillars are brightly coloured and conspicuously hairy, while the bulky adult moths are mostly brown and much less striking in appearance.

I also found another clump at the base of one of the White Karee's (Rhus viminalis) and I think they have chosen their spot well, for I doubt that the Red-chested Cuckoo will go onto the ground in my garden.

If you look close enough, you will see some water droplets on them. Luckily I saw them just in time before wetting them completely with the hosepipe! Be careful of touching these deceptively soft-looking beauties, the hairs stick to whatever they come into contact with and and can cause an irritating, itchy rash.

The adult moths are large and stocky, with an average wingspan of about 70 mm (2.8 in). Both hind wings and fore wings are reddish brown. The fore wings are flecked with yellow and bear three wavy white stripes. Females are typically paler in colour and larger than males.

I will be keeping a close eye on them over the next few days and hopefully I can capture the adults emerging.

 A typical example of one of the Lappet moths

Image from iSpot

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