I've lost my Chi-Chi!

Day 1

Seven and a half months ago I found Chi-Chi outside, virtually abandoned by her mother and very weak, couldn't keep up with the family. So of course she was brought inside, put in a basket with a hot water bottle and lovingly pampered over the next few weeks.

Chi-Chi at 2 weeks old

Chi-Chi at 5 weeks old

Chi-Chi at 8 weeks and just starting to sport her little hat 

Chi-Chi at 6 months old and getting the nesting urge

Chi-Chi fully independent

After spending six months with me, following me everywhere and often having sojourns outside to the garden and mixing with all the other girls, Chi-Chi has finally left home. She's independent. She's left me. She's fully integrated into the flock now. Her pecking order has been established - she's not right at the bottom of the ladder, that is reserved for ChickyBoo and Micky, but at least she's somewhere in the middle, with the older girls like Kiep, Hettie and Megs still ruling the roost.

She's still very loving and lets met pick her up, carry her around and have some cuddles, but other than that, she's a flock member now. Even laid her second egg in one of the nest boxes in the coop (the one that seems to be favoured by EVERYBODY - they'll stand in queue for hours cackling and fighting about that one nest box and there are nine!), the first egg was laid in the nest I have in my studio (pic above).

And she takes her duty as a flock member very seriously. She dutifully runs up to Artemis when he calls with a tit-bit, stays well out of Meg, Kiep and Hettie's way and also partakes in pecking and chasing ChickyBoo and Micky every chance she gets. It's hard work being a flock member, you have to constantly be aware of what coop politics are taking place currently and keep up with all the latest news. Like the fact that Micky is broody and even though she's the flock's scape-goat, broody time is no time to be messing with someone wanting to sit on eggs.

Micky, the little black hen on the left, keeping an eye on Chi-Chi at supper-time.

I miss having my little Chi-Chi around but I am also extremely happy that her integration into the flock was so effortless and that she's finally no longer an outsider.

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Thankful for the rain - and there's more to come

Image from "Die Beeld" Newspaper

After suffering a drought most of last summer, this January has brought (almost) more rain than we can handle. While the farmers and us gardeners are ecstatic about the rain, some suburban areas in Krugersdorp (Gauteng, South Africa) and other areas have been hard hit with lots of destruction. At the Walter Sisulu Botanical gardens in Roodepoort the normally placid waterfall turned into a raging torrent, washing away bridges and sending the newly fledged young Black Eagle seeking the safety of his nest high up on the cliffs. You can see the video of the waterfall HERE.  

I think it is a symptom of all the development in the catchment area. With all the new housing estates going up in the area, more hard surfaces means less water penetration into the soil and larger, more spectacular flash floods. According to the SA Weather Service, this storm is in a band coming from the north, through Botswana and North West. Water flowing through water courses caused the Monument Dam at Key West Shopping Mall to overflow, spilling millions of litres into a nearby school, which had to be closed, while the water rushed through various parts of the town.

Watch this short video.


For the past three weeks, we've been having afternoon thunderstorms with 30mm on most days, but the whopper was on Saturday night and early Sunday morning, when my rain gauge over-flowed, meaning more than 100mm in just over 18 hours. I didn't write it down, but my estimate is 450mm for the month. My chickens sought the safety of the coop, not venturing out until it had all subsided after lunch-time.

I've always wanted to live either at the beach or the banks of a river, but Mother Nature is so unpredictable these days, I think for the moment I will settle for the high, flat plains of Gauteng.


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Confused Weaver

It seems this Weaver is wondering, “Now why would she not like this one…?”

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

A male African masked-weaver (Ploceus velatus) fluttering at his nest trying to attract the attention of a female.

The male builds a nest for a female. If the female does not like the nest, it might not be green enough even though it is newly built, he will tear it down and start over. If she does like the nest, she will line it with grass and feathers, and start raising a family. The male will then try to build a new nest for another female.

The Southern Masked-Weaver or African Masked-Weaver is an inhabitant of sub-Saharan Africa with a short, conical bill. Adult males in breeding plumage have a black face and throat, red eyes, a bright yellow head and underparts, and yellowish-green upper-parts, whereas females (and non-breeding males) are dull greenish yellow, streaked darker on the upper back, and the throat is yellowish, becoming off-white on the belly, with duller irides. It nests in colonies, like other weavers, and the nests, again like those of other weavers, are woven of reeds, palms or grasses. The Southern Masked-Weaver appears to have established itself locally in parts of northern Venezuela.

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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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