Monday amid the chaos

A found bird's nest in my collection

in the waning shadow of a weekend :: amid the chaos of a new week beginning :: this nest reminds me of wonders to come . for that I am ever thankful

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An Ode to Artemis

I'm not in a good place at the moment. Last Thursday (3rd September 2015) was a bad day for me. I had to have my prize rooster and the love of my girls' life euthanised because he broke his leg during a fight with Peeps, the other rooster in the flock.

Now we all know it's not a good idea to have two roosters together, but I did not know Peeps was a rooster when I rescued him from certain death as a two-day old. He grew up in my studio with Snoodles and when they were both big enough to join the flock, they went outside. Of course Artemis tolerated the youngster, but always letting him understand who's actually King of the roost. And Peeps always obliged, keeping his distance and staying out of harm's way.

Artemis surveying his dominion from his favourite perch, keeping an eye on the girls

But as time progressed and Peeps got bigger and stronger, he wasn't so keen any more to give way and every now and then he would challenge the king, but always ended up retreating to a safe corner.

Artemis has seen it all, been there, done that, sending other rivals packing in great haste. During one such altercation with a previous rooster, Mr. Chook, for whom I had to find a new home because of the constant fighting, Artemis's top part of his beak was broken almost completely off, just hanging by a thread. I glued it back on with some plastic putty and luckily it took and grew back on, the plastic putty dropping off after a few weeks.

Injuries sustained with an earlier altercation with Peeps

Soon he was a good as new and ruling the roost once again with an iron claw.

Artemis was an excellent husband and provider, always finding the best tit-bits and passing them on to one of the girls. Here Hetty came rushing after he found a nice juicy cutworm in the compost heap.

Artemis strutting his stuff on the patio

Artemis surrounded by some of the girls after he called them for a tasty snack he had found

Artemis in full glorious colour after a successful molt

Beauty in motion

Artemis taking one of his few well-deserved breaks after all the girls had settled down for a snooze under the plants

Artemis was also the inspiration for many a sketch I made of him and the girls, who can resist such beauty?

Artemis with his broken leg

After hearing quite a raucous outside one afternoon, the girls cackling and screaming, I went out to see what's happening and everybody was clustered in the centre of the lawn (including Peeps), but Artemis was nowhere to be seen. After a search, I found him under some plants, lying down with his leg at a terrible angle and his comb and neck feathers covered in blood. Obviously there had been a fight, as Peeps was also covered in blood.

I carefully picked Artemis up, hurrying inside with him to assess the damage. After cleaning off all the blood, he seemed perfectly fine, apart from his loosely dangling leg. There was no external damage, but I decided to take him to the vet anyway for an examination. The prognosis was not good and all he could do was give some pain killers and an anti-inflammatory.

For two weeks I kept a close eye on Artemis, despairing at the fact that he could hardly get to the food or water, struggling along, hopping short distances on his one leg and supporting himself with his left wing, tiring quickly and lying down again. During this time, he and the girls were kept in the run with Peeps being banished to a separate coop until Artemis was better.

By last week Thursday, after almost 3 weeks, there was absolutely no improvement and I could feel that he had lost weight. Off to the vet again. It was abvious I had two choices - either have him put down or carry on trying. I contemplated the consequences, both for him and me, if I should go that route of trying, and although my heart was screaming "keep on trying! keep on trying!", I decided that it was not fair to Artemis and that it was better to have him put to sleep. 

I held him in my arms as the vet administered the injection and cried and cried as he flapped his last death throes.

Peeps has now taken over the perch from which to keep an eye on the girls and is trying his best to meet the high standards Artemis set, taking little snacks from me and now calling the girls to come and get it in stead of gobbling it up himself like previously.

And so goes the cycle of life on a smallholding...

A loving moment - Kiep, Artemis's favourite wife, gently preening his wounds after a fight with Mr. Chook

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Lessons from Nature

I look at the sky so blue, sun shining so bright
Spreading heat and happiness with its blinding light
I watch the waves crash in, breaking on the shore
All their anger dispensed on the oceans floor
Long blades of grass swaying in the gentle breeze
Dancing in rhythm with so much ease

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Look up at the trees hearing the singing of the birds
Happily chirping singing at ease without words
Sitting here holding my knees to my chest
Watching and hearing nature at it s best
I ponder how Nature could get it so right
When we have let Natures lessons get so out of sight

We hold our anger, let our happiness slip away
Making our survival a struggle each and every day
We have forgotten the little things that mean so much
Like the laughter, the freedom, and someone's loving touch
If only I could make people stop, watch and listen to Natures tale
We could all sit back happily and our world would not be so frail

In each others existence in harmony we could all survive
I'm sure like the sun, wind, tree, and birds our lives we could revive
If only we let nature take its course in each and every one of us each day and night
As I sit and ponder how Nature got it so right ...

and we lost all sight.

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Poem from Family Friend Poems

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Southern masked-weaver - Ploceus velatus

This time of the year (winter) it is very difficult to distinguish between who is male and who is female with these abundant Southern Masked Weavers in my garden. In summer the male's bright yellow and black plumage is quite unmistakable, but now only their demeanour can give me a clue as to who's who.

The upright stance of these two birds clearly indicates they are males. Just moments before, another male tried to join the group at the feeding station and after a short scuffle, these two made it quite clear that he is not welcome!

Above is a Black-throated Canary (Crithagra atrogularis) having a hard time finding space on the bird feeder. These sometimes inconspicuous canaries have a wonderful "tweet-sweet" call which always draws me out to the garden to see if I can get a pic, but they are very skittish.

A group discussion about what's available for breakfast!

Now, is that edible or not...?

 A female (I presume!) Southern Masked Weaver inspecting what's on offer.

These weavers occur across southern Africa even in arid areas, extending into Angola, Zambia and Malawi. It generally favours semi-arid scrub, open Savannah, woodland edges, riverine thicket, farmland with scattered trees, alien tree plantations and gardens.

These birds are greatly preyed upon by the Ovambo sparrowhawk, Little sparrowhawk, Peregrine falcon and Lanner falcon. The eggs and chicks are in danger from the Boomslang, Common fiscal shrike, African grey hornbill and Vervet monkeys. Yet these gregarious birds continue to thrive and their conservation status is LC (least concern).

It mainly eats seeds, fruit (yet I've never seen them show any interest in the fruit I put out, maybe they prefer only certain berries), insects and nectar, doing most of its foraging in small flocks, gleaning prey from leaves and branches, taking seeds from the ground and grass stems. They love Cosmos flower seeds and are also partial to seeds of elms. Recorded fruits are from
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• Rhus pyroides (Common currant)
• Prunus (Satsuma plum)
• Viscum rotundifolium (mistletoe)
• Ehretia rigida (Puzzle-bush)

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They also eat the flower parts of Prunus (peaches and apricots), Rhigozum trichotomum (Driedoring) and Tagetes erecta (African marigold). They love the nectar from
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• Aloe marlothii (Mountain aloe)
• Tecoma capensis (Cape honeysuckle)
• Schotia brachypetala (Weeping boer-bean)
• Eucalyptus sideroxylon (Red ironbark)
• Hibiscus rose-sinensis (hibiscus)

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They love insects such as Coleoptera (beetles and their larvae), termites, Ephemeroptera (mayflies) and caterpillars (larval stage of Lepidoptera). They are also partial to human food like bread and porridge.

However, distinguishing between the sexes can be made as follows : The adult male in breeding plumage has a black face, throat and beak, red eye, bright yellow head and underparts, and a plain yellowish-green back. The female has a pinkish-brown bill, brown or red-brown eye and is dull greenish-yellow, streaked darker on the upper back. The throat is yellowish, fading to off-white on the belly. The non-breeding male resembles the female but retains the red eye. The juvenile of this species is like the female.

These birds are polygynous, as males may mate with up to about 12 females in a single breeding season, living in colonies with 1-9 males in total, while each female may often rear multiple broods per breeding season. It is much less aggressive in comparison to most other weavers, although it viciously attacks Diederick cuckoos if they enter its territory. 

Now, in winter, the nests are all empty and abandoned.

The nest  is built solely by the male, consisting of a kidney-shaped structure with a large entrance on the bottom, made of woven grass, palm leaves or reeds with a ceiling of leaves, such as Acacia and Eucalyptus. If the female accepts the nest she lines the interior with leaves, grass inflorescences and feathers.

Egg-laying season is from July-March, peaking from September-February. She lays 1-6, usually 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 12-14 days. The chicks are fed by the female only on a diet of soft insect larvae and grasshoppers, leaving the nest after about 16-17 days.
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Every summer I stand watching the African Masked Weavers building their nests in my garden and it’s a hive of activity! Usually there are at least ten of them, with great squabbling going on in between building sessions. This guy seems to be saying, “Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know!” I stand amazed at the symmetry and perfection of their work.

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Do Not Disturb! - a nesting or hibernating Hedgehog

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If you suspect that a Hedgehog has made a nest somewhere in your garden, leave it alone! In the summer it may be a mother and babies; in the winter an animal might be hibernating. Look forward to seeing the hedgehogs again when they emerge.
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Sometimes a Hedgehog might be spotted virtually in the open, sleeping on a bed of leaves. Leave it alone, it might just be napping and, if it gets cold enough, it will soon wake to find a warmer spot. Hibernation is not continuous and periodically the hedgehogs wake up and their temperature returns to near normal. They seldom move about, but simply remain alert in the nest.
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By mid-winter, most hedgehogs will have started to hibernate. Any late-born youngsters still found wandering about on these cold winter days are unlikely to survive for very long. I never advocate removing any wild creature from nature, but in the case of very young hedgehogs, I will collect them when I find them late in the season and keep them in a fenced area where I can provide shelter for them, sometimes even keeping them in the house until the worst cold is over. The problem with keeping them inside is that they don’t know it’s winter and will spend the time awake, running about!
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Hedgehogs often make use of man-made hibernation spots like boxes or any other structures that offer protection, so think about providing a few cosy spots where the hedgies can find a safe place to hibernate or nest.

It is therefore a good idea not to remove leaf litter from your garden in winter (luckily there are lots of trees shedding their leaves in winter!), it provides a warm and safe haven for any little mammals visiting your garden.

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