April 30, 2011

Mister Muscovy Duck willingly turning his best side to the camera!!


 



April 29, 2011

Grass seeds are quite fascinating at the moment - this butterfly was suspended while nectaring on a grass .... uhm.... would that be a grass flower or a grass blossom....???
I love the late afternoon light on this one.


 

April 28, 2011

Gossamer wings against the late afternoon sky.
Not much to photograph today, but I found a dead Dragonfly and decided that it needed
to live on in my journal.....

April 27, 2011



The internet tells me that this is an 'Acraea Encedon'
A very photogenic fellow, despite the harsh sunlight.  



April 26, 2011

 

I had a lovely time in the garden early this morning before the gardener arrived to mow the lawn.
We have a very 'mixed' lawn that was sprouting seeds in various forms. The colours of this one caught my eye.
The tiny little seeds were in beautiful shades of red - about half the size of what we know as Budgie seed.
The most amazing discovery was when a macro shot revealed the fact that the red shades were actually flowers!

My photo journal constantly reminds me of the wonderful Miracle of Creation!



April 25, 2011

Precariously positioned and waiting patiently to catch breakfast!    I do not think that the Crabspider had any intention to the beetle for itself.   It was probably hoping for something more palatable to come along and prey on the beetle- that's why it was just about lying in its back hiding behind the petals!  The dew was quite amazing this morning!

24 April, 2011

After church today we spent the afternoon the Game Reserve.  We saw Giraffe, Zebra, Impala, Rhino,
Warthog, Buffalo, Nyala, a Kudu bull and plenty of elephants. 
Behind this elly hides a Toyota Fortuner. Its passenger was doing what you are not supposed
to do in a game reserve. It made a very interesting photo though ...
(OK - I did do a fraction of manipulation to conceal a tiny bit of Toyota!!!)

April 23, 2011

This plant was a gift from my sister & it is the first time it is going to flower.
I can't wait to see what the flowers will look like!

April 22, 2011

Freedom at last!  This little spider was brought me at the office and all I had to carry it
home in was my lunchbox. 
Needless to say, I forgot about it yesterday and only got to rescue & photograph it this morning. 
Poor little thing!
(Here it is sitting on the flower head of a 'String of Hearts' plant)

April 21, 2011




Not quite enough time to focus on this very small & fast-moving, strange, red-eyed little creature!
It had the prey firmly grasped and was rushing as fast as it could to get away from the lens.
The white blotch is actually a string of eggs being laid by dying the victim. 
Survival of offspring is certainly a priority for all creatures - great or small!
How amazing is Creation......

 

April 20, 2011

A very dull looking 'moth' turned out to be a Skipper Butterfly with interesting
markings and a lovely fringe around its wings.

April 19, 2011



The Gerbera is certainly attracting more than photographers!
It did not seem to be eating the flower - just sitting there looking pretty ;-)



April 18, 2011

Mrs Garfield proudly shows off her first bloom for this season.
(This lily has a white line through the centre of the long leaves & is REALLY called Mrs Garfield!)
It did not rain here today - this photo was taken yesterday afternoon.





April 17, 2011

This is a very small type of Sunbird that I have not been able to identify.
Metallic blue at the throat with emerald green on the shoulders.

April 16, 2011



Despite the rain today,  we took a drive to False Bay Park (part of the Isimangaliso Wetlands)
Although this Redeye Dove was sitting quite close to the car, the light was not good enough to catch the red eye-ring. I like the effect the misty rain had on the background in this photo.

I am rather pleased with this photo - taken from within the car.
The road was rather muddy by now!



April 15, 2011

One of the smallest spiders I have ever photographed! The interesting colours and red face was quite a surprise because to the naked eye it was just a dull speck moving against the green leaf.

April 14, 2011

My friend Pat has the most beautiful Gerberas - I love the rich tangerine colour of these.
We had 22mm of rain today!  Such a blessing - the catchment tanks are overflowing...
Thank you Lord.

April 13, 2011

A type of spider that I have not seen before.
A very round abdomen (about 5mm) with bright yellow markings around the posterior area.

April 12, 2011

It has certainly been my week for butterflies!
This beautiful 'Mother of Pearl' was hanging on the shelf in my kitchen this morning!
It patiently posed for photos before I set it free outside.
I tried to rotate the picture, but it did not look right - it had to be hanging....

April 11, 2011

It was too difficult to decide which of these two photos to post today today, so here they both are.
Although one would think they are the same, their patterned markings differ - much like the markings on Zebra.

April 10, 2011

This photo was to capture the colours & textures of the new growth of the Prickly Pear.
The ant gatecrashed .........

April 9, 2011

On days like these I wish I had a  book on the butterflies of South Africa. 
This beauty was feeding on decayed fruit - I have never seen one like it.
My friend Jill would be able to identify it...  just watch the comments.......

A Green-veined Emperor! Thank you Jill!

April 8, 2011

A far-away look in a baboon's eyes ......

April 7, 2011

It was very windy today and my only hope was the front garden that was sheltered by the house,
but still breezy. 
This Dragonfly was quite accommodating although the focus is not very sharp. 

April 6, 2011

This morning I spent quite a while chasing after a juvenile Hummingbird Moth with no success.
This butterfly must have felt sorry for me & perched on the flower right in front of me as if to say "Here - shoot me,  I'm prettier!" 

April 5, 2011

This bird has always eluded my camera.  This morning I heard the distinctive whistle and am happy
 to have managed a shot at it.  I do not know what type of eagle it is, though. It is brown & fairly large - I have not been able to make out the colour of the beak and feet .  It has taken a neighbour's dog on a previous visit, and has swooped down on a friend's dog while she was right there in the garden herself!   Not shy....  

April 4, 2011

Today it was rather windy and overcast here. Not much to photograph....
These are wild flowers we saw in the Game reserve yesterday. 

April 3, 2011

We spent the afternoon in the game reserve.
This colourful bird is a "Little Bee-Eater" - I just love the blue eye-shadow!

April 3, 2011

We had 20mm of rain during the night and most of the spider eggs were washed out of the nest.
I hope that the few remaining eggs will survive. 

April 2, 2011

Such an amazing sighting today!  The leaf  on this plant had been folded over and 'anchored' down. Inside the 'nest' that was created were the tiniest eggs and a little green spider. 
I tried to take a photo from the other side, but sadly the focus was out. 
I look forward to taking another photo tomorrow




 

April 1, 2011

What a day!  It started with heavy traffic & trucks on the N2 to get to Richards Bay.
The Tax office was extremely 'beezy' today - nearly 3 hours wait to see a consultant!!
It was also very 'beezy' in my garden..