April 30, 2012

Today was not a good day for me. In my rush to get to the bank on time and having to remove things from behind the passenger seat, I did not close the door properly and it swung open as I reversed out of the garage and bashed against the garage entrance.  Worst of all is that I have just confirmed that my insurance excess is R2500! The price of stupid/forgetful/old age/absent mind - whatever! 

Today I post a few photos taken this month - I never drive past a pile of dung in the game reserve

because often one is surprised by the beauty found in a pile of dung!

Perhaps this thought will motivate me to stay positive under the circumstances....

April 29, 2012

A beautiful female Stonechat. The male has a prominent black head and
dark brown front with a partly white collar. 

April 28, 2012

Another wonderful morning spent in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park.
We saw Elephant, Rhino, Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Gnu, Nyala, Impala and Warthog.
At last I managed to get a photo of a blue Dragonfly at the bridge where I stop on every visit!
I have taken many photos of red ones, but the blue ones don't come by too often, and when they do, they are always on the move. This guy rested long enough to allow a photo.

April 27, 2012

Sun Conures are such beautiful colorful birds, but also very noisy.
At first glance one might think that the cat got this one's tongue
 but the loud screeching proved the opposite!

April 26, 2012

It was quite a busy day today & quite late when I rushed out to find  something to photograph.
This beautiful Potato Creeper grows on a section of the back fence. Although it is listed as "alien invasive", it has not spread any further along the fence in the 5 years that I have lived in this house. 

April 25, 2012

 Bees packed together on  the trunk of a very tall tree in the garden next door
This picture only shows about a quarter to one third of the bees.
Hopefully they are only resting for the night and will be gone tomorrow....
and not decide to take permanent residence in our gardens!

April 24, 2012

Not a pretty bird!
Not all our Mynah Birds are this ugly, but unfortunately they are not on my list of likeable birds.
 This one had just chased all the other birds away from the feeder.
They are sometimes hand reared and can by repetition, learn to 'talk' like parrots.

April 23, 2012

"Violets for Celia"
Today's post is to wish the #1 supporter of this blog a very happy year!
I hope you had a wonderful day.

April 22, 2012

Traveling companions! Uninvited - just in case you were wondering...

The Hopper jumped in and the Jumper hopped on.

Certainly a good arrangement, because I would not have liked the spider inside the car.

It was the biggest Jumping Spider I have ever seen. It kept moving its front legs as if it wanted to touch the camera. These photos were taken with my old 'baby' Canon A480

April 21, 2012

 We had a lovely day in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park today

This young Elephant kept us entertained for quite some time!

At some stage I thought it might be in trouble

It was splashing about and trumpeting loudly. Spent time under water, too!

I decided to post a series of photos and it was not an easy task to decide which ones!

The Ellie was quite a show-off - beckoning us with a lift of the trunk as-if to say

"Here I am!" and then the show started:

A last look in our direction, and off it went!

April 20, 2012

A very rushed shot today...
of a green eyed Butterfly on a Bougainvillea.

April 19, 2012

This photo was taken last week while on a drive in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park with my friend Carol
Do you see what I see??

April 18, 2012

A little bug caught my eye but after downloading the photo, I noticed a Crab Spider hiding among the stamens, patiently waiting for dinner.
It is very difficult to get rid of this weed  - the only part of it that does not have thorns, is the beautiful daisy-like flowers.

April 17, 2012

A Black Collared Barbet showing great interest in what I was doing!
Perhaps it saw a flash of red reflected in the lens....

April 16, 2012

Lazing in the sun, showing off a tapestry of beautiful colors.
I wonder if this is a juvenile Blue Headed Lizard?
It was about 20 cm/8 inches long.

April 15, 2012

Today I witnessed a Dragonfly laying eggs!
An amazing experience - but how I wished that she was a bit closer... 

April 14, 2012

A teeny-weeny Caterpillar that probably also does not know its frontside from its backside...
At first I thought it might be mildew on the Echeveria leaf, it was so tiny!
Although the sun was a bit harsh at the time, I am pleased that I managed to capture the detail.

April 13, 2012

A beautiful little star-shaped Chilli Flower.....

...within days, the chilli starts to emerge from between the stamens. Soon it will be the size of the one in the background. These upright chillies might be small, but they are extremely hot.
They are called "African Devils"

April 12, 2012

Gladiola 

April 11, 2012

Egyptian Geese
The late afternoon sun adds such warm tones to this picture.
 I 'met' a friend on Facebook through the photo challenge about two years ago.  This afternoon we met in person in my most favourite place  - the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve!
Carol and Mike started their trip  in Cape Town  a month ago, working their way up north, meeting up with four other Facebook photo 'fwends' along the way. How great is that?

April 10, 2012

Today we had quite a busy day as it was the start of the new school term.
It was lovely to see all the familiar (and well rested!) faces of my school family again.
On an errand down the long row of classrooms, I spotted these shoes all neatly lined up.
Not sure that there would be another photo opportunity, I fetched my camera from my office and walked all the way back!

April 9, 2012

The moon at 6am this morning.
Looks a bit like a not-so-fresh Cantaloupe...

April 8, 2012

Today has been rather busy and I did not have much time for a photo.
I found this tiny 'dry arrangement' in a pot on the porch and decided that it would just have to do.

April 7, 2012

A beautiful Hoopoe - I always seem to miss the moment when their crowns are fanned out.

April 6, 2012

According to Wikipedia, what I have always know as  'Olieboom' has many names:
"Datura Stramonium, also known as Jimson weed, devil's trumpet, devil's weed, Thorn apple, Jamestown weed, Stinkweed, Locoweed, Datura, Pricklyburr, devil's cucumber, Hell's Bells & Moonflower"

  This plant is extremely poisonous.

April 5, 2012

A new bird to add to my list!
This is a White Throated Bee Eater - what lovely colours!
We took a quick trip to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve.
Saw Rhino, Elephant, Buffalo (three of the Big 5) Zebra, Giraffe, Impala, 
Warthog and a selection of birds

April 4, 2012

A very friendly Laughing Dove.
I spotted it just outside the kitchen door, fetched my camera and slowly walked out, waited and then sat down on the step. I waited a while before lifted the camera - still no movement!
Although I was only about two meters away, it just sat there staring at me as if mesmerized!
Perhaps this one has been shot by my Canon before & knows that I mean no harm.

April 3, 2012

I feed the birds by spiking pieces of fruit onto a wire.
This Bulbul was shouting at me this morning because breakfast was late.

April 2, 2012

Say what??
This photo needs a caption....

April 1, 2012

Welcome April! It is hard to believe that a quarter of 2012 is behind us....
Today I tried my hand at a macro shot of an unusual subject.
I discovered a  'landscape' on the base plate of my tripod!
The cork creates quite an interesting background.
A reflection of sky and a tree can be seen on the shiny metal at the back