August 31. 2012

Where there's a will...
Although this Bauhinia had been chopped down, it very courageously sprouted and is now in bloom.
Certainly a tree with attitude!
A lesson from nature: any bad experience or trauma can be overcome if you remain positive.
The old song " Pick yourself up, Dust yourself off, Start all over again" springs to mind.

 (The Bauhinia is also known as a Camel's Foot Tree because of the shape of the leaves)

August 30, 2012

This covered walkway joins the Hall to the rest of the school.
Tales of many footsteps ...... 

August 29, 2012

♫ Beautiful, beautiful brown eyes...... I'll never love blue eyes again ....♪
(Ha! - knowing this song gives away your age!!)

August 28, 2012

An unidentified LBJ
(this reminds me yet again that I need a decent bird book)
Perhaps the feathers draped over its wing is a new avian fashion trend!

August 27, 2012

Today has been one of those days - the last week of the month never allows much time for photos.
It is on days like these that I feel it is perhaps time to take a break from posting daily.....

August 26, 2012

White-eared Barbet, Tinker Barbet, Pied Barbet, Black-collared Barbet, Crested Barbet - just as I thought I had seen them all, along comes the Apple-bodied Barbet!

 This has to be a new species ;-)

We were sitting on the front porch watching the bird hollow out this large apple. 

The Barbet would disappear into the apple with only the tail and toes showing, 

popping its head out occasionally to look around.... 

August 25, 2012

From a distance this shrub seems to be covered in clusters of lilac flowers.
A very close look revealed tiny flowers with darker stamens.
A sticky substance adds luster to the hairy petals.
I have searched the internet but was not able to identify the shrub

August 24, 2012

"Is it safe to come out yet Mommy?"
"No, my dear - it has not rained yet and I have already lost my head...."

August 23, 2012

Cape White-Eye
We sat watching the abundance of birds in the hostel garden this afternoon.
Other visitors: Black Collared Barbet, White-eared Barbet, Masked Weavers and a
Brown-hooded Kingfisher.

August 22, 2012

Weeds and succulents are all that seems to be growing in my garden at the moment!

August 21, 2012

How amazing that weeds survive without water?
This nettle has thrived and produced beautiful flowers.

August 20, 2012

White Fronted Bee Eater
No time for a photo today, so I decided to try my hand at editing one that was taken last week.
Surely that makes it count for today?

August 19, 2012

It was rather windy today and I found myself deleting just about every photo that I took.
 Protected by the huge Pine tree,  this Aloe bravely stood its ground and
therefore the only photo that is in focus.
(The insect flew in quite by chance - no claim for 'perfect timing' here!)

August 18, 2012

Although this shot was an accident, I find it strangely appealing! 
The birds were running in a section of the
Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park that was destroyed by fire earlier this week. 
 In an attempt to get motion blur in the background, with the Guinea fowl  in focus,
I rested my camera on the half open window and tried to drive next to the running birds.
Unfortunately the camera slid down the slanting edge of the window and this was the result!
The photo somehow conveys the terror that runaway fires cause to all creatures- great and small.
"Running from the Fire" therefore seems like an ideal name for this shot. 

August 17, 2012

The buds in this photo are smaller than a match head and the flowers are really tiny.
The plant grows in the hostel garden - I noticed the little clusters in passing on my way to work.
I was quite surprised to see the abundance of stamens when I zoomed in to take this shot.
Strange that some of the flowers have 5 petals and others 4 - also that the stamens are so different?
Perhaps they are male and female flowers? Watch this space. I am going to visit it again tomorrow....
Good news it that we had 5mm of rain today! Not much, but it has settled the dust.
We remain hopeful for more.

August 16, 2012

Rainbow wings with hints of gold.
This Moth Fly / Drain Fly somehow found its way into my home office - it is time to treat the drains.
Roll on Summer - pretty soon it will be Mosquito season, too!
Oh, the joys of living in the bush...

August 15, 2012

This baby Lynx Spider has an owl face on the back of its head!
Regular watering has paid dividends -  the Lantana is in flower.
This plant is an insect magnet -  I guess you will be seeing a lot of yellow @maggiezlenz again!
(Please note that this is not the invasive type of Lantana)

August 14, 2012

After a busy day I was thankful to be welcomed home by this bright splash of 
a newly opened Hibiscus bloom!

♥Wishing a very special couple in Dubai a happy second anniversary♥  

There has been a smoky haze hanging over us again today - fires, fires everywhere....
and still no rain in sight

August 13, 2012

Fungus growth on a fallen branch.
When I first moved into this house, I asked the gardener to ring-bark a Syringa Tree that was growing in the back yard.  Within weeks a similar Fungus started to grow below the section where the bark was removed. After about three months the tree was dead and ready to be cut down.It is said that this fungus is the first sign of an unhealthy, dying tree, and I guess we proved it.

August 12, 2012

Clusters of beautiful little white flowers despite the drought!
These grow wild - I hope it is not an alien invasive plant...

August 11, 2012

We spent the morning in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve. It is very dry and large sections have been affected by recent fires.  We so desperately need rain. 

We sat for quite a while watching Giraffe wandering around probably looking for something to eat. As can be seen from the photos, there is not much choice for them at the moment.  Considering the fact that they eat up to 34kg of leaves and twigs per day, they must do a great deal of walking every day.   

It was quite amazing but also sad to see how the Giraffe used its tongue to get hold of the few Acacia shoots that were available. 

Later, in one of the few sections of the park that have NOT been affected by fire, we landed up behind a vehicle where the driver dropped a burning cigarette out of the window!  

I stopped my car and stomped out the burning cigarette.

To you, Mr “Jeep with baby on board”,  I would like to ask: How many fires did  YOU start today?  

Although I had the decency to obliterate the registration number of your vehicle, I somehow feel that you do not deserve the gesture. 

People who have no conscience, are irresponsible or show no respect for nature should rather stay at home.  Come to think of it – these are probably the types who write snide remarks in the Visitors Book at the gate because our beautiful park did not live up to their expectations!  

August 10, 2012

 This is a Square tailed Drongo - much smaller than its Fork tailed cousin. 

I have often mistaken it for the Black Flycatcher, but have since learned that the Flycatcher has dark eyes, while this bird has reddish eyes

August 9, 2012

White-throated Robin-chat

"Witkeeljanfrederik [Afrikaans]; Witkeel-lawaaimaker [Dutch]; Cossyphe à gorge blanche [French]; Weißkehlrötel [German]; Cossifa-de-peito-branco [Portuguese]"

This is another first for my birding list. I have seen them before but never managed 

a clear photo because they are very busy birds and constantly hopping around!

Today is a public holiday in South Africa and Mom and I spent a few hours in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve. I took a video clip of a herd of 20 Elephants crossing the road in front of our car!
Also on the sightings list today are Rhino, Buffalo, Giraffe, Zebra, Nyala, Impala, Warthog and a variety of birds. The park is desperate for rain.

August 8, 2012

Today my photos step a year back as I recall very happy moments!

Last year over this long weekend I had a surprise visit from my children who live Dubai.

We took a very chilly 800km road trip through the Transkei to visit my other son and his family who live just outside East London.
These images show the cold we experienced during the trip as well as the warm welcome that awaited us at our destination.  Oh, how I wish I could relive it right now!
We are experiencing very cold weather throughout, with snow and heavy rains in places. We have had no rain, and looking at the weather report tonight, we are not likely to get any...
Quite a day we had today - without electricity for most of the morning, and the power went off again a few minutes ago. Probably loadshedding due to high electricity demands.
Fortunately I had already loaded my photos to the blog and could continue this post on my laptop.
Yay! for technology, although the laptop battery is about to run out  ;-)

August 7, 2012

Lichen

"If the other fungi are nature's recyclers, lichens are nature's pioneers"

http://www.perspective.com/nature/index.html

August 6, 2012

Viewer stats tell me that the blog is only 2 views away from reaching the 10,000 mark!
I started @maggiezlens on 26 March 2011 - 16 months ago - an average of 625 views per month.
This is day 949 of daily blogging (the first 15 months was on facebook) Posting daily is not always easy and often I have come SO close to giving up.  Thank you for your support - each and every person who visit to look through "maggiezlenz" certainly inspires me to keep me going!

In the corner of my garden, a very old Conifer stands twice as high as the house.
It was planted approximately 55 years ago. The trunk is so thick that I can not encircle it with my arms.
There is a carpet of winter tones under it now, but I have to add that it is pretty messy all year round!
  An insect or a bird must have nipped off this colourful leaf that contrasts so beautifully with the scaly leaves.There really is not much to photograph in my garden at the moment and I find it rather depressing.
 ROLL ON SPRING - some rain is needed to give life to the garden ... which will in turn add some interest and colour @maggiezlenz!

August 5, 2012

Flyless Barbed Wire
A hairy fly was sitting right there, but took off while I was trying to focus!
 Unfortunately I did not have much time for photos today

August 4, 2012

Waiting patiently for breakfast....
I did not see the second bird until I downloaded the photo!
Mouse Birds have such an odd way of 'hanging' on a branch in stead of perching like other birds.These birds have become quite tame since I have been putting fruit on spikes for them.
We are in desperate need of rain. This photo shows that even the shrubs are dying.

August 3, 2012

 Staying with the Vintage theme....

These are photos of brittle and discolored pages from a very old Bible.

As far as I can make out, the inscription reads:

"To: Dear Pucha, 14th October 1926

From: Dearlie and Hermine"

What I found amazing about this book, is that the illustrations for each featured story

was not printed on the actual pages of the book, but glued/pasted on to a blank page.

Unfortunately the book was clearly not looked after

August 2, 2012

This vintage pin would probably have amazing stories to tell....

August 1, 2012

A thorny plant with pretty flowers and plenty of pollen - but not an insect to be seen!