June 30, 2013

Queen of the night cactus (Cereus jamacaru)

 The generic name – which means “torch” – refers to the candelabra-like appearance of the plant.  Queen of the night is also known as Peruvian apple cactus

This invasive plant bears edible fruit much like the Dragon Fruit, but smaller -

one of these can be seen top right in the photo below. The flowers open at night.

Bio-control in the form of sap-sucking mealybugs  and a stem boring beetle have been 

introduced to kill off these plants.

The first photo was taken in March this year  (on a very sunny day!)

I held the camera facing up to show the height of the columns

The other photos were taken today

 These star shaped 'flowers' caught my eye today.

Where the very tall columns have snapped off, these patterns remain

Quite pretty for a pest!

Today marks three and a half year's of daily photos and this is officially post number 1096!
@maggiezlenz was started on 26 March 2011 and will tonight reach 18,000 views.
Thank you for your support!

June 29, 2013

Mom and I visited the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park for a late afternoon drive today.

The rain has done wonders!

We were very fortunate to spot this Hippopotamus in a distance.

I never thought that Hippos might have ticks - what else could the Tick-birds hanging around for?

Except perhaps trying to paint the Hippo White, as you can see :)

While we were watching this very young Zebra foal suckling on its mother, 

a Giraffe crossed the road behind us.

A very wintry view @maggieztree,  but so beautifully touched with gold by the late afternoon sun

June 28, 2013

Golden Orb Spider

We were fortunate to have 2,5mm of rain yesterday and another 18mm during the night!

Welcome rain indeed - it has been very dry in our region for the last few months.

July 27, 2013

Two-faced Pawpaw!

Mom saw this photo and said the Pawpaw has eyes

She was rather amused when I added mouths and nostrils

June 26, 2013

A Grey Heron catching the last rays

It is wonderful to see False Bay Park looking so healthy again.

June 25, 2013

MUFFIN

7 November 1997 to 25 June 2013

My friend for a quarter of my life.  Rest in peace.

June 24, 2013

A Brown Hooded Kingfisher in the late afternoon light

It was perched at a distance and I had to zoom in considerably, which

probably caused the fuzziness in the photo - looks a bit like a painting  ;)

June 23, 2013

We went to False Bay Park late this afternoon to watch the Super Moon rising.

Although the moon only made it's appearance above a bank of haze on horison,  

it did wonders for colour of the moon!  It appeared as a red moon and 

slowly changed colour as it climbed higher into the sky.

We were amazed at how fast it was moving!

June 22, 2013

Today was spent sewing. 

My post on April 1st was about a new project that I was working on.
Well, two weeks ago I finally took it a step further and sent out a few random emails to test the market.
I am now busy making up my first order.
Read more about it here

June 21, 2013

This little chap was hanging from a silk thread and looked quite dead.

I placed it on the table and fetched my camera.

After taking a few photos it suddenly came to life and made a run for it.

Was it catching 40 winks or playing dead?

 Such a beautiful rich colour!

The abdomen is patterned and like the legs, also very hairy. 

June 20. 2013

When I walked into my kitchen this morning, I heard a strange noise.

At first I thought that it might be a mouse gnawing away at something, but then I found 

this large moth flapping around in the basin.

Covered in hairs and scales that had come loose, it was quite a sorry sight 

 but it still made a good model.

 The proboscis neatly rolled up with a drop of water caught in between

I left it on the counter thinking it might survive, but found it dead when I returned home.

I have experienced difficulty with my internet connection this week, and posting is a very slow process....

June 19, 2013

The little yellow Butterflies are back!

They flit around in groups of two or more in what seems to be a mating ritual, often stopping to rest.

This one must have been rather exhausted because it let me get quite close while focusing on

the eye that was watching me!

June 18, 2013

A very puzzled look from this Black-eyed Bulbul!

"Exactly what do you mean by it looks like a dangerous landing?"

June 17, 2013

Today I found a 44 cm long snake skin between the patio chair cushions that are stacked in my lounge.

It is rather frightening to think that I have had a house guest of this nature! 

The skin was obviously turned inside out during the shedding process

A beautiful honeycomb effect where the scales used to be

This is the belly side ....

while the scary end of the snake used to be in here!

June 16, 2013

A beautiful Purple Heron

I have never seen one of these before - another first for my list 

June 15, 2013

A very large Raptor, unfortunately I am unable to identify it.

Perhaps a juvenile?

June 14, 2013

Grumpy little Frog

June 13, 2013

Guarding the contents of a filing cabinet at school!

Google shows a wide variety and this could be a Huntsman Spider aka as a Rain Spider

June 2, 2013

During the course of last year, I visited the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park 45 times.

This is a small selection of the photos that I took on those occasions.

Today I heard that two Rhino were shot in the Park yesterday.

(One Rhino's horn was removed but the other not.)

Looking at this collage, I can't help but wonder how many of these magnificent animals are still alive.

It is thought that by 2015 the chances to see a Rhino in the wild will be very slim.

Senseless killing because of man's greed - what has happened of humanity?

June 11, 2013

This fly allowed me take photos while it was casually cleaning its wings in the afternoon sun.

Beautiful colours with contrasting orange eyes!

June 10, 2013

Wearing winter woollies and heading for for greener pastures, no doubt!

It is very dry here and the front lawn is just about non-existent.

We had a real winter chill today - jackets, jerseys, scarves and boots were seen everywhere.

(not to mention red and runny noses)

My son reported 4°C in East London this morning 

(Eastern Cape Province, South Africa)

June 9, 2013

Not only did a sudden cold snap make me stay indoors - it also caused a major change

in what the lens found today!

June 8, 2013

On Thursday afternoon I brought home a tiny little spider in a container.

I had worked late and it was too dark to take a decent photo by the time I got home,

I picked a few leaves and put it in the container and closed it for Friday's shoot.

Yesterday as I set the container down on the table on the veranda I noticed that some of the

plants were infested with Aphids -with rather interesting long antennae!

Needless to say, the little spider was forgotten.... see yesterday's photo!

I only noticed the container again this morning while watering the plants and thought perhaps the 

little spider night not have survived another night in 'custody'.

 Relieved to find it alive, I helped it out of the container and put it on a Begonia leaf.

Much to my surprise it headed straight for the water in the centre the leaf 

I am quite convinced that it was drinking!

After a while it turned away and started moving up the leaf

 It fought its way through the hairs on the edge of the leaf and finally disappeared.

I hope it finds something to eat as easily as it found water,

June 7, 2013

Horrified to see that my plants are full of Aphids again!

Time to do some serious re-potting and spraying

June 6, 2013

Haute Couture

This Moth certainly knows how to dress!

From the amazing gathered skirt with spotted bodice, right down to the orange necklace!

A pity that she decided to show it off against such a shiny background with harsh light to

make it even worse! ;)   Still worthy to be posted though!

June 5, 2013

This was a visitor to the staff room at school today.

It had such beautiful colouring - unlike any other fly that I have seen.

(The photo was taken with  my little Canon A480 - the camera I used throughout 2010)

June 4, 2013

Multiple eyes watching me work - one of the joys of living in the country!

While busy at my desk I noticed this little Jumping Spider sitting 

on the corner of a sheet of paper 

We also have a resident Jumper in the bathroom and another in the kitchen.

I don't mind them because hopefully they live on pesky mosquitoes - what else 

would they be doing indoors?

(no shortage of mozzies where we live!)

June 3, 2013

A rather battered Dragonfly paid a visit to the Koi pond
At first I thought it might be a White Tail, but I could not find a single picture on the
Web of a White Tail with such a distinct blue marking between the eyes 

June 2, 2013

A beautiful Guinea Fowl feather.

These unique feathers are probably one of the most popular 'indigenous' decorating items

June 1, 2013

It was quite strange to see that this Crab Spider was not interested in the Plume Moth. 

The moth casually worked it's way across the daisy while the spider just sat there.

Made me wonder whether the spider was perhaps having an afternoon nap ;)