April 30, 2013

Sticky stuff!

Not the best photo, but I really wanted to find out what makes these little green things stick to

your clothes and even your skin!

Much to my surprise I found tiny blobs of glue - how truly amazing!

April 29, 2013

Never seen one of these before!

Amazing modern colours, not to mention the headdress!

The simplicity of the contrasting 'body art' is very striking, as are the touches of purple!

The head spikes remind me so much of Fran - the wife of Earl in the Dinosaurs TV Series.

(I love it when the children at school bring our resident wildlife to my attention! Thank you Joshua!)

April 28, 2013

I post this just because I would rather have been out with my camera than working on a Sunday!

Taken two weeks ago in the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park - my favourite place, by far.

This Warthog was so close to our car that I could have reached out to touch it. 

It had clearly been wallowing in the nearby mud pool.

April 27, 2013

At the entrance to the rooms of my new Dentist

Amazing what can be achieved with a bit of creativity and a few recycled items!

All my life I have been such a sissy about going to the Dentist!

Now, at the age of 61, I can gladly say that I have discovered an angel in that profession....

Although this photo was taken earlier in the week, I dedicate it to her on this day -

 my first day in months without toothache.

April 26, 2013

A type of Wasp with a very long Ovipositor

Taken in bad light in the corridor of the admin block at school using nothing 

less than a 10.1" Samsung Galaxy Note!  

(Loooooving my new toy!)

April 25, 2013

Apologies for being behind with my daily postings  - I am hoping to catch up ;)

Thursday April 25 had many photographers watching the moon .... but it was a "tiny" eclipse!!

This photo was taken at 09:57pm

I quote from an e-mail received from the Wits University:

"Tiny Eclipse of the Moon - Thu 25th
There will be a very very small (2%) eclipse of the Moon Thursday, from 9:52pm to 10:22pm. 
Look at the (full) Moon earlier in the evening, and you'll see the edges are perfectly smooth.  Look around 10:05pm, and you may notice a small smudge on the lower left edge - this is the shadow of the Earth, touching the Moon 380,000 km away. 
The eclipse may be difficult to see - binoculars or a small telescope would help."

Below is a  photo taken earlier in the evening - at 6:49pm

Unfortunately I did not watch throughout the evening - spent ages on the phone and forgot...

Happy that I remembered in the end, though!

April 24, 2013

So often I panic when I realise that I don't yet have my daily photo to post ...

Thankfully I stumble upon all sorts of little creatures on my short walk home from work.

This Stinkbug was patiently waiting to become the star of the day.

April 23, 2013

Miniature wonderland.

A close up of Grass 'Seeds' reveal an abundance of stamens and pollen.

April 22, 2013

The afternoon sun working it's magic.

April 21, 2013

 What looked like  a dead insect turned out to be a little Spider. I have never seen one of these before. The first photo is a view of its underside as it was hanging on the web.

 I then stuck the baby Canon under the web to take the photo shown below.

The Spider's abdomen could easily be mistaken for the head of an Ant or other insect.

April 20,2013

We are suddenly in the grips of Winter 

This Black Crowned Tchagra is all puffed up and seems to be feeling the cold

But... knowing our part of the country (formerly known as Zululand) we are bound to still have

quite a few sweltering days~!

April 19, 2013

When I zoomed in on these Damsel Flies engaged in their strange love thing..... 

...I did not expect to get such dirty looks!

April 18, 2013

Wild Cucumber - at least that is what I think it is.

I do not know if it is edible and I am not prepared to try!

It does make a pretty picture, though.

April 17, 2013

Unfortunately the two photos that I managed to take of this tiny caterpillar with its 

orange 'eyes' and unique hairstyle turned out rather grainy.  

I added even more grain and quite like the effect.

April 16, 2013

Eyeing a Fly....?

This Lizard was so well camouflaged that I spotted it by chance when admiring the bark

April 15, 2013

A look that says "Pleeez take me home with you?"

This large Grasshopper hitched a ride by clinging to the back of my leg.

April 14, 2013

Blending in so perfectly with the background.

The blades of grass show by comparison how tiny the Butterfly actually is.

April 13, 2013

A visit to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park.

Although we only saw two of the Big Five, we probably saw all of the Tiny Twenty!

Sightings included Giraffe, Zebra, Buffalo, Rhino, Impala, Nyala, Warthog and a variety of birds.

 

 This Giraffe is clearly a survivor! 

Smurf City

These tiny Mushrooms grow in the Rhino middens  

 Beautiful Water Lilies are in bloom all over. 

Spot the Damsel Fly ;)

 Siesta time. "They don't call me Thick Knee for nothing!"

 This Water Lily had such a long stem that it seemed to be floating all on its own.

Spot the Damsel Fly ;)

 Siesta time. A Zebra catching 40 winks! 

The scenery atmaggieztree

Whenever I visit the park, I take a photo at this very spot.

It is interesting to see how the scene has changed in the last year.

(all the previous photos can be viewed by by typing 'atmaggieztree' into the search facility at the top of this page)

April 12, 2013

 
 

A friend's plant was looking very sick and after a very thorough inspection, 

we found that these little critters were the reason.

They are only about 3mm in length and suck the sap from the leaves causing the leaves to wilt.

April 11, 2013

Macro shot of the fibrous tip of a highlight pen.

April 10, 2013

@maggiezlenz - without Maggie...!

Today our Grade 3 learners went on an excursion to Phinda Private Game Reserve.

Fortunately my camera had the privileged of going with them!

The Lioness in the top pictures had caught a Zebra foal to feed her cubs.

What a siting this must have been!

April 9, 2013

Bunny ears - not the fluffy kind!

April 7 & 8, 2013

MySunday photo is of a very old cross that was given to my mother by a soldier many moons ago. The cross measures only 3 cm in length. Looking through the convex glass one can read The Lord's Prayer complete with a picture of two kneeling, praying Angels. Quite amazing.

Ever walked past a tree and get the feeling that you're being watched? :)

April 6, 2013

Waiting for an unsuspecting insect or perhaps ready to nest....

April 2 - 5. 2013

Never say never again...

After a busy week I find myself playing 'catch-up' again!

The Fly

 The String of Hearts vine is once again covered in the little lantern-shaped flowers

 The Hoya flowers lend a strange landscape to the scene I was trying to capture. I waited in vain to try and get a shot of the little brown spider in action. Once I downloaded the photo, I realised that the flying insect was already lunch to an even smaller white crab spider

Strange Aphid creatures have invaded a certain type of weed that grows against the fence.

Fortunately not on any other plants ..... yet  :)

April 1, 2013

A bright start to the new month!

No outdoor photos today. This is a photograph of part of a new project that I am working on.