January 19, 2014

Yesterday we took a late afternoon drive to the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park

We love to stop at this waterhole and just sit there even if there is nothing major to be seen.

I noticed a small object floating on the water and decided to zoom in on it to see what it was.

I marked the object with an orange square in the photo below

Much to my surprise I found that a very opportunistic spider was holding on to the piece of flotsam with its back legs, while floating the other legs on the surface, waiting for an unsuspecting 

insect to come within range. 

How awesome is the surface tension - it looks as if the spider is making 'dents' in the water

A closer look shows that the spider had caught an insect

Meanwhile on the bank of the pond this strange orange-bottomed Wasp was doing what Wasps do.

January 9, 2014

Bringing you the Moon

 These photos were taken just before 7pm this afternoon before it was totally dark.

In my opinion it is best to photograph the moon when it is not quite dark yet.

January 4, 2014

Calling merrily this morning, a Laughing Dove attracted my attention to the 

abundance of berries on the old tree on the field below my house.  

I have lived here for ten years and have never seen the Waterberry Tree so 

heavily laden with fruit. The children in the nearby school love these berries and can be seen filling their empty lunch tins in the afternoons after school. This year will be a feast!

The Waterberry tree is also know locally as the Umdoni.  (Syzygium cordatum)

Wikipedia elaborates on the many uses this tree has to offer: The fleshy fruit is slightly acidic in flavour and is eaten by  monkeys, bush-babies and birds. The berries are also used to sometimes make an alcoholic drink. The powdered bark is used as a fish poison. In central Africa the tree is known as a remedy for stomach ache and diarrhea. It is also used to treat respiratory ailments and tuberculosis.