Just about sunset we were cruising the dirt roads around Riviersonderend and found this Juvenile Jackal Buzzard
He (or she) didn’t like our invasion of his privacy so took off in a flurry.
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Fungus Time
Some years ago, there was this huge tree across the road from where we lived and for reasons lost in history the council was persuaded to cut it down. Instead of removing the tree entirely they rather strategically left the huge trunk lying on the pavement and sculpted it into a bench. Slowly the trunk started to rot and eventually the bench disintegrated. The rotting wood made the trunk a perfect bed for fungi. After the recent rains the fungi moved in and provided a colourful display. For scale, the caps are larger than my hand. iNaturalist says it is probably a Gymnopilus palmicola.
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Tidal Pool Swim
In Hermanus on Monday to collect our unsold paintings from an art gallery we decided a bit of tidal pool swimming was in order. We discovered Ficks Pool and decided that was the right thing to do.
The water was icy probably 16°C but still we swam and it was fun.
And I got caught by a wave!
We had coffee and a pizza in a restaurant overlooking the pool afterwards.
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Black Crowned Night Heron
This is a juvenile Heron, photographed at Rondevlei. The water levels being fairly low, the birds are forced out into the open providing an ample opportunity for photography.
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Richards Rambles
Expect travel, flowers, stars, hiking, flowers, poetry, stories and did I mention flowers?
And anything that takes my fancy.
The Header Photo is of a cloudy sunset in the Robertson Karoo.
The profile picture is of a pin cushion with a double collared sunbird on the left and a bee on the right.
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Climbing Table Mountain
Table Mountain has many paths and routes to the top. Most are sensible, easy hiking. The Platteklip Left B is not one of them. The words on the rock should have warned me.
The approach is simple.
Then it gets tense and the point of that warning becomes clear once you are committed, The thing is that you cannot easily go back easily once committed. Here is why.
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Rock Kestrel
While walking along a road that runs along a contour halfway up Table Mountain we came across this beauty.
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Pin-tailed Whydah
The handsome bird in the top photograph is the male of the Pin-tailed Whydah species. The Pin-tailed Whydah is a brood parasite – in other words the female lays its eggs in another species of bird’s nest and leaves the host birds to raise the chicks. In this case the host bird species is the Swee Waxbill which is shown in the second photograph.
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Meditation
Herewith a quiet contemplative video, filmed in a meditation space in Temenos Retreat Centre, McGregor.
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Owl Sculpture
I found this sculpture hanging in the gardens of the Temenos Retreat Centre.
I am not sure if this sculpture is an original created in the Owl House in Nieu Bethesda.
The owl sculptures were originally created by an artist Helen Elizabeth Martin who did some amazing things with light and cement. She stayed in Nieu Bethesda for the last years of her life.
Ms Martin’s home has been turned into a museum and an art outreach centre.
You can see more detail on the Owl House website and if you are in the area of Nieu Bethesda it is well worth a visit.
Temenos is a multifaith retreat centre situated in McGregor in the Western Cape. Their website is here.
Recently I took a photograph of a Fork Tailed Drongo – a bird that eats insects but seems to specialise in bees. A beautiful black bird with a rather grating call. I cleaned up the back ground so the edges of the bird are a bit ragged,
So first off, I did a linocut on plain paper.
Then I got creative. Instead of cartridge paper, I used pastel paper with a rough texture and I kinda like the textured look.
