The handsome bird in the top photograph is the male of the Pin-tailed Whyder species. The Pin-tailed Whyder 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.
Herewith a quiet contemplative video, filmed in a meditation space in Temenos Retreat Centre, McGregor.
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.
Being a keen baker, I keep flour and other grains for baking purposes in the kitchen. Problem is that the Meal Moths have found my stash and lay their eggs in the supplies and those eggs hatch out into little worms which eat the grains. Having eaten the grains they leave a powdery residue which is a bit of a problem. I curse them, but I must also admire their beauty.
For more details have a look at its Wikipedia page
A fire broke out on the front slopes of Table mountain.
Fortunately the South Easter gale had subsided and they could bring the helicopters in.
The helicopters circled picking up water from a local reservoir
A Little Stint works the salt marshes in the West Coast National Park, South Africa.
We were privileged to see Bat Eared Foxes in the Mountain Zebra National Park. They use those big ears to detect insects which they then dig for in the dry sand.
And now the story of a failed star shoot. We were in the Mountain Zebra National Park. It is a really great park. They have just brought lions in and according to the park staff the lions are “far over there” pointing towards Graaff Rienette.
We were in a fenced camp but worryingly we have seen buck inside the fences so we are not convinced that the fences are as secure as the staff say.
Anyway, at 2 AM I go outside to take photos of the stars because the skies are really quite beautiful and bright in the dry Karoo air.
My first shot and the focus is a bit off.
Taking the advice of a wise photographer, I switch to manual focus and attempt to get sharp focus on a distant street lamp.
Then I start a third photograph setting the timer to 65 seconds.
It is at 30 seconds that a lion roars. It takes about 5 seconds for me to reallise that what I had just heard was a lion, that it might be far away but I wasn’t going to take a chance of it not being in the camp, so I raced inside the chalet and slammed the door which results in a third image which is a nice blend of the stars and the inside of the chalet.
For some odd reason, I didn’t go out again. 
In very bad conditions I photographed the recent full eclipse. There was lots of light pollution and a lot of aerosols so I was actually quite pleased with the results. I was using a high ISO setting so a lot of grain is visible.
Oh, and for those from the northern hemisphere, you will note that the mare appear to you inverted.
