We went to Vrolijkheid this last weekend and were stunned by the spring flowers. The birding was not great, but we got some lovely pictures none the less.
Now for the birds
Coot feeding time.
Grebe and gone
And a clicking stream frog.
And a large ant. The Afrikaans name is “balbyter” literally ball biter.
It has been a cold and wet winter. Floods, wind and icy conditions but there is an upside. The storm clouds look great in black and white
Not really black and white. I was playing with an app on my phone and managed to capture this
This gif is made from a series of pictures taken of a mating flight of two Pale Chanting Goshawks – the birds were a long way away but the dance makes up for the lack of sharpness
We joined the Honorary Rangers of the Agulhas Reserve for a birding weekend. The weather was cold and very windy, as only the Agulhas Plains can be. It was not really conducive to much standing around in the open but we did do some good birding just sitting in the car.Even though this is a birding page, you must have a couple of nice travel shots.
Agulhas has probably the most bizarre and intriguing lighthouse. More like a Medieval castle converted to lighthouse duties. It makes for an interesting picture.
The other side is more ordinary, but still an impressive structure.
You can see from the next picture just how powerful the wind was. Those are female weavers clinging on for dear life while the wild wheat blows under them.
Here is a picture of some of the birders returning from a bracing walk in a minor gale.
Flowers – you gotta have flowers. Actually, those white things at the feet of the birders in the picture above are these flowers.
There is a bird in the next picture. Promise.
See? There is a bird. Only a bit small. An LBJ (Little Brown Job) and it is a Large Billed Lark – after much deliberation.
We saw some fish eagles in the far distance and photographed them for id purposes. Turns out we got some rather pleasant landscape pictures as well. There are two fish eagles in there, but check out the landscape. Lovely.
Silhouette of a kite playing the winds.
Weavers sheltering from the wind.
Down at the watering trough.
A kelp gull found an ideal sheltering place.
A white chested comorant takes the early morning sun.
Terns sheltering from the wind.
Waves in the wind.
Here’s looking at you. Cape Spur Fowl.
Steppe buzzard readying for flight.
Cape Robin Chat. We had, by this time migrated to Riviersonderend.
This is a set of photographs that I took when going to photograph a full moon. The clouds, as usual came up and messed up the moon, but they did leave me with some fine sunset photographs
The only pictures I got of the full moon. And then sunset came
We went to the Citrusdal Baths in September 2023 and we got some lovely photographs.
Sunset on our first evening there – the Cederberg Mountains in their evening finery
I was all set up to take photos of the stars at 10 PM. And the clouds rolled in. In disgust I went to bed. At 2 AM answering a call of nature I looked outside and found that the clouds had cleared and this was the view. In a pair or shorts and an open tee shirt I braved the 5 degree cold to take a series of photos, this one being the best.
Coral trees are just so photogenic
And not forgetting the nastutians
And a bit of macro photography to finish up.
I couldn’t resist this image as the heron admired his image in the water.
I was in Namaqualand and took the opportunity to drive the Botterkloof pass which is a really steep spectacular pass.
On the way there, I was being pressurised by a guy in a big SUV so I let him get ahead and he raced away. I dawdled so I would not be in his dust, but when he got to the pass, he lost his nerve and crept down the pass much to my disgust. I drive Subarus for their amazing road holding and one of the pleasures is sweeping down dirt road passes at a good speed.
Apologies for cursing so much about his chicken hearted driving.
Clouds passing over the Aghulas plain south of Riviersonderend.
