Category: flickr

Fox hat

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When I told my mate where we were going this week (over a rather poor phone connection), he said “Wear the fox hat”.

He must have known it was going to be cold.

Yes, it’s a terrible joke just so I could post a picture of the Cape Fox we met at Eagle Encounters recently.

So cute, so petite, and 90% of that small cushion is pure fur. I know that scale is difficult, but Cape Foxes are small, so you could actually wear this guy as a fox hat. I’m no millinery expert, but the natural change of hue is fantastic and those ears really would make for a lovely feature.

Cosy, too.

WLR inclusion

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Just a quick link to a “creative nonfiction” piece in this quarter’s World Literature Review magazine.

Here is that link:

https://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/2019/summer/provenance-sandra-jensen

Our protagonist is ostensibly chatting to a gentleman at a party, but her mind is a million miles away: apparently knee-deep in white guilt and self-doubt over her parents’ roles in pre-94 South Africa.

Sheesh. I know, right?

I don’t want to give away the ending, but I do want to say that one of the photographs illustrating the piece is – in my humble opinion, at least – rather good.

Kite

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Yesterday was a lovely family day out in the Cape Winelands, and one of the highlights for me was a visit to the Eagle Encounters Rehabilitation Centre at Spier. Lots of birds on display there (these are the 35% who can’t be returned to the wild for various reasons, who make the cash so that the centre can return the other 65% back to nature), including (but not limited to): secretarybirds, vultures, a million owls, several (or more) eagles, hawks of all shapes and sizes and this Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus):

…who was very happy to pose for me in the late afternoon sun.

I’m still in the process of uploading some of the several hundred pics I took throughout the day, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I have.

Wildlife

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Last week’s trip through the Eastern Cape may have yielded some excellent experiences and sightings, e.g.:

and:

…but urban Cape Town fought back this morning at breakfast with a mischievous baboon troop passing through the Groot Constantia estate, much to the delight of the tourists and the chagrin of the restaurant staff.

The local baboons aren’t really dangerous – indeed, they would rather have absolutely nothing to do with us humans – but they can be a pain: emptying rubbish bins and damaging the vines.

Watching the estate staff attempting to chase them away with compressed air guns, whoops and shouting was interesting. A real battle of wills, with the staff happy that they were moving the baboons away from the restaurant areas, while the baboons seemed pretty much unphased by the noise and the commotion, and were content to grudgingly head towards the mountain, but very much at their own pace.

More pics of more wildlife (and other autumn/winter photos) here.

Agulhas walk

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More from the weekend: we had a lovely family walk along the Agulhas escarpment, overlooking the shipwreck and the Khoi fish traps, before heading into town to enjoy a really good milkshake.

Because of the gentle pace, there was plenty of time to stop and take in the views and get a few shots as well. I could have stayed all day, but I limited myself to one or two or more efforts as I continue to learn the nuances of my new camera.

This (I think) is a Spiky Purplegorse (Muraltia heisteria). At least, that’s the delicate lilac flower in the foreground. Winding its way around the stems is Common Dodder (Cuscuta campestris): a Category 1 NEMBA parasitic invasive from North America, which is strangling the fynbos (literally) all over the Agulhas National Park.

I mean, I wouldn’t mind if it were in any way photogenic, but it’s even ugly to look at.

I did the decent thing and save this little local from certain death, but it’s only a matter of time till those twining stems make their way back over the limestone, and to be honest, this time, I probably won’t be there to help out.