I know that in some people’s eyes, grabbing a shot of a bird on a bird table – especially one attracted there by the magnificence of a stale Ouma’s buttermilk rusk – doesn’t “count” as a real photo.
And yes, I completely get it. I even agree.
But there is still space for images of birds on bird tables, especially ones like this vociferous fellow, who you can hear everywhere in the cottage garden, and who is all about the stripes and the spots and the colour, but is also hugely elusive, so I’ll take this “cheat” shot for now.
He’s an Acacia Pied Barbet (Acacia didn’t know, lol). Says my bird app:
The diet of the acacia pied barbet (Tricholaema leucomelas) species consists of fruit from different trees like phoenix reclinata trees, ficus and rhus trees, nectar from aloes, and insects.
It all seems so long ago now. In a galaxy far, far away.
But it was actually less than 3 weeks ago when the boy wonder and I stood on the front stoop at Suiderstrand and tried to find Comet Leonard somewhere in the vast Western skies over the South Atlantic Ocean.
A little route finding via instructions on the internet and a bit of good fortune, and there it was (sort of) in plain view. Kind of about that far [indicates an approximate distance] across to the left at about 10 o’clock from Jupiter.
Don’t bother looking now, of course.
Things will have moved.
We tried a million (only just an exaggeration) different ways of photographing it, fiddling with the ISO and the shutter speed on most every shot, and given that the wind was PUMPING, the locals had the place lit up – appropriately enough – like a Christmas tree, and we didn’t have any specialist equipment like a tracking mount and the like, I’m fairly happy with the results. A little tweak here and there in Lightroom has made a difference too.
Here are a few of our efforts:
Both at 211mm | 6s | f5.6 | ISO 6400
Yes, some streaking because of the exposure length required to get enough comet action, but actually, that only serves to make it look like it was moving very fast. Which it was of course (see below), but this isn’t whizzing in and out of the stars like you see in a movie or a cartoon. And yes, those two above are crops because even at 200mm, it’s still just a tiny smudge in the sky:
200mm | 8s | f5.6 | ISO 8000
In fact, even at 150mm (the widest my chosen lens could get) you’re still getting quite a good zoom on the thing. I should have taken a shot of the whole sky. The more I think about it, the more I realise that we did well to find it, let alone shoot it.
150mm | 2s | f5.6 | ISO 16000
A quick wave to (and a wish upon) the photobombing shooting star on that one.
Many people (with or without better equipment than me) will have taken many better shots of Comet Leonard, but I don’t care. We went out after dinner, stood in the relative darkness and the northwest wind with a tripod and a basic DSLR and took photos of a little 1km diameter ball of ice travelling away from us at 254,411 kph (70.67 km a second!!) and already 106,909,845 km distant.
A day of firsts after you-know-what. We’re down in Agulhas at last. And we had a braai.
Hashtag nature is healing.
Packing the car and driving down didn’t seem like such a big deal, but I soon hit my wall (not literally) and so I enjoyed a couple of hours of deep sleep this afternoon.
That did give me a little more energy for the evening though, so it was a welcome return to chucking some meat onto the coals and a leisurely meal before bedtime.
Which is now.
More tomorrow, when I plan to get to the beach (it’s only 150m away).
OK. Just a few things you need to know about the last 24 hours.
Firstly, after a drive down to Agulhas and lighting the braai, I indulged in a selection of Milk Stout, Carling Black Label, a Hidden Valley Pinotage from 2015 and a Carel Nel brandy nightcap. Delicious, from start to finish. Especially the finish.
And then I fell asleep. And I slept for 12 hours.
This is very, very unusual for me. I’m one of those people that is more likely to sleep for 1.2 hours than 12 hours.
But it’s been a hectic, stressful few weeks and I clearly needed a bit of rest. Like 12 hours of it.
And then, without any feeling of guilt at all, I lazed around for what was left of the morning, before wandering down onto the beach with the beagle and my daughter. 4km of windswept, sandblasted walking later (the last km of which I had to carry the exhausted, windswept sandblasted beagle, because it had simply given up).
And then a quick cycle around the village. Again, in the wind. So much wind.
My legs are like jelly and I have completely earned this Windhoek Draught chaser and this upcoming Swartest of Swart labels. And the phat ribeye steak which is calling my name from the braai.
Tomorrow: more relaxing, and then a leisurely drive home. Hope I remember which house to go to.
We’re back down in Cape Agulhas, enjoying the sunshine and the fresh air (outdoors). It’s certainly less busy than we would usually expect at this time of year, but equally, it’s far from empty.
Once again, it does seem like the constant pleas to wear masks and socially distance are not being heeded here, and once again – surprise surprise – that approach is having a detrimental effect. I received this from the local CPF group last night:
Cape Agulhas has reached the stage where about 40-50% of tests done are positive. We appeal to patients who are being tested to ensure that they give the correct telephone number as well as answer their phones if they are contacted. If you are awaiting results, please remember that you are in quarantine for 10 days and therefore may not walk around. Unfortunately, results now take longer than expected, but please remain in quarantine! You are endangering other people’s lives if you insist on leaving quarantine! There is a limit to the amount of beds available and people can no longer just be sent away to the next hospital. Otto du Plessis hospital and surrounding hospitals have almost reached their capacity and everyone needs to please take care. Those who continue to behave as before are endangering the lives of high-risk patients. It’s going to get even worse over the next week or two so please be responsible. Some of our patients have been dying almost daily due to Covid over the last few days, and we only have a limited bed capacity.
…from the Western Cape medical manager for Swellendam and Cape Agulhas subdistricts, which is fairly blunt and to the point.
40-50% positivity is pretty horrendous, but does at least indicate that people are being tested, which is the only way we can gauge the situation and protect others.
But you only have to drive around the area to see the behaviour that will lead to even higher numbers in the next few weeks.
