A great day marred by football

Up properly early – lobbed some bacon in some baps for the car – and off to De Mond Nature Reserve up along the coast. Away so early that the sun wasn’t up and the owls were still hunting from the poles along the Suiderstrand road.

Deliciously cool and with some lovely light, I was actually a bit disappointed with some of the photos I got. Seemed like they should have been better, but I wasn’t on my A-game today. Still, loads to see on our 6km walk, including three new birds for me. I’m no prolific birder, but I’ve seen a lot in the Western Cape, so three new species in a single morning is pretty good going.

And then, after yesterday’s Secretary Birds, a Denham’s Bustard (var Stanleyi) (obviously, down here!!) on the way home. Nice, albeit at a bit of a distance.

The early start permitted a phat afternoon nap, which was duly accepted, and while the playoff semi-final first leg didn’t go too well, the fire is lit, the braai is on the go and with loadshedding at 8, we’re hunkering down for an evening of atmosphere, brandy and battery-powered LED lighting.

It’s been a (generally) good day.

Day 30 – Happy Birthday

It can’t be much fun having a lockdown birthday when you are 14 years old. Especially a birthday where you can’t buy anything (save for chocolate and hand soap).

Thus, our 14 year old got chocolate and hand soap for his birthday today, with the promise of “a proper gift” like a rotisserie chicken, once the unnecessarily draconian rules have been relaxed a little.

In the meantime, a long weekend (for what it’s worth) which we will make as exciting and enjoyable as possible.

Talking of birds, the kids are doing the annual City Nature Challenge on iNaturalist this weekend. Last year, there was a hike in Silvermine, walks up the Liesbeek River and general freedom. This year, we’re stuck shooting whatever we can in the back garden:

To that end, here’s a Cape White-Eye (Zosterops virens) on the Sunbird feeder. The White-Eye is not a Sunbird, but then the bottle says ‘Brandy’ on the label and it’s certainly not got that in it, so I guess a little deception is par for the course.

I was going to get some other shots of birds in the peace and quiet of lockdown, but next-door are mowing their lawn again and all the birds have flown away.

Nature is amazing

Having studied science for years and years and years, I still find myself learning new things about the world around us on a regular basis. For example, the complex relationship between bees and flowers. It’s far deeper than I ever realised:

image

Nature is amazing.

* This post pre-writted as I’m travelling all over the world again today.
See you on the other side.