Was out atlassing the other morning and came across this little fellow on his fench post perch watching the world go by - specially for you darling Sally.
With Knysna just up the road, a visit to the Heads View Site was compulsory as I don't remember ever being there before. The eastern head is liberally sprinkled with lavish homes but as the western one is Featherbed National Park it only sports a couple of buildings. National Parks run a ferry service to access the trails on that side and if the weather ever improves I'll being doing it one day.
Knysna itself is proving more and more popular with two of the larger islands in the lagoon absolutely smothered with development and large tracts of the easten ridge have been or are being converted into golf estates - as if there aren't enough all ready, 12 according to one brochure. A road now runs right up the rdige and along the top for at least 10 k's and at the end of it is a car park to access a trail. It was from here that you really notice how much of this once superb spot is now under concrete.
Saw this in the car park - wasn't sure whether they were trying to get rid of the learner or the car....
A few evenings ago I was enjoying a sundowner and a snack when this guy dropped in for a visit. I initially thought he was just using the guy rope as a convenient perch, as drongos still hunt, but it soon became clear that he was begging. Feeling like a bit of a wally (they are insectiverous you know) I chucked a small bit of chip, which he flew out and nabbed before it hit the ground, then rapidly polished it off. He/she was soon joined but the mate and both of them were scarfing chips quite happily. Needless to say as soon as the camera came out they got shy and scarpered and I only managed catch this one later when it settled for a few milliseconds.
Seem to recall mentioning the Montagu Pass over the Outeniquas (apparently Khoi for "land of plenty") so decide to drive up it as there were still a few days before the course started. It really is most impressive though there are a couple of places that would prove very interesting if you met another vehicle. Among the many flowers were these larger than normal lobelias, commonly known as 'Ladies slippers'.
The road crosses the Keur River - not sure what keur, or choice if I remember my schoolboy Afrikaans, was required, but as with most of the rivers around here the water is stained tea colour with tannins.
Near the top of the pass the road goes under then over the railway line that used to be home to the Outeniqua Choo Tjoe, which appears to no longer exist - a great pity
Between Knysna and Sedgefield is a turn-off to Brenton-on-sea which vaguely rang a bell so I decided to investigate. The road goes up and over the ridge that ends in the western Head, so there's a rather splendid view of the lagoon on one side..........
..............and Buffel's Baai on the other.
It was only as I was driving out that the penny dropped when I saw a sign for the Brenton Blue Butterfly Reserve but you need permission to get in and it was getting late, so I decided to contact Steve Woodhall. He provided me with the name and number of Dave Edge, the Brenton Blue custodian. What a charming fellow, but it turns out that these things are ultra-fussy and only fly between 12 noon and 2 pm on sunny days, which are a bit of a rarity in these parts at present. We eventually managed to hook up which was when I learned EXACTLY how fussy these critters are. Dave retired to Brenton 22 years ago and was instrumental in saving the butterfly from extinction when the only place they chose to live in was being developed - you may remember 50:50 and Carte Blanche doing pieces on it. These programs put the developer in such a bad light that he was not selling plots and they got him to agree to a morotoriam on the sale of 13 sites while the Lepidopterist Society tried to raise enough to buy them. They got to around 900 grand when the government stepped in and agreed to foot the bill, so that money was put in a trust and is still used to finance maintenance. As not much was known about the breeding cycle, Dave regisstered to do a PhD and started delving. For a start they feed on a plant (Indigofera erecta) that has two growth forms of which it prefers the one that only occurs in this 4 hectare patch. After the second instar it moves underground to feed on the rootstock and starts producing a "honey" which a particular species of ant, that........is this getting repetitive..........only occurs here. The ants take the larva into their colony and feed it until it pupates. When it emerges it no longer has the wherewithall to satisfy the ants and if it doesn't gap it pronto, it gets eaten. There are only two hatchings per year a shorter one in October/November and a slightly longer one in February. So I was extremely lucky to see a male and two females and thanks to Steve so can you.
This is the female, which I did get to see very well and they are fairly big for a blue, at around 30 mm, not much of a butterfly though and according to Dave's meticulous counts, between 80 and 180 emerge per hatching. The prognosis looks good for now so it may last a few more years!
Went down to the beach for sundowners the other night and guess what, straight into the sea - so just where does the west coast start? Cape Augulus I guess.
And the paragliding? Not so good. It started out very much like the army with lots of "hurry up and wait" and after lugging 15 kgs of kit up a 30 m dune it felt even more like it. By the time I got up there the wind was howling so it was grand old Duke of York time and we marched down again, then up this monster to get back to the vehicle. I thought I was traning for the Royal Marines.
This was all repeated the next day and she expected us to do it 8 times in one morning - I made two. I was shaking so much when I took off that I barely noticed leaving the ground and landed on my arse about 5 seconds later. On the second flight I did a face plant about 200 m from where I was supposed to land and after being admonished my confidence was destroyed, so I quit. Talk about being forced to run when you feel incapable of walking. So now I'm looking for an old fart school that will appreciate that I'm 65 not 30.
So it was back to quieter pastimes like taking a 150 k drive down to Gouritzmond to find a Pacific Golden Plover, my first lifer since going to Mozambique in December last year. Very obliging it was too.
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