Well I did return to Marievale in search of the godwit once more and though I managed to locate it, there were still no photo ops apart from this! I even showed it to a very excited couple from Vereeniging and though he has one of THOSE lenses and promised to send me a picture they weren't actually any better.
By way of compensation I found this rare white morph of a ruff in partial breeding plumage and therein lies a tale. In the breeding grounds ruffs gather in what are called leks and strut and preen for the reeves (females) who then wander through this heaving mass of males and select a likely lad. Now those who have studied this process have observed that the ruffs most likely to succeed are near the centre of the crowd and are always the more common black morph, while the far less common whites are confined to the outer reaches, but the lek doesn't form until a whitey is in attendance. Which begs the question, how do they procreate as in their absence nothing would happen. Turns out they're rapists who waylay the females after they have mated - must have ultra speedy sperm methinks.
Moving north to Mopani however demonstrated how scattered the showers can be with several parts having had enough to fill waterholes and wallows. The most southerly baobab was in full leaf and had a good number of showy white blooms on display.
For a change quite a number of raptor species were around but remarkably few vultures. The trade in vulture heads, which are reputed to allow anyone who sleeps with one under their pillow to see the correct Lotto numbers, must be having an impact. An absolute treat was a pair of African hawk eagles at roost in a large knobthorn, one giving the rearview.....
......and the other the front.
What never ceases to amaze are the splashes of colour that pop up in some of the driest patches imaginable such as these, and I stand to be corrected, Lion's eyes Tricliceras mossambicense.
What would Kruger be without a close encounter of the thousand yard stare kind.
At a small causeway with a trickling river on the way to Olifants, a comical little black crake......
...........and a few kilometers further on a pair of late rising black-backed jackal.
Close to the Olifant's river the Lowveld cluster leaf bushes Terminalia prunoides were in copious flower and while not quite as rank as their cousins, the Silver cluster leaf, never-the-less did add a certain piquancy to the air.
Picked up lunch at Olifant's Camp and went to enjoy it by the river lookout where I was joined by this lovely lady who was just plain pooped.
Two nights at Mopani followed and leaving the camp early, a large flock of wattled starlings alighted on a tree nearby. While the females and juveniles are fairly plain...........
..........the males were wearing their breeding finery which looked particularly good in the golden hour light.
A small kopjie nearby is home to a massive baobab which may well be hollow, judging by the large split below the crown, but though I spent 15 minutes closely observing no spine-tails erupted unfortunately.
Just north of the camp one crosses the Tropic of Cancer which is marked by this artificial boulder and a row of bricks embedded in the tar - fairly tacky I thought.
In some areas the veld is liberally scattered with these lovely lilies that I always mis-identify as brunsvigia but are actually Ammocharis coranica or ground lilies.
On a walk around Mopani Camp I found these unusually blue beauties which I suspect are some kind of gentian but have been unable to confirm.
Pulled in to a viewing spot near a small river and was surrounded by a dozen species of birds including this elegant open-bill. They mainly feed on fresh-water mussels which grow to rather gigantic proportions compared to their sea-going brethren As a kid, I once found one in a river bed that was around 100 mm long and kept it in my fish tank for a few years until it croaked and polluted the tank so badly half the fish died.
Near a large waterhole where the ground was just recovering after a severe winter beating, I came across a small flock of delightful chestnut-backed sparrow-larks, something you don't see every day but try as I might, photo's of the hyperactive little sods were nigh impossible, but here's a male,....
.........his duller lady friend and.........
Out of the blue came an invite to join Maralyn in Hermanus and meet the whole fam-damily as she put it. A fairly daunting prospect which turned out to be a breeze as they were all so welcoming. On my first evening at her parent's house a dinky little angulate tortoise put in an appearance, showing off it's wonderfully patterned carapace.
Next up a Cape sugarbird which is mostly tail and very little bird hence rather difficult to photograph........
...........though his partner was a little easier even with all the acrobatics.
Could not believe how clean the sea was as evidenced by this shot of the little harbour in town.
An early morning walk in nearby Ferndale Nature Reserve turned into a bit of an endurance test, as what started out as a gorgeous morning wander in the foothills............
........with lovely views left, right and.............
.............centre, such as these three dams which used to supply all of the towns' water .....
....eventually turned into a battle against the elements namely a howling south-easter which dumped me on my bum several times before I gave up and headed for lower ground. Consolation was finding these gorgeous little flowers which I've totally failed to identify.
Later we went into the Hemel and Aarde valley for lunch and watched in awe as a monster fire came sweeping over the hills and later caused us to evacuate Maralyn's sisters' house as it engulfed the whole area in flames and choking smoke and threatened a number of suburbs. No damage, fortunately and after nearly two weeks it was time to head back in the company of Phoebe, who is every bit as alluring as her mistress and spent the entire 15 hour journey on Maralyn's lap.
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