Bona final

On my way to St Lucia on a laundry run, I was stunned to see this massive black monkey thorn Senegalia burkei smothered in blossom which had transformed it virtually overnight.

My usual routine while waiting the two hours required to complete the wash, dry and fold was to walk in the forest on the edge of the village.  Unfortunately there wasn't much happening apart from this dear little yellow-rumped tinkerbird belting out his four syllable song...............

....................and the September bells Rothmannia globosa in glorious profusion. The Latin or Greek names are not meant to be patronizing by the way, but rather a brain exercise to try and retain my all too tenuous grasp of them.

Decided to return via the  Mfolozi/Hluhluwe game reserve which turned out to be an error of note as the road from Mtubatuba to the gate is being rebuilt and the stop/go sections were an absolute nightmare.  The blood pressure level returned to normal on finding this majestic beast taking the waters to cool off.

A nearby stump is obviously just the right height for some serious scratching!

The road up to hilltop camp was awash with common wild pears Dobeya rotundifolia with prodigious masses of bloom that were just starting to die off and, in the valley, the Hluhluwe river was flowing fairly strongly.

Back at Bonamanzi the woolly caper bush Capparis tomentosa was scenting it's surroundings with one of the most gorgeous aromas I've ever sampled.  Quite why no-one has thought of bottling the stuff is beyond me. 

Here is another example of the joys of bird photography.  This is an African firefinch, an amazingly pretty little fellow that spends a lot of time hopping around on the ground looking for seeds.  Problem is it it's hyperactivity which never ceases ..........except when it's parked right behind a fence.

Have featured Burchell's coucal before but never one indulging in this behaviour, raising the feathers on it's rump to a) warm up and b) to dry off.  They spend their mornings foraging down low in thick undergrowth and often get soaked by dew.

Also in flower at present are the wild gardenias of which there are a number including this savannah gardenia Gardenia volkensii whose flowers are scented but not as powerfully as the nursery variety.

The longitudinally ridged fruit feature raised white spots which give the appearance of a very bad case of acne.  Many locals will leave trees growing close to their homes as they are believed to ward off lightning.

Another glorious sunset at Dinizulu Dam.

Driving back from reception one morning I crossed paths with raptor which I struggled to identify as it wasn't being terribly cooperative and this was the best picture I could manage.  The next day I heard the unique ticky-to-you call of a cuckoo hawk but only caught a glimpse of it as it flew off and a penny dropped.  Closer inspection of this photo proved it conclusively even though the boldly barred breast was invisible.

Later the same day driving through thornveld, a pair of yellow-breasted apalis were flitting about in a leafless tree and the male stopped long enough for my best ever portrait of these pretty, cute creatures.

While pondering the reasons for the lack of sand ivory saplings, I speculated that they might be heavily browsed and to test the theory I collected a few branches and offered them to one of the camp nyala.  He showed immediate interest when I dropped them on the ground and wandered over from 20 m away and polished off the lot - end of speculation!

On yet another early walk I noticed this kurrichane thrush trying his best to woo the ladies......

...................and this little grey tit-flycatcher was busily going after breakfast.  Unfortunately the best picture left it without a tip to it's beak - will have to keep trying.

A few nights later the new moon was seen chasing Jupiter. 

On another visit to St Lucia, I took a stroll along the beach to see what was happening at the tern roost and there I woke whimbrel that was snoozing on one leg............

................found a grey plover not quite out of breeding plumage............

.....................and a sleepy greenshank, not sure what these guys got up to last night.........

..................and masses of great crested and Caspian terns.  Only found out recently that what I knew as a swift tern with it's bright yellow beak, is now a great crested - just to keep me confused!

Next to the board walk to the beach are masses of lagoon hibiscus H. tiliaceus which sported leaves that Eve would have been proud of.

An additional surprise greeted me when I tried to log yellow weaver onto an atlas card as it is now known as an eastern golden weaver, will it ever stop?  Interestingly both males and females (below) were feasting on the fleshy parts of the seeds of what I assumed to be a Natal cycad Encephalartos natalensis.

Near the staff quarters at Bonamanzi is a mighty sausage tree Kigelia africana, though the name is misleading and polony tree would be more apt.  Everything about the tree is out-sized including the wondrous scarlet flowers, which are very popular with the antelope when they drop.

The roof of the ablution block is home to a colony of bats who make a lot of noise shuffling about just before they emerge in the evening.  This African goshawk was present many times when a bed-time snack was required and the first time I noticed it, I mistook it for a bat hawk.  Seen here perched on a branch right above the exit, it proved to be very adept at snaffling bats in flight, not surprising as it is a forest species and specializes in catching birds on the wing while dodging branches and trees.

It was inevitable that I would eventually meet some of the bigger residents while out walking and I was making my way back to the bakkie looking at trees, when I happened to glanced up the road.  I snapped off this very hasty shot before turning tail and heading in the other direction and it doesn't show that there were two of them in line astern! While trying to work out the next move I decided to turn and see if they were catching up, whereupon they both slammed on brakes and one went left and the other right and just melted into the forest.  As the bakkie was past where I'd last seen them, it was a very quite, cautious and nervous walk back to it.

This spectacular fever tree forest was a favourite place for a stroll and the was always something to be found.

A yellow-bellied greenbul in the riverine vegetation...................

.......................a southern black tit pecking a seed pods looking for larvae, they must be able to hear them moving as they always appear to be successful......................

......................a dark backed weaver whose Afrikaans name is "bush musician" for the lovely melodies they produce..................

....................and a group of little bee-eaters, which is their name not a description.  Think the fellow on the right is saying: " You're both wrong, he went that way".