Dear old Durbs

Spent a morning at Shongweni Dam and while the birding was good it was sad to note the total absence of animals, other than cows and goats.  Not sure of the details but it appears the former guardians, Msinsi Holdings , have been booted out and things are now in the hands of the local community.  I fear the worst.

On a brighter note it was pleasing to see that Glenholme, the last little scrap of swamp forest in Kloof, is still mostly pristine though traffic to and from the SPCA, which also shares the property, was hectic.

When Brigid and Peter built the house they planted this flat-crown Albizia adianthifolia which now dominates this part of the garden.  Spent some time fitting spot-lights to highlight it's magnificence after dark.  Three around the base weren't quite enough for the ladies of the house so a pair in the central fork now makes it visible from space!

Was amazed to see this little procession on an extremely busy section of Old Main Road in Hillcrest and even more astounded by the courtesy afforded by all the motorists.  Even though they are called Egyptian geese, they are in fact a wood duck and mostly nest in trees.  Just after hatching the chicks are called down from their often lofty perch and hit the ground with such alarming thumps you'd think every bone in their little bodies would shatter.  However they appear built to bounce and once all of them are on terra firma, the parents shepherd them to the nearest stretch of water, which is often some distance away.

Having not been to the Farmer's Market since it moved to its new premises above Shongweni, I duly trundled out their one Saturday but found the whole thing overwhelming.  Seeking a little peace I arrived at a cliff face that looked down on a rather spectacular waterfall which I haven't visited for many years, so fled to the tranquility of the base of the fall which is accessed by a circuitous road via Delville Wood Station.

Just a tad unfortunate that the mainline to Johannesburg has been routed past the base, which does rather affect the ambiance, but fortunately trains were absent during my visit.

Also made the mistake of going for a walk in Lahee Park which used to house what had to be one of the most comprehensive municipal sports grounds in the country.  Only the football fields are mowed and all the buildings have been vandalized and ransacked.  Appears luxury, German cars for the local Councillors are more important than maintenance.

One of my pet peeves is the almost total lack of moths nowadays, which is even noticeable in Kruger. So it was magical to see a massive Death's head hawk moth struggling up the aforementioned Flat-crown, it's wings still partially folded which indicated a very recent exit from its chrysalis.  Sincerely hope you find a mate.

A particularly alluring bottle-brush aloe A. rupestris burst into resplendent bloom during my stay and proved to be a magnet for all manner of birds.......

......while down at Umhlanga, a dune aloe A. thraskii was put to use as a nest site by this little laughing dove.  Even though it was only an arms length from the extremely busy beach path, it appeared oblivious to the throngs.

A new section of trail has been added to the Everton side of Molweni Gorge which provides access to this fall which I didn't even know existed............

............and further along up a tributary to the river was a structure which contained the remains of a ram pump - a wondrous piece of equipment that was invented by one of the Montgolfier brothers in 1796. It uses the potential energy of water, two valves and an accumulator to pump water without the benefit of any mechanical assistance. Ask Google to show you how it works.

Also visited Giba Gorge which now sports a number of mountain bike trails but is pleasantly quiet during the week.  One section suffered an avalanche during the floods around Easter this year...........

.........but for the most part it is still serene and pretty.

Then down into the valley to visit the small Msinsi Reserve on the shores of the mighty Inanda Dam.

Very happy to report that it is still looking good and my arrival was greeted by an rather vocal red-throated wryneck.  Though closely related to woodpeckers, wrynecks lack stiff tail feathers and are more cryptically coloured.  They have a tongue that is about 60 mm long, sticky and used to mop up ants, like an aardvark.

A plethora of Bushman's poison-bush Acokanthera oppositifolia were blooming merrily, the common name gives a clue as to why it should be treated with respect.  The sap contains cardiac glycosides which do a handy job when applied to the tips of the tiny arrows the San use.  There are apparently some foolhardy enough to eat the fruit when it's ripe, I'd rather leave it for the birds!

An orange-breasted bush-shrike was giving it's coffee-tea-or me call from a tree nearby but as soon as I approached, it shut it's beak. As a bit of encouragement I played it's call, where-upon it took off, flew 200 m to another tree then started to reply lustily.  Can only assume it was outside it's territory and pushing it's luck and was scared off by the recording.  Apologies bird.

A new road has been put in and a second more secluded picnic site opened up at the far end of the reserve....

..........and as I approached I heard the unmistakable meitjie-meitjie call of Klaas' cuckoo, who was so intent on finding a mate that I was able to get some superb shots.  Klaas was the Hottentot bought by Francois Levaillant when he arrived in Cape Town for his epic birding tour up the east coast.  He was to discover many new species on that trip including the Nerina trogon, named after Klaas' wife.  Unfortunately he was a little over-eager and being a masterful taxidermist, started fabricating birds using bits from different species!  It all ended in tears when his deception was discovered and he became a pariah and was shunned by the ornithological elite.

Back at the vehicle one of those freak instances resulted in this rather pleasing shot, a new corrugated iron roof created this light path across the water and the geese were a bonus.

One of the attractions of this little reserve is that it is home to a few species not normally seen in Durban such as the elegant little blue waxbill.

The southern side of the Inanda valley features some fairly impressive cliffs which at a point just above the dam wall culminate in this weird structure.  Did stand atop it once in the dim and distant past.

And the mighty structure that retains all that water from the Umgeni River - lets see you shoot this weir Dusi paddlers!

Just to show how opportunistic birds are, a number of drainage pipes in a section of concrete wall had been appropriated as nest holes for brown-throated martins.

On a final stroll down to the lip of the Molweni Gorge we happened upon this splendid creature - a Mother-of-pearl butterfly quietly sunning itself - marvelous.

Old haunts

Well here we are in Kruger for a final time this leg and starting with one of the unfortunately, increasingly rare sightings of a raptor - and if they are rare here, imagine what it's like elsewhere.  Being winter this brown eagle is fairly easily identified as a Tawny because all the confusingly similar species have departed to supposedly fairer climes to the north.

Apologies for the haze but could only get this shot through the windscreen. Most will recognize this a a Hamerkop nest but it is interesting for several reasons.  Firstly its size.  A tree which contained a nest in the grounds of Pretoria zoo was blown over many years a go and the erstwhile staff were able to weigh the material that made up the structure, which was just over 300 kg.  This example was (as with most nests) at least a metre from base to roof and contains a side tunnel which gives access to the mud-lined hollow chamber concealed in it's bowels.  The chamber is constructed as material is being built up around and eventually over it.  The top story is frequently annexed by Egyptian geese and bees have been known to take over the chamber.  All this from a couple of birds that weigh about half a kilogram.

A little further along at the Biyamithi weir, a pair of woolly-necked storks were busily preening themselves and each other, while......

........on the other side of the river a southern yellow-billed hornbill had just finished uttering it's wuk,wuk,wuk call and was looking rather pleased with itself.

The beauty of Kruger is that you never know what's going to happen next.  My camera is not capable of capturing shots of the amazing colours exhibited on the wings of a lilac-breasted roller as it swoops down to nab prey, so I had to be satisfied with the end result.

Lunch was enjoyed at Skukuza, looking out on the Crocodile River towards the old railway bridge.  Apparently there are plans to refurbish some old sleeper coaches and park them on the bridge for a different over-night experience.

Heading towards Phabeni gate I noticed this lady making her way across the road behind me and found a novel use for the wing mirror.

I actually missed the turn-off to Phabeni and ended up at Paul Kruger Gate so turned around in in one of those sublimely serendipitous moments found this little lady not more than half a kilometer away.  May be mistaken, but assumed a she, based purely on size, not that it matters with such a stunning animal.

There was some sort of scent that caught her attention and she spent quite a while sniffing around until some imbecile pulled up right next to her for a selfie and she was gone in a flash.  People!

Shitlhave Dam on the way to the gate had it's fair share of interest in the form a graceful black stork also putting recalcitrant feathers to rights....

.....a massive herd of buffalo wallowing and drinking....

....and ox-pecker encrusted hippo that had decided that the water was a touch too nippy.

As friends had requested a house-sitter in Kloof, the Beast and I headed for Bonamanzi for a few nights before the trek to Durban. On settling into my favourite campsite I noticed that the surrounding forest was awash with butterflies which I eventually identified as African common whites.  (Feel free to correct me Steve - I used your book!)

Seems they just had one thing in mind!  Talk about Fly United.

Took a stroll one morning in an area I hadn't been in before and came across this very interesting tree which I didn't recognize and failed miserably to key out.  Resolving to ask Richard Boon I took pictures......

......particularly of the very unusual bark, which appeared to be covered with lichen.  Happened to have dinner with the guru who was visiting from Oz and was informed that this is a new species of Berchemia which had been wrongly identified as Brown Ivory in the first edition of Trees of KZN.  He is currently working with Braam van Wyk on describing the species - may soon have a B. boonii.

Then it was off to Pongola Nature Reserve where a citrine wagtail had migrated in the wrong direction and ended up on the shores of Jozini Dam.  This is a very rare occurrence and only the 9th record of the bird in southern Africa.

On the drive back to Bonamanzi, noticed this spectacular display at the entrance to one of the many reserves in the area.......

.....while the roadside was liberally sprinkled with common soap aloe A. maculata.

Arriving in Kloof it was almost compulsory to take the path from the Turner's garden down the the edge of Molweni Gorge and sit for a while navel-gazing in the sun.

Directly opposite, the Uve Falls drop about 30 m before linking up with the Molweni River.

Returning I found this Blue spikethorn in copious flower.  Had to do some digging as it has had a couple of name changes and is now known as Gymnosporia glaucophylla - quite a mouthful!

Dainty little flowers though.

At last a butterfly that actually remained stationary for more than a millisecond, but then the commodors are normally quite obliging, this being the garden variety.

It's not often one sees a sunset from this part of Forest Hills so felt obliged to take this on my way out one evening.

As Krantzkloof Reserve covers around 560 ha a couple of visits are required, this time to the Uve Road section immediately above the falls shown previously.

Here a number of Indian hemp-leaved hibiscus H. cannabinus (unsurprisingly) were in flower and don't bother smoking the leaves they just look like the real thing.

Another of my favourites, Traveller's joy Clematis braciata with its fluffy seed pods glowing in the early sunlight......

............and a final look back along this magnificent geological feature and while writing this a dozen or more vervet monkeys are wreaking havoc my caravan awning which they have turned into a trampoline.