PEARL HARBOUR

Monday the 7th December is the anniversary of Pearl Harbour. Coincidently it is also our 52nd Wedding Anniversary, and one is led to wonder to what degree the battles and peace treaties that we have endured over the years in order to keep this thing together compare with those that the US and Japan went through on their road to peace. 

Fortunately we at no stage required an A-bomb or two to end hostilities, but more fortunately I think was that we managed to sort out all hostilities before bedtime, and developed a sort of silent pact to try never to go to bed mad. I know I never did, but suspect that there were (and still are), many occasions where Pat has carried her annoyance at my behaviour into dreamland, and has had to work very hard at forgiveness of a kind over the next few days or weeks …………….. or until I drop the ball again. 

I am so lucky - so very fortunate - to have had this quite remarkable person to share my life with, and am grateful beyond words that she chose to remain with me during all of my inconsistencies - through my often quite feral behaviour - my mood swings ……………. and very often, I know, when I was (and am), quite simply not a very nice person. 

Lasting relationships don’t simply happen - they require hard work by both parties - but most importantly, there must be love ………….. not that smarmy stuff we see on the movie screens, but rather an indescribable need to see and be with that other person every minute of every day - to have that person to share the simplest of pleasures with, and when they aren’t there the pleasures lose their sparkle - and also to have that person handy to pick up the pieces around you during the hard times when everything seems to break and nothing wants to work. We’ve certainly been there a few times ……….. but its the good times we remember most, and happily there have been heaps of those. 

So - if you happen to read this, please raise a glass with us to however many more years we may have, and most importantly, just love the one you’re with.

With the beginning of December Pat’s garden is looking better than ever. The rain we have had has put a smile on every plant’s face, and the color everywhere makes just being out there an indescribable pleasure. The birds especially are loving it in every possible way and seem to herald her efforts every morning with the most unbelievable birdsong. 

Happily, Bathurst seems to be pretty much back on the path to what we considered pre-Covid to be a kind of normality. For the most part there is nothing that could be considered really “normal” about this village, and it is that quirkiness that is its appeal. Scanning daily through the village WhatsApp forum one becomes aware of the people that largely make up our little population - of the tolerances - and intolerances. Some simply don’t have a sense of humour in any sense of the word, while others deign to complain …… about absolutely everything. 

This weekend the Port Alfred Lions organized a motorcycle rally to be held at the Bathurst Agricultural Showgrounds. Considering the problems that Covid has created around gatherings of all kinds it became mighty grist for the ‘complainers’ mill. And yes, it was quite noisy at times, what with all the wheel spinning and exhaust banging, but it brought much needed revenue into the village - to the hotels, BnB’s, pubs and restaurants, and what a really nice bunch of people! 

The Lions ensured that all of the permissions and protocols were in place, and a really good time was had by all concerned ……… and if the ‘complainers’ had taken the time to get off their butts and get down to the Showgrounds, who knows, perhaps they too might have found something to bring a smile to their intolerant countenances.

We had three of the bikers stay with us ……….. what really nice, interesting people. On Saturday I took the time to get down to the Showgrounds in the morning and the afternoon to take photographs of some of the activities and try to capture a bit of the vibe there - and of course hopefully sell a few of the pics - and it really was a super, friendly atmosphere. 

For anyone who may be interested in the Rally shots they can be found at https://admin75329.wixsite.com/nlpics/port-alfred-lions-motorcycle-rally

As this may well be my last posting before Christmas, here’s wishing all those of you who might read this entry a really happy Christmas and a New Year free of all the restrictions we’ve had to live with during 2020. Have a good one.

RAINDROPS KEEP FALLING ON MY HEAD

Around 50 short years ago B.J.Thomas sang a wonderful song which was the accompaniment to one of the cinema’s all time happy scenes: Paul Newman and Katharine Ross riding a bicycle in circles as Robert Redford looked on in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head. Today’s soft rain here in Bathurst was what brought back the memory of that iconic scene ………….. that and the fact that virtually every plant in the garden is suddenly standing up with a smile on its face. 

Outside edges of the Coral Tree

Hand in hand with this goes another iconic song from Seven Brides for Seven Brothers …… Spring is Bustin’ out all Over. And it certainly is. Virtually every single plant in Pat’s garden is either flowering or budding, and it is all just such a pleasure to behold and spend time enjoying.

Coral Leaves

The birds too are enjoying it in ways I have never seen here. Our little banana grove is a hive of activity with Cape Weavers building nests all over the place, and the Drongos, Bul Buls, Starlings, Hoopoes and Thrushes are simply everywhere on the ground making a feast of the hatching insects, while the White Eyes, Sunbirds and Orioles are attacking every stamen they can lay their eyes on.

As with every night for the past few weeks the little Scops Owl that now resides in our area made himself heard just outside our house. I think he knows I am determined to photograph him, and does this just to tempt me out of bed. So here I was at 3.15am, torch and camera in hand standing out in York Road trying to find him in the large tree over the Bathurst Arms’ driveway when suddenly he flies down onto a branch not three meters above my head ……………. then (little bugger), just as I get the torch and the camera both aligned onto him he shoots off - up through our Jacarandas, through the large Coral, and down to the big tree on George Street, where he immediately starts calling again. 

Never mind …… I will get that pic eventually.

Right up the centre of the Coral Tree

Covid? Watching the news and seeing England and Ireland both going back to the equivalent of our worst lockdown regulations makes me wonder what exactly is going on here in South Africa. Are our numbers for real ………….. or or we simply being lead down a garden path of sorts? 

Here in Bathurst where Pubs like the Plough and the Pig are almost entirely back to their pre-Covid levels of trading I see few (if any), masks being worn by the punters - all (or most), of whom are, to quote from Top Gun …….. “In the danger zone”.  Yet everyone seems healthy, and to the best of my knowledge, no-one who regularly frequents these dens of iniquity (as do we from time to time), has tested positive or fallen ill. While there are reports of the odd Covid case in the area, they all seem to have been infected after visits to one of the hospitals for  some other complaint. As things currently stand a conundrum of sorts definitely exists, and we can only hope that no ‘great big bogeyman’ is going to suddenly jump out of the closet and flatten us all.

Spinning the Lavender patch

Perhaps living in Africa has its advantages - perhaps many of us have been fortunate enough to have the generally unforgiving nature of our climate and our surroundings, along with the vast melting pot of people both local and here from all parts of Africa, to thank for establishing a resistance of sorts to these things that attack the more sterile countries and nations of the Northern Hemisphere. I fear only that complacency could possibly spell our collapse - but let’s sincerely hope not - and let’s be sure to keep the liquor supplies flowing.

With Christmas galloping down the road directly towards us, I fear that for many of those here (as probably with us), it is going to be a family-less Xmas, and that most of us will be putting crackers on the table for absent loved ones. I feel sure however that it will be a good Xmas and that most of us will get the opportunity (one way or another), to toast each others’ absent families.
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So everyone - please give a thought to all of the Bathurst ‘oldies’, and particularly that large community of ex-pats that reside here who almost definitely won’t be seeing their families this year. Stock up and raise a glass to them - again - and again - and again ………… maybe that way everyone will get sufficiently pissed to make it not matter.

I’ve been doing a (very) little bit more experimenting with Intentional Camera Movement, and thought I’d drop in a few of the more successful results. Enjoy!

A new view of the flowering Quince

NEW BEGINNINGS

Having received renewed inspiration from one or two of the photographers I follow on a recently joined photographic site, I decided that it was time to experiment with a new technique or two - not only with the use of the camera and certain lenses, but with how some of the effects could be played with in Lightroom - and suddenly I find myself living in a whole new world of possibilities. Now I know some of you will have done all this before and think its old hat - but for me its a whole new trip and I'm really loving it. Fortunate to have the magic of spring all about me in Pat’s amazing garden I have been able to play with the Bougainvillas, the Cosmos, the Airplants, and of course Bathurst’s primary spring show, the flowering Coral trees, with their crazy abundance of petals - and their equally crazy mess on the ground. It is early days yet, but I feel quite reborn - totally inspired by this whole new genre of digital painting that Nikon and Lightroom are affording me - so I thought I'd share a few here to gauge feedback

Playing with high key distortion

The young pink/white Bougainvilla

Another interpretation of the Bougainvilla

The flowering Quince 

Coral ~Tree petals - in the tree (above) & on the grass (below)

Wind in the trees 

Bougainvilla close-up

Added to this, having my daughter Chavane and and Granddaughter Leila with us here for 10 days also helped add a bit of youthfulness  into the stodginess of a long and somewhat dull lockdown. Just having the voice of youth around one for a little while really lifts the spirits and helps put a bit of spring back in an otherwise ever increasingly slow step. Our dog Jesse too - who is moving on a bit - seemed to instantly shed a whole bunch of years when she saw her two favorite people appear at the front door on the day of their arrival, and spent a good few minutes sprinting through the house and around the garden in a show of absolute joy after not having seen them since last Christmas.

Leila and Chavane chatting to Big Ears (Hee Haw) up at the McCreath's farm

Covid Level 2 has meant the re-opening of the pubs and restaurants here in Bathurst, and while there may be considerably less money around to spend, the general populace is clearly over the moon at the opportunity to mingle again and share a pint or two with friends and acquaintances not seen for a while. We must just hold thumbs that it doesn’t cause a spike in the Covid cases and hope that positivity will instead rule and chase away this horrible little bug. All we need here at the Centre of the Universe now is some serious rain to combat this horrible and seemingly never-ending drought ……….. so, please, all those of you reading this be sure to take the time to do a little raindance on our behalf before you go to bed each night............Thank you.

Proud nanny goat and her day-old kid

Irene, Goodnight Irene

“Under the Influence”. Could a documentary concerning one of the 20th and 21st Century’s most iconic music icons have been named anything else? And the title of this piece, "Irene, Goodnight Irene" will become clear when you watch the documentary.

Time well spent with Blues legends Muddy Waters, Buddy Guy and conversational mixes with music legend Tom Waits ………. only one man fits the description: Keith Richards. 

Just go here on Netflix to get your fix. https://www.netflix.com/title/80066798

Probably the most ‘lived in’ face any of us will ever see, this always smiling and ever amusing co-conspirator of the legendary Rolling Stones takes those of us who really appreciate the roots of Rock ’n Roll that has buoyed us through well over half a century of pure magic along a rollicking, insightful, and inspiring trip through the front door of modern music as we know it. Thank you Keith. 

And that is almost all there is to say on this week’s blog, except, that wherever this man has roamed and played his particular brand of music, he has defined in so many ways the title of this blog - Spirit of Place.

Once again - thank you Keith.

Here is another Rock 'n Roll star - the KNYSNA WOODPECKER (Campethera notata) - who has been gracing us with his presence for most of the week, along with the GREATER DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRD (Cinnyris afer), whose time spent on our water feeder has become a daily ritual of appreciation.

KNYSNA WOODPECKER (Campethera notata) 

GREATER DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRD (Cinnyris afer)

COMING OUT OF COVID

Coming out of this Covid thing ……(sort of - sort of) …….. has allowed for at least some mixing and mingling with friends - albeit at a safe distance, and with no hugging and kissing unfortunately. The world has always been a bit of a hard-arsed place, but this Covid thing has seemingly taken away all semblance of everyday affection, and the more people grow used to it, one wonders what percentage will ever get back to it as a natural expression. Brrrrrrr - makes me shiver!  I really don’t want to live in a world  with even less natural affection than we had before.

The re-introduction of liquor restrictions without any warning has also put a bit of a strain on what mixing and mingling is allowed. Now when you get together its definitely BYO, and God help you if you run out because nobody out there really wants to share what little they have with you …………….. what the hell are they going to drink tomorrow? Can’t really blame them, but I have seen it being the cause of folks that would normally stay well into the visit politely getting up to leave very soon after their BYO has run out ………. so sad - so sad. But - even without the affection and the limited supply of booze - it has been really great to at least get to hang out again with a few old friends and acquaintances.

BROWN-HOODED KINGFISHER (Halcyon albiventris)

Getting back to work has also been good for some - those that is that have work. There are quite a few out there who unfortunately have no work, or have not really been able to get going again, and I really feel for them. Life as they knew it has literally come to a halt, and the worst part is that there no longer even exists the atmosphere of their local pub where they could (in the past), at least mingle with others in a similar boat - exchange sympathies - and perhaps even pick up a little something here or there. 

Then there are others who, having managed to scramble through the worst of this whole thing, have the misfortune to lose not only their livelihoods, but absolutely everything they own as a result - not of their own doing - but as a result of carelessness by someone else. Just such a person was Warren Steenkamp who two days ago saw his home reduced to literally a pile of ashes, losing absolutely everything he owned, including the equipment and tools of his trade that made his ability to earn a living possible. Joining him and his brother Shane and one or two others on site literally minutes after the fire it was utterly heartbreaking watching this grown man scratching through the ashes of his life in search of a few meaningful keepsakes ……………. nothing ........... there was nothing there that could be salvaged, and whether or not the miscreant responsible for the devastation is able to come to the party in financial terms, Warren will never be able to recover the emotional value contained within the reality of those keepsakes that are forever lost, and nothing that anyone might be able to give him as recompense will ever take their place.

(EASTERN) BLACK-HEADED ORIOLE (Oriolus larvatus)

GREATER DOUBLE-COLLARED SUNBIRD (Cinnyris afer)

On a lighter note …………… that while the weather here in Bathurst has been both sublimely warm and alternatively - bitterly cold these last few days - we have at least had a little very badly needed rain, and literally overnight one wakes to a garden with a huge grin on its face ………. real “happy” making stuff. And the birds …………. the birds are everywhere - birds we haven’t seen for a year are suddenly back. Every time I turn my head there is something new …………. a Brown-Hooded Kingfisher, a pair of Southern Boubou’s,  a trio of Olive, Cardinal and Knysna Woodpeckers, a Crested Barbet,  ………… up in the big  Coral tree twenty or thirty really noisy Green (Red-Billed) Hoopoes - also known in Afrikaans as the Rooibekkakelaar (red-beaked cackler), and in Zulu, iNhlekabafazi – which means the laughter of women, rather unflatteringly likening the laughing of women to raucous cackling! Also quite a few Trumpeter Hornbills and a large number of Red-winged Starlings. We have also been inundated with Cape Whiteye’s who vie with the sunbirds for aphids (I think), on the rosebushes below the deck, as do a few Olive Thrushes who compete with the Drongos and the African Hoopes for the various grass and other insects in the flower beds.

GREEN (RED-BILLED) WOOD-HOOPOE (Phoeniculus purpureus)

OLIVE WOODPECKER (Dendropicos griseocephalus)

Then, as I was making coffee in the scullery this morning a never-before seen pair of small birds landed on the Confederate Rosebush outside the window. I had just enough time to determine a few features before they took off, and I’ll be darned if I can find anything even resembling them in the Sasol Bird Book. They were the size of a Woodland Warbler, with a black crown, a grayish body and what appeared to be a bright red vent. The closest I have been able to find is the Chestnut-Vented Tit-Babbler - except that its vent is Chestnut rather than red and it lacks the black cap. Very frustrating!

BLACK-COLLARED BARBET  (Lybius torquatus)

As I write, something that has been frustrating us the entire past year is the very attractive green-domed street light on the pavement outside our gate that does not work. One of three in the street, it is the only one that doesn’t work, and after numerous calls over the past year to Ndlambe Town Council, absolutely nothing has happened. Then suddenly - 15 minutes ago - a bakkie arrives and out pile seven guys - up goes a ladder - and I am told it is the light bulb. How many Ndlambe electricians does it take to change a light bulb? ……………. Only seven it would appear. It will be interesting to see if it actually works tonight.

CARDINAL WOODPECKER (Dendropicos fuscescens)

So ………….. that’s about it for this entry. Covid has finally struck the community with quite a few people in lockdown as a result and two deaths that I am aware of. The demand for fogging is considerably slower than I expected it to be despite having approached every single business in the district and sending out over 300 emails……………..but, South Africans are notorious for poo-pooing positive measures to fight pandemics of any kind: Consider for just a minute the huge majority vote that this government still commands despite its dismal track record when it comes to just about anything. As cousin Lynda suggested, we must “Fog maar voort!”

FOG OFF COVID

It's been over a month and a half since my last posting - a period concentrated on how we’re going to move forward after three months of virtual inactivity work wise. I unfortunately (or perhaps - fortunately), do need to earn a living …….. not only because we really do need the bucks, but more so because if lockdown has taught me anything, it is that I really do need to get out of bed each morning with a very definite purpose of some kind. 

Without that purpose I don’t think I would last more than a few months - life would simply be too boring for words. So ……………. I had to find something that would bring back the spark while at the same time hopefully put a few bucks in the bank after this horrible hiatus that has drained virtually every last penny we had on standby. 

A chance conversation with my daughter-in-law, Liselle, and a mention she made concerning what an old friend in Cape Town seemed to be getting into encouraged me to call him to find out more. 

Malcolm (Grant), is always that one step ahead of the shoe shine boy, and has the ability to always jump in where others fear to tread…………and almost always make a roaring success out of whatever it is that he tackles. Anyway, after a chat about his latest venture called “Hazardous Solutions”, I made up my mind that if anything was going to happen for me up here in the Eastern Cape in the midst of this crisis I had to follow suit and have a go at it. 

The first step was to print up a card and a price list based on the various stock and equipment details which Malcolm afforded me and quickly hit the road to try and establish if there was a demand. Just a few visits to local businesses on my first morning out, and a few unexpected ‘up-front’ sales, quickly made up my mind to run with it, and after securing some funding for stock and equipment from a more than generous benefactor I launched “Fog Off Covid” 10 days ago, and am now well and truly ensconced in the Fogging, Sanitizer and Sterilizer business.

The scariest thing about all of this is, that since having made the decision to jump in and run with it, the pandemic seems to have doubled or trebled in our area, and everyone is simply that much more at risk than we have been for the past three months. Not a nice scenario at all -  but hopefully good for business …………. and I really do implore everyone not to take any risks, and if and where I can help in respect of Fogging of public and private spaces, or the supply of SABS approved Disinfectant Aerosol Sprays and Car Foggers, please let me know. Please also let your friends and acquaintances know, be they here in the Eastern Cape, or in Cape Town and the Western Cape where I will immediately put them in touch with Malcolm at Hazardous solutions - or simply go here: Malcolm Grant ….. Mobile 082 416 0043 Email - malcolm@hazsol.co.za.

To get in touch with me, please copy and paste the block below onto your desktop so that it is readily at hand, and let me know immediately you feel there is a need to take action. Please also feel free to forward the block on to all of your friends and acquaintances in the Eastern Cape - it can only be a good thing for them to know.

Take care and stay safe everyone …………. until next time.

A LITTLE BIT OF COUNTRY

During this whole lockdown thing - while we’ve been getting on with the business of working on the house and in the garden, amongst other things, I have been streaming a whole lot of Modern Country Music ……….. which got me to thinking: Somewhere back in the old bloodstream there must be a little bit of ‘Redneck’. Its all about boots an’ hats an’ pretty girls in short skirts an’ drinking beer an’ pick-up trucks an’ Honky Tonk Joints…………an’ I love it.

As a kid I had read just about every western ever written I think by the time I was twelve. Roy Rogers, Gene Autrey and Davy Crockett were my heroes. Nothing did my soul more good than herding cattle on horseback with my uncle Etienne (Cowboy Botha), in the Namibian bush ………. then South West Africa………and a dream I carried with me most of my life (but never did), was to ride alone cross-country from Port Elizabeth to ‘Tokai’ (my uncle’s ranch near Otjiwarongo in SWA. One of the few regrets that I have.

Eight years ago right about now (May), Pat and I spent two incredible and never to be forgotten weeks in New York with my cousin Lynda and her husband Rob as part of her birthday celebration (never tell a lady’s age). On our final evening together there we went out for oysters at a little restaurant on 116th Street up in Spanish Harlem and Pat and I left first thing the next morning on a road trip we had planned down to Memphis (via one night in Washington), to visit dear friends we had made in London in the early 70’s, and who (apart from a 3 day stopover that Pan had made with us in Cape Town in 2009), we had not seen for nigh on 45 years or so.

Pat, myself, Rob and Lynda at Ground Zero - NYC

As we approached Washington Pat began feeling ill - very ill - with all the pre-experienced signs of oyster poisoning. By the time we found a hotel and just made it up to the room it hit her - as only oyster poisoning can do - so needless to say the evening was wrecked. But trooper that she is, next morning (a Sunday), she was up and about and after a really horrible breakfast of hard, powdery fried eggs, crappy bacon and no toast (couldn’t find toast anywhere over there), we drove down to the White House - walked across to the Obelisk and war memorial, down along the reflection pool (which was empty due to repairs), and the amazing Lincoln Memorial, before strolling through the incredible and very moving Vietnam War Memorial before heading back to the car. We drove through to Georgetown and walked around amongst the old houses and treed streets and avenues for a little while (I think I could happily live there), before hitting the road for Memphis…………..and getting stuck for nearly two hours in a Sunday afternoon traffic jam on the way out of town.

Pat at the Obelisk

Yours truly with Abe Lincoln

Pat at the Lincoln Memorial (Reflecting pool and Obelisk behind her)

A typical Georgetown house (Mansion?)

Now Memphis is 873 Miles (1400 odd kms) - which is like driving from Cape Town to Johannesburg. Its a fairly long way, and we decided to do it with two stopovers as we did not have much time left of the Sunday.

Finding a place to stay is a piece of cake - every 50 miles or so there are off-ramps to little stopover “cities”, with Service Stations, Hotels, Restaurants and shops with just about anything a traveller might need. The road was right out of my childhood, with signs to the Davy Crockett Memorial ………. we crossed over the Shenandoah River - saw signs to names like Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Chattanooga and Knoxville - and got to overnight just outside Nashville on the second night………….and as you drive from town to town and county to county another Country Music radio station comes on line. I think a guy by the name of Dierks Bentley was number one at the time - can’t be sure - but it was such cool music. Dierks????? Now where do you get a name like that - but I remember it was about driving down to the river - drinking beer and making love to his girl in the back of the pick-up truck. The perfect red-neck dream.

And the trucks - everywhere you looked were these HUGE pantechnicons ………. every now and then passing you on either side at the same time. Scary shit! And then of course the Redneck pick-up trucks ………. all twice the size of what we have here in South Africa, and it being a weekend all the hot-shots seemed to be showing off their rides on the Freeway ………… some even had rifles inside the back window …….. can you imagine??? And all 4x4's ..... what were they doing on the Freeway?

Seriously BIG Trucks

Everyday pick-up truck (Bakkie)

We were really knackered …… and hungry …… and thirsty. We checked in at a small, clean and pretty affordable little hotel/boarding house and asked where we might find a good steak. The proprietor told us that the best good steakhouse was another fifteen miles down the road, but that the place just over the highway didn’t serve a bad meal - so that is where we went. I was literally dying for a glass of wine or a beer, so as we sat down amidst the guns, powder-horns and coon-caps in a really cool Western Theme atmosphere I told the young waiter that before we even looked at the menu could he please bring us a bottle of ice-cold dry white wine. Sorry - no wine. OK, so how about a beer? Sorry - we don’t sell any liquor here ……… but that I could get some at the store across the road. So I said OK - I’ll be right back and then I’ll place the order. “Oh no Sir”, ……….. in a real southern drawl ……….. “You cain’t drink no liquor in heeeer - you can drink it in your car - but not in heeeer”.

So Coke it was ………… but, jeeeez - a glass of wine would have gone down so well.

The next day we arrived in Memphis. MEMPHIS!!! Home of our friends Carl and Pan ………. Home of Elvis, Graceland, Beale Street, BB King’s Blues Club, the Peabody Hotel, the Memphis Bridge, the Mississippi, Sun Studios, STAX and the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated - now the National Civil Rights Museum and a myriad of other interesting places. You drive in down the Isaac Hayes Memorial Highway - find your way to their house in Vinton Avenue - and 40 years just disappear in a welter of hello’s and hugs and kisses.

What a blast!

Carl and Pan's house in Vinton Ave.

I think I’ll save the memories of our time there for the next blog entry ………….. its all a little too much to process right now……………so see you then.

BUTTERFLIES, BIRDS & THE BEAUTIFUL 'SOUNDS OF SILENCE'

Yesterday and today have been the most magnificent days weatherwise here in Bathurst, and just sitting out on the deck we have been blessed on both days with the sight of continuous waves of white butterflies floating down across the garden. There are a multitude of other colors - bigger than the white ones - but the whites are predominant, and I would guess that there are a good few hundred in the garden at any one time. 

Just one of a great many butterflies in the garden

One of our little Greater Double-Collared Sunbirds giving me the eye

Along with the butterflies we have once again been blessed with a whole array of birds. Predominant have been the (Eastern) Black-Headed Orioles (Oriolus larvatus) with their amazing variety of whistling calls. They absolutely love our Flowering Chestnut tree, and there is hardly an hour that goes by without at least one making its appearance there.

(Eastern) Black-Headed Oriole (Oriolus larvatus) 

The sunbirds have also been making hay while the sun shines, particularly the many beautiful Amethyst (African Black) Sunbirds (Chalcomitra amethystina), and the ever present Greater Double-Collared Sunbirds with their very loud chattering song. Both these species have (and are), nesting in the garden and have become very familiar, with regular visits to the water feeder on our deck, often spending time almost within arms reach while we are there.

Amethyst (African Black) Sunbirds (Chalcomitra amethystina) up in the Flowering Chestnut and then down on the feeder

Aside from these, there are the ever-present Laughing Doves, Dark-Capped Bul-Buls, Cape Glossy Starlings, African Hoopoes and gatherings of often quite noisy Green (Red-Billed) Wood Hoopoes. Occasionally when we look up into the sky above the experimental farm to the south of us we are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a pair of African Fish Eagles who are (I am sure) resident at Waters Meeting……………and of course our resident Olive Thrush who only allows himself to be seen at either dawn or dusk, and never when I have the camera at hand.

Our resident Ha Da Da family spend a good deal of the day pecking through the grass and have made themselves quite acceptable to Jesse through their constant presence, and I suspect because of their really foul-smelling droppings which she will roll in given half a chance ………. even if it does mean being hard-hosed down to get rid of the pong.

What we have really been enjoying most about this lockdown though have been the magnificent “Sounds of Silence” that surround us all day. The beautiful birdsong, Crickets in the grass, and the occasional Cicada…… then, right now, as I am writing I hear a very low, slow whooo - whooo outside, and look to find about 6 cows munching on the pavement grass, breathing loud and contentedly as they do so. No doubt they’ll also leave some useful deposits to throw onto the compost heap - everything somehow seems to serve a purpose.

So - that’s about it for this Saturday insert. Hope you enjoyed the pics of the birds taken this morning. Enjoy the rest of your day, wherever you are. Take care, and stay safe.