Another winter garden walk

Today there is an icy wind blowing and the temps are round about 15 deg F (8 C), although if you happen to get into a sheltered spot, it is lovely and warm. I was wanting to go on a walk, but delayed it hoping that the wind would die down, however, by 10am I decided to go on a short walk as this did not seems to be happening.

Not much is stirring out there, a few of the same butterflies and robbers I have seen before. Over the past week or so, I have noticed that the male Weavers are starting to get their breeding colors although it is early in the season. Starting on my walk, I noticed one f them starting to build a nest.
And this pretty wild flower was getting some new buds.
Someone must have been collecting honey out of this old apiary at some time, but the bees are still busily collecting pollen and I am sure there must be honey all over the place by now although I did not venture too near. LOL!!
I decided to head for the concrete dam which holds rainwater to see if anything was attracted to it and almost stepped on this tiny frog. He looked frozen and just sat there and let me take his picture. He is about 3 inches in body length.
I started to move away as there was nothing else there when I spotted a wasp-type thingy flying low on the ground and went to look where he landed. As I got near my eye caught another movement and there was this tiny, 1 inch, stick mantis. Naturally after taking these, the wasp-thingy had disappeared. LOL!!

The roses are already starting to shoot out new buds, so maybe nature is trying to tell me it is getting warmer.

These new leaves were already covered with aphids.
Then it was back home, stopping along the way to take a picture of another wild flower which looked so pretty with the different colors in the leaves.
I guess that the morel of this story is that even though it is mid winter and one thinks that nothing is happening out there in the cold, nature still takes its course and if you really look, there is always something new to take photographs of.

A few days at the sea - St Lucia, South Africa

It is a seven hour drive to St Lucia, but it started off great with this wonderful sunrise. It is not yet very hot here, so some places are still a bit misty.
St Lucia is a VERY small town (if you can call it that). It has a couple of shops and a few places to overnight. It is situated on an estuary and is mostly visited for fishing.
There are a lot of crocodiles and hippo around as it is the heart of a game area. St Lucia was proclaimed a world heritage site in 1999. Cyclone Demoina closed the estuary mouth in 1982, and although they have tried to dredge the sand for years, cannot get it open again.
Street vendors sell these beautful hand carved side tables.
Looking South.......
Looking North.......The weather was very overcast and cloudy so the seas were a bit rough, but I managed to get onto the beach to pick up a few seashells:

Meerkats (Suricats)

They are about 50cm (16-18 inches) tall with a thin tapering tails roughly three quarters of body their length.

Meerkats are diurnal, and will only be seen after the first rays of sun start to show over the horizon.

Mostly they eat insects which they dig for or find by looking under stones, but their diet includes worms, larvae, mice and small snakes.

They female has one litter per year, giving birth to two to five young.
The young are very playful, but there are always sentries on duty watching for predators and they scatter into burrows at the first alarm grunt.
Males help guarding young.

The most beautiful lilies on earth

I was a very spoilt lady as from the day I met my husband, he bought me flowers every weekend. When these Stargazer lilies were in season, ever basketful of flowers had them in as he knew how much I loved them. They have the most beautiful perfume. Just one in the house, would make the whole place smell wonderful. I have just planted some in my garden and cannot wait for them to bloom. These were bought and come from a hothouse at one of the nurseries.

Sterkfontein Caves - Part 4

Morning walk 22-06-08 Part 3

Going past a tree on the bank, I saw this pretty lichen growing and thought you might find it interesting. The whole thing is smaller than a dime.
I think this might be some kind of meal bug or something. There were two of them on this thorn tree, each about 4mm in length.
This tiny little cactus is about 3 inches tall…still a baby.

The grass and weeds are over my head in places, you can see it is the end of the season.
Along the route, I saw this small wild fern. I do not know if you have the same broad leaf variety there? This plant is about 4 inched tall.

Morning walk 22-06-08 Part 2

A small wild flower with three different bugs on it. Don’t know what they are called though.
A very small wild flower only about the size of a cigarette filter.
This young ladybug /bird is still developing by the looks of it. He was very tiny…maybe 2-3mm. I wonder why they always seem to hang upside down?
This young dragonfly is only about 2 inches in body length. He allowed me to get very close without flying away. Here the camera lens is about 2 inches away from him. And last but not least, a robber fly.

Morning walk 22-06-08 Part 1

It was a lovely day outside and I suppose it had to be as it started with the call of the owl outside my window at 3am. It was cool and so I fed the birds and sat watching them until about 9:15 before heading out.

The dew was still on the grass and this young aloe.
Last time I never got down to the river as I was distracted by the butterflies, but today, I was going to get there come what may. It is so peaceful down there and I sat down on a rock to take pictures of the reflections in the water.
During my previous walk I had heard what sounded like a small waterfall. There is no proper path as most of this area is unexplored by others. In order to get there I had to make my way through thickish bush and at one stage had no choice but to tramp on the tree overhanging the river in order to get past.
The closed flowers of the aloes which I took last week have now opened.
This is my favorite spot. I come here and lay on the grass and look up at the sky and it is as if there is no one else left in the world except me. The birds are chirping, and the butterflies flutter past. I hear some horses in the distance. I usually bring something to drink and an old blanket, but today I also included a banana and an apple as I did not eat yesterday. Here, my mind grows peaceful. I don’t think of the should or should not’s, the whys and the wherefores, I just exist at one with nature and let tomorrow take care of itself. It is a place where no words are needed and the silence surrounds you like a warm cloak.

I found this cocoon..... Ocinara Species Gamily Bombycidae

and took it home to see if anything would hatch from it. After a couple of days, I woke up one morning to find a hole in the one end.....
and this moth climbing around the container in which I was keeping it. This is his back....
and his stomach....
These cocoon spinning moths are sometimes farmed and the silk is used to spin yarn from. When dyed, this makes the most beautiful clothes and scarves.