Spring is in the process of springing: the magpies are engaging in aerial flirtations, the grey fantails are displaying, and today I snapped a new bird for my list, the tiny Spotted Pardalote, busily engaged in collecting nesting material. But with these hopeful signs, it seems the local raptors' habits are changing. This isn't based …
You may recall that the previous raptor post drew heavily on pious English poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to relay the beauty and power of these birds. But there's enough to be said about mankind's fascination with raptors to fill a plethora of books -- the ancient sport of falconry, for a start, is one of …
It's winter now -- and following the freakishly wet summer we've just endured, we're experiencing some deep cold, such that Archie's water bowl freezes overnight and we keep the fire going all day. When it comes to local wildlife -- particularly the feathered kind -- I expected a bit of a dearth, with all the …
Idly musing as Archie and I wended our way down the Commonwood path the other day, I had a minor epiphany. That's a way of saying I realised something I hadn't realised before and felt a bit silly that it hadn't occurred to me earlier as it should have been obvious. This can happen when …
You know the outtakes phenomenon, where if you stick around long enough at the end of some movies (usually comedies), they show all the bloopers and ad-libs that wouldn’t make it to the final cut, but are funnier than the final cut? I like those. I remember going to the Rainbow Ascot cinema in Bulawayo …
Remember last year, around this time, when this blog expressed frustration about the rarity of female Common Brown butterflies, and how difficult they were to photograph? Of course you do! Well, this year for some reason, we are faced with virtually the opposite situation. The gals are everywhere, but the male of the species is …
We've now traced the happy narratives of two bird families -- the Sacred Kingfishers and the Grey Wagtails. Now, sitting inside during another extended period of La Niña rain, I'm reminded of a less-happy story: that of the Reed Warblers. This takes us back to the heady days of spring, when trudging down the path …
When I said these little birds grow up fast, I had no idea just how much. On sneaking up to the nest last Monday morning, I noted immediately that it was empty. Not the kind of empty you'd see when the chicks were tiny (all of three weeks ago) and no parent was sitting on …
If there's one thing you get used to by the time you reach my ripe old age, it's being making errors. Being mistaken, getting the wrong end of the stick, failure to comprehend -- I've had a wealth of opportunities to do all these things. Let's avoid all the truisms about failure being the path …
You can't spend too much time away from a Willie Wagtail's brood because by God, they grow up fast. It's five days since we noted the joyful arrival of the chicks -- and scrawny, bald and unappealing little scraps they were, too. So we took a turn down to Commonwood this lunchtime to catch up …
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