The Cape Bird Club Beginners’ Course Outing to False Bay Ecology Park

2013-09-01 | puppy1952

A Birding Paradise

There’s a place that was once a sewage farm,

But now the ponds are settled and calm,

And filled with wild and wonderful birds;

A perfect place for Avian Nerds

As you travel along the many dirt roads,

Look out for crabs and occasional toads.

Perhaps you’ll find a mongoose or buck

There will certainly be a yellow-billed duck.

The pelicans swim the swallows they fly

And maybe you’ll hear the fish eagle cry.

There are stilts and avocets, teal and coots.

A purple swamp-hen chews on roots.

And as well as all these waterfowl

You may even spot the eagle-owl.

The long claw with its orange throat

Sings out with a meowing note.

In rain, in shine, no matter what

You’re bound to see a helovalot.

Come join us at the Ecology Park

We’ll show you more than just a lark.

Today members of The Cape Bird Club took the delegates from Heather’s Beginners’Course on an outing to The False Bay Ecology Park where they put their newly acquired birding skills to the test. The rain had stopped and the skies were clear – we saw a beautiful rainbow – but the roads were somewhat muddy. Nothing could dampen the enthusiasm of the beginners though and the ‘guides’ were just too thrilled to show off this amazing place. We loaded the cars with each one having a window seat and each car set off to separately find the 27 target birds plus anything else that might show up. When we stopped to compare notes the vibe of excitement was tangible as the beginners shared what they had seen. Personally I never get tired of seeing the flamingos doing their amazing ballet in the shallows or impersonating ducks in deeper water. It was hugely rewarding to share my passion with others.

False Bay Ecology Park is next door to Zeekoeivlei – Strandfontein Beach in the Background

Red-knobbed Coot swim among the flamingos

Close up

Red-knobbed Coot by Earl

Purple Swamphen

Red-billed teal and Cape Shoveller with head hidden on the right by Earl

Cape Teal by Earl

Pelican with white-breasted cormorants

Preening

Jay’s Picture

Swimming

Black-crowned Night Heron

Pied Avocets

A Sleepy Spotted Eagle-owl

Taken with eyes open at another time – wouldn’t open his eyes for us today.

African Black Oyster-catchers – same place but better than the pics I took today

Moorhen taken at another time

Little Grebe – we saw lots – but this picture taken at another time

Cattle Egret in Breeding Plumage – taken by Earl

Black-necked grebe – on of the many we saw today.

Mongoose taken by Jay

Common Waxbill taken by Jay

Cape Longclaw taken by Jay

Back in the Classroom – Fun with Music and a visit to Kirstenbosch

2013-08-30 | puppy1952

The lucky little girls in my class got to have another fun lesson with a GAP student this week. When I was a little girl the theoretical part of Music was boring and no fun at all. What a fresh approach this lovely young treacher brought to our classroom. The girls now know all about walking notes, running notes and slow plodding notes. They had fun tapping out the beat on rhythm sticks and then listening to differents types of music and interpreting the movement through dance.

An introduction to musical notes

Using rhythm sticks while reading music

Interpreting the music with dance

Winter is determined to show us its coldest face this year. I am sure there can’t be any more rain left to fall and can it possibly get any colder. Rumour has it that there is snow on Table Mountain! I can’t see it from here but I can certainly feel it in my bones. Yet I have tough little girls who strip off their fleeces after break and insist on running around bare foot!. My girls are princesses but very sporty ones!

100% chance of rain was predicted for the day of our outing to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The other two Grade One classes went the day before and certainly did get a constant downpour. The Botanical Gardens in the rain? Well yes – but not outdoors and even though it did not actually rain our our day we were presented with the same programme. It was just too cold and muddy to go tramping through the Gardens and the Forest area that they usually show us.

Instead the boys and girls had their lessons and walk about in the conservatory. The three wonderful ladies who were our teacher/guides taught them how the indigenous people and early settlers found veld plants and used them food, medicine and freshening their homes. They were fascinated to hear that Buchu was used for healing scratches and stings and that there were several types of aromatic Pelargonium which could be used to flavour food or used to freshen clothes in the wardrobe. The children shared their knowledge of ‘sour flowers’ and were warned not to eat anything in the veld unless an adult told them it was safe to do so.

The puppet show about Monty the Mongoose was a definite highlight and after that they were divided into three groups and shown around the conservatory.

The Puppet Show

Feeling fleshy leaves

Checking off the plants they found

It was a fantastic outing and the children learned so many new things in a fun and exciting way. Well done to the Kirstenbosch Ladies – in spite of the weather they got it just right!

Women’s Day Weekend in Struisbaai – Conclusion

2013-08-11 | puppy1952

This morning we enjoyed another fabulous ‘Early’ breakfast and then packed up and set off for a slow and scenic drive home. After the recent rains there is water everywhere and this added to the success of our bird watching. We took the R317 dirt road to ‘Die Dam’ and stopped several times to take photographs.

Water Water Everywhere

Red-billed Teal

Female Red Bishop

Male Red Bishop

Grey Heron on top of hay stack – some birds have made nest holes it the stack

The Wild Flowers were beautiful

Black-winged Stilt

Karoo Prinia

Levaillant’s Cisticola

Pin-tailed Whydah

It is not easy to find Purple Swamphen even when bird watching in a wetland as they are quite shy birds and hide easily in the reeds. So it was very exciting to find the right at the side of the road in the flood waters. Two of them flew away when I got out of the car to take pictures but one stayed and was not at all frightened of me. I was close enough to reach out and touch him and he still did not fly away. It was great to see him at such close quarters and to see him swim too. These birds have long, widely spaced toes which are adapted to walking on lily pads and climbing up reeds.

The colours were shining in the sunlight

Back View

Such a beautiful bird

The Four of Us at Die Dam

We also went to Buffulsjag where Earl camped as a youngster. He pitched his tent in the dark and when he woke in the morning found he was at the very edge of a cliff as seen in the photograph.

Buffulsjag – cliffs in the distance

We had planned to meet up with our friends Gus and Jacqui who were travelling home from Arniston. What were the chances that as we came to the tar road they arrived at the crossroads at exactly the same time! Instead of having lunch in Hermanus as originally planned we decided that parking would be easier in Stanford. We found a fantastic little restaurant that offered home bakes too – and Sharon had to have her cake!

Evergreen. Stanford

The food was excellent

Gus and Jacqui were wise enough to avoid Sir Lowry’s by going via Kleinmond so avoided the traffic jam that we had to contend with. They laughed when they heard we were caught in traffic but we didn’t really mind. After all we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere!

It was a fabulous weekend and we all feel as if we’ve been away for a month!

Women’s Day Weekend in Struisbaai – Part Two

2013-08-10 | puppy1952

It was a lazy start to the day this morning. The sun was up and shining again but the chill had not left the air so we lingered longer in our warm beds. I had my usual craving for croissants and the boys did their best to locate some. OK Grocer apologised but were not making them this weekend! Instead they came home with herby bread rolls, ham and cottage cheese. I was a bit miffed but when the lovely rolls were put before me all was forgiven.

Sharon tucking into brekkei

Sharon and I took a walk to the Struisbaai Mall and visited South Bound Gift Shop – always a fun place to browse around. The men caught up with us a little later and we shopped for a ‘snippermaandjie” (waste paper basket) and found a suitable one at the hardware shop. It is amazing what Struisbaai has to offer in the way of shopping these days. I wanted to show Sharon the Fish Shop and had no intention of buying anything but there were products on demo and after tasting this and that we left with a small haul – green fig preserve, mango mustard, olive chutney and whatnot.

A Smorgasbord of choice

The Fish Shop the meets all your fish requirements from bait, fresh caught fish and cooked take aways to items that you need to cook your own catch

There is some controversy as to where the Atlantic and Indian actually meet – The owner clearly believes it’s not here and I agree with him!

Later in the afternoon we took a drive to Suiderstrand and a long walk (over and hour) along the beach toward and beyond the Agulhas National Park Rest Camp where we stayed a few weeks ago. (See earlier Blog)

The scenery was to die. The pebbly beach proved challenging on the feet but the sound of the sea rumbling on them in the shallows was like nautical music to our ears.

Sweep of the coastline

Smooth white pebbles underfoot

Fishermen trying their luck

We left the shells where they belong

Enjoying the sunshine

The threatened African Black Oyster Catcher

Ignoring the breaking waves

Keep up please, Darling

We know we’re a handsome couple

White-fronted plovers

After all this strenuous exercise we’d worked up a healthy appetite. Chef Earl was keen to try out some more of his culinary skills and once again presented us with a delicious supper which was followed by fresh berries and yogurt.

Sadly tomorrow is pack up day and its back to Cape Town and normal life (and food) once more!

Women’s Day Weekend in Struisbaai – Part One

2013-08-09 | puppy1952

After a rainy and cold week we find ourselves here in Struisbaai once again. A text from our rental agent warned us that there might be road closures due to the recent heavy rains and flooding. Really? We didn’t give it too much thought and set off with Tony and Sharon at about 3:30 yesterday afternoon. “I’d better just phone and check,” I said. “It would be a pity to get to Bredasdorp only to find that road closed.” Sure enough, we were warned that only twin cabs and 4X4s were able to make it through. “Huh?” No problem for us as fortunately as we drive a Fortuner! I still didn’t believe that it could be that bad but it was! There was a virtual river running across the road halfway between Bredasdorp and Struisbaai.

Will the big truck get through – Yes indeed so we should too.

Fellow travellers forging the river

It was dark and cold when we reached our house and we put on the gas heater the minute we’d unpacked! Then after a glass of wine and chat we set off to Agulhas to seek a place to have dinner. To our horror Seagulls was closed – apparently taking advantage of the quiet season to get away for their annual holiday. So we settled for Zuidste Kaap Restaurant (Most Southern Cape Restaurant) which had a fire in a huge hearth and very good food. (The fire did very little to warm the place though) Earl had Eisbein and Sharon and I had Vegetarian Pasta and Tony Rainbow Pasta. All excellent.

We slept snugly and rose this morning to a unique “Early” breakfast. Nobody else can possibly compete with whatever it is he does to make this the most delicious breakfast in the world. (Thanks my darling)

We then packed up and took ourselves off to De Hoop Nature Reserve – a very special place about an hour or so away. The results of the recent rains were evident everywhere and had attracted a variety of waterbirds not usually seen in the area.

A tranquil scene on a temporary lake

Indulging in a morning preen

Aren’t we beautiful

From Bredasdorp we take the Swellendam Road and then 6km out of Bredasdorp we take the dirt road to Malgas travelling about 40 km before turning right to De Hoop. En route, we stop of course, to observe birds and take scenic photographs.

Now we know why it is so cold – Snow on the Caledon Mountains!

A Patchwork of colour with farmhouse in background

A Grey Heron with an identity crisis – He is impersonating a swan

Capped Wheatear posing obligingly

Flood water creating a lovely scene

Mommy sheep with twins

Spurwinged Goose, Two Cape Shovellers and A Yellow-billed Duck

The proteas in the park were in full bloom

Although it was still chilly we the sun was shiny and there was good light and after the rain everything looked bright and clear. The birds and animals in the park clearly thought today was the day to make an appearance and we found them everywhere. All were enjoying the sunshine and the abundance of water.

De Hoop Nature Reserve is 34 000 ha in size and the largest natural area managed by Cape Nature. It is a good place to go if you enjoy hiking, cycling, bird watching and of course whale watching.

It forms part of the world’s smallest and most threatened plant Kingdom – the Cape Floral Kingdom. Fynbos is the dominant vegetation group. The Bredasdorp / Agulhas and Infanta area has an estimated 1500 plant species of the approximately 9 000 species found in the Cape Floristic Region. We live in a beautiful part of the world and have such interesting flora and fauna. What a privilege to have such easy access to it. Not only can we see the rare bontebok and other mammal species here but it is adjacent to the De Hoop Marine Reserve too and at Koppie Alleen there is an opportunity to see whales and other marine life too.

Cape Bulbul catching some rays

Common Fiscal

Ostriches out and about

Cape Mountain Zebra

Male and Female Eland

Bontebok

Our close cousins

Bokmakierie

We have often dined at the restaurant in the park and can highly recommend it. Sharon and I had traditional South African fare in the form of Bobotie and Tony and Earl indulged in Mussel Chowder.

The Four of Us Indulging in Good South African Food

This cheeky chap demanded crumbs but we declined to indulge him.

Cape Francolin

The trees were full of noisy birds eating berries

Cape Bulbul

Mousebird

After lunch we drove to Koppie Alleen to see if we could spot a whale or two. We were not disappointed. There were dozens of Southern Right Whales in the bay which were seen clearly with the aid of our binoculars. It was bitterly cold on the dunes so we didn’t spend too much time before we were driven back to the warmth of our vehicle.

Koppie Alleen

Whale Watching

The Bay was full of Southern Right Whales

On our way out the baboons once again amused us.

Daddy Baboon

Mommy and Baby

After a great day out we returned to our cosy cottage and Chef Earl produced a wonderful braai – chicken wings on sticks, skilpaaidjies (not real tortoises honestly – just liver wrapped in sheep fat) lamb chops, vegetables in foil and Sharon’s Coleslaw. To finish a stunning lemon meringue from Checkers’ Bakery.

The Indoor Braai

Yum!

Struisbaai Holiday Day 14 – Lighthouse and the tip of Africa

2012-12-28 | puppy1952

We treated ourselves to dinner at Barracuda’s in Fish Hoek last night – highly recommended if ever you are in our neck of the woods. We had not wished our good friend Jeff for his birthday on the 26th so we popped in and spent an hour or so visiting with him and Annaline. Lovely to catch up with old friends.

This morning we were up early. We did some chores at home then went to have breakfast at Wimpy – cheap and the coffee is good.

This Mega Coffee will keep him going all day

We had some time before our myosteopractic treatments so we picked up some provisions at Pick ‘n Pay, met friends and chatted in the aisles – amazing how many people were avoiding the crowds due later in the day! And then – bliss – we both felt amazing after our treatments and so the disaster with the Caravelle was sort of a blessing in disguise!

There was no way that the Caravelle would be ready today so we left Sun Valley at 1 p.m. the worst of the traffic being between Fish Hoek and Muizenberg and got back to Struisbaai at quarter to four. We will try not to think of how much our repairs will cost and collect the vehicle early next week.

Meanwhile the family were coping quite well without us. I wondered whether they would do the early morning beach thing – and yes they did! Lauren took the pictures to prove it. Note the long shadows!

Josh and Shan ready for a swim.

They also decided to do the touristy thing – stand at the Southern Tip of Africa and climb to the top of the southern most lighthouse.

Southernmost Grandchildren

Simon was not in the mood for photographs – For a week now he’s put up with his granny snapping away and now when Mom tried it, he decided enough already! All she managed was a back view with the lighthouse in the background.

Si playing with the pebbles at the Southern Tip of Africa

Simon was a little nervous of climbing up the steep lighthouse ladder. But he wanted to do it and with his mom’s gentle encouragement he was proud to make it to the top! But it did mean she couldn’t take the photos while assisting him.

In front of the lighthouse

Wherever one finds oneself in the world one must not assume – Nobody knows me here. Jay had this experience today. He is presently spending a few days with his girlfriend and her parents at their holiday spot near De Hoop Nature Reserve. They decided to explore the Breede River area. This afternoon I received a text from my sister who has a house at Riverine on The River. ‘What are the chances’ read the caption. She and her family landed up at The Boathouse at exactly the same time as Jay was there!