Eleven Orchids

 

Valentines Day or what it actually should be called, Single Awareness Day. Cynical as I am, today it was all about flowers and I was all ready for the Annual Orchid Count... leave taken, cellphone and camera batteries were all charged, water bottles filled, sunblock, cap and a bandana for the neck, all my stuff was packed and ready when the clock hit 8 this morning. Last year it was drizzling and still I got sun burnt but today looked like it is going to be a scorcher before we even set out and it was.

 
I am not sure how many there were but about 20 counters set out into the Protea forested veld to look for the Albertina Sisulu Orchid. All in a row we search with keen eyes hoping to be the first to find this rare critically endangered orchid and it wasn't long before we found them.
 

 

Not often do we see one of the pollinators, a butterfly, not sure what type but a butterfly none the less.

 

Because it was so hot we didn't see as many animals as we did last year, this year I saw a fleeting glimpse of a duiker, a scrub hare, francolins, guinefowls, and quite a few insects. Nice to see the insects as there is a growing concern that insects are dying out by the millions. There was this one that looked like a dragonfly and battled to fly. I left the count line to try and get a good photo of it. After following it for a couple of metres I managed to get this photo (above) of an antlion.

 

Sadly we only managed to find 11 Albertina Silulu Orchids today. Another 2 were counted in the refuge area last week by a group from Wits University. Although we had good rains the previous month we don't know much about these beautiful and rare ground orchids. They only flower for a few weeks of the year, and it seems that they don't flower every year.

Being the Tourist

They say while in Rome, do what the Romans do, so even though I grew up here, the family didn’t so while on holiday at the lower South Coast, why not do the tourist thing. This is us being the tourists.

First on our agenda was the famous Waffle House in Ramsgate for a yummy waffle breakfast. The morning was slightly nippy as the sun still had to warm up so it was hot Mocca to start while Matthew had tea, of course while we waited for our waffles.

A visit to Ramsgate Beach was squeezed in between the waffles and our next tourist stop, the Butterfly World as it was now starting to get warmer. The wind had picked up and the sea a little choppy so we didn't stay long before we were off again.

Now the Butterfly World was a little of a disappointment as it seemed a little run down. Maybe it is supposed to look like a grotto but the decor did not get a huge thumbs up from me. As for the butterflies, well there were lots and lots of Golden Piper butterflies everywhere but not a lot of other species. But for our grand daughter they were the thing to see. Along with the butterflies Rebekah was also enthralled with the tiny tortoises.

By now it was way past Rebekah’s bedtime, so Marco, Robynne and Rebekah headed back to our holiday apartment while Lynda, Bradley, Matthew, and I headed inland to the Oribi Gorge. I spent many times up here at Murchison, Paddock, Oribi Flats, and of course the two gorges. So acting as the tour guide I showed my charges the spectacular Oribi Gorge. But as usual I didn't pay too much attention to the fuel as being a tourist guide was taking a lot out of me and by now my guests were getting tired. But even though we were a little low on fuel we did managed to get back to the coast on a whiff of a oil rag.

Acraea Horta

The other day I saw a small caterpillar on our front gate pillar. At the time I didn’t have my cellphone with me to take a photo. Today I saw the caterpillar still there but on closer inspection, I saw it was a pupa. Ohhh I had to take a photo.

In the photo you can see the silken mat that was spun onto the wall and the pupa uses this to attach himself to the wall. Soon a garden acraea butterfly will emerge and flutter around my garden. I haven’t identified a Kiggelaria Africana tree or Wild Peach tree on which these caterpillars feed on in my garden but there must be one nearby.

Ahhh it is quite nice having a established garden that attracts all kinds of birds, butterflies, and bees.

Jason-Dean and Nadia

As the lone piper’s pipes wailed the Heroes of Kohima, I looked up through the trees as we walked out to the Garden or Remembrance to release the butterflies on this sad Thursday.

A week ago my second cousin Jason-Dean and a friend Nadia, lost their lives in a fatal car accident and today we gathered family and friends in memory of these 2 young people. This year, the annus horribilis of most must surely come to an end soon as we cannot keep going on like this.

What makes it more tragic was that this coming Saturday was surpassed to be Jason-Dean’s wedding to Merchia, and now she was handing out live butterflies while a lone piper played his sad tune. These butterflies were meant for their wedding on Saturday and now they are released at Jason-Dean’s memorial service. They say that a butterfly counts not the months but the moments.

I will be glad once this year is over and I have already decided that 2017 is going to be a ridiculously and blessed year.

Dodging the Butterflies

The annual migration of the Belenois Aurota aka Brown Veined Caper white butterflies have started with the first swarms of the season descending on Johannesburg. Driving around in the heat of the day became dodging the hundreds of white butterflies fluttering across the roads.

Trying to find one to photograph was not easy as they didn't stop for long. Here is one stopping briefly for sustenance on our lavender before fluttering off into the wind.

Butterfly

With all the rain over the last two days here in Johannesburg, I am starting to get un-welcomed guests into the cottage. But this latest one which fluttered in was most welcome. It is a rather large butterfly with a estimated wingspan tip to tip of just over 10cm. I don't know what species but if anyone knows please comment.

Butterflies

I spent the morning doing Sun International work at Aqua. It was tedious name changing of images. I was invited to the Corel Draw X4 launch at The Forum on the DiData Campus. The photo is of the butterflies above the lifts at the entrance to The Forum. Toyota Lexus also demanded my attention by day end.