Twitchers Delight

Had a chance to update some new birds seen. Still had no time for any birdwatching, so the additions are just pickings from when I am out and about. Have taken the master list of to about 90 species and again I am sure this could be doubled.

If you enjoy birdwatching, the Buluingula Lodge is an excellent and undiscovered gem. You can wander around the bush all day, in complete peace and quiet, but also in complete safety, amongst four different habitats, and see some really good birds.

An undiscovered gem of African birdwatching.

Get in before it gets discovered.

Had a beautiful sighting of a small flock of flamingo's recently, as well as some resident Fish Eagles, and always see lots of King Fishers and other water birds.

Daves mother, Annette, saw a Narina Tragon the other day which she photographed. These are really shy birds and I have yet to see one.

Bugger.

Also saw some spoonbill in the logoon for the first time.

Any hardcore birders, you can refer to my master list if you want an update.

The photo is by Gene Gage, October 2008.

Some Random Pictures, not of Sonja's quality

Mila and Skye heading off on their donkeys for an afternoon ride. They come and go at will, and when the donkeys are in a listening mood they take them down to the forest to mess around. Riding to and from school is also a favorite.

Tigger off in hunting mode

Cheetah enjoying an Antonio Banderas moment

I didn't catch this fish. A very elderly villager did. But it really is as big as Caleb. And it was caught off the rocks right in front of our village. It isn;t even that big a deal and happens quite often, just not with me.

I didn't catch this one either, although it is more in my league. The kids had a great time cooking their own meal though, and sedgewick can be seen, like a ghost on his last legs, left of last frame, next to Mila

Skye cooking her fish

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

First off, it was actually a Monday afternoon and a Tuesday morning, but none of that rhymes.
Nor is it important.
We lost nine chickens in 24 hours.

It was carnage.
The day started badly for us humans, with a grumpy father, and it ended badly for our two roosters, Goose and Freckles.
Very badly actually.
My bank holiday was rescued at 9am by some generous time-off by my lovely wife to take an hours vigorous canoe up the river in perfect conditions, followed by a family picnic on the edge of the lagoon.
Their day wasn’t.
Our two roosters have been fighting really badly over the past two days. Leaving them all bloodied and worn out. They would quite literally fight each other until they fell down and their was blood all over the place.

It was time for the chop. But the kids were having none of it and I had to slip back quietly from the beach to settle matters. Man to rooster.
One got given to our top neighbour, Nonezile, and the other got given to the neighbour who lives below us, Nosandise.
Both neighbours had to promise not to leave any evidence around for our kids who think the roosters have gone to live in the forest.
By the time we walked back up the hill in the late afternoon, all that remained were our neighbours sitting on the grass in front of their hut finishing off the last of Freckle’s bones.
I felt a twinge of guilt when Mila asked to use my binoculars to see if she can spot her beloved goose in the forest later that evening.
The two fighting roosters have been replaced by the magnificent rooster Larry, who is twice as big and has been retrieved from our other neighbour, Nokulunga.
When we went to sleep last night, our latest batch of chicks were an average of 12 hours old and numbered 10.
sadly, when I went to feed them this morning there were seven little corpses, and two hanging on by a thread.
The most obvious cause was squashing.
The mother seems to have stood on all of them at one or other point during the night.
The kids sadness was compensated by us removing the two remaining chicks to hand rear inside their bedroom.

One has since died.
We have got a very basic system which involves a box, a teddy bear and a hot water bottle.

(Oops, the second one just went as well)

We don’t expect them to last the night, but the kids are pretty keen and top up the hot water bottle every two hours.

Also, again no kidding, honest truth – when I went down to close the coop last night, barefoot from the beach, I cut my foot on something sharp as I was passing the spot Nonezile had her afternoon banquet. You guessed it.
It was a chicken bone from Freckle's carcass.