Yes … more of the same… how boring….

“Is it the Purple Roller again?” I hear you say… and my answer is “Yes”.. why am I so absorbed by this bird? I have been photographing birds for seven odd years now (seriously that is) and this is the first time I’ve seen this bird. To have it in the same area 3 days in a row, tells me they have a nest there and today I found it. How? One of them flew out of a hole in a tree…. and when they spotted me they sat apart and made loud noises at me…

I tried a video clip so that you could hear them, but my health and shakes makes it unworthy of up loading… sorry…

I don’t blame you if you switch out now, but I just love this bird…

Now this one is a test to see what it would look like as a pencil drawing… I wish I could do this by hand…

“Don’t criticize what you can’t understand.” ― Bob Dylan

Jimi Hendrix once said…. “I’m the one that’s got to die when it’s time for me to die, so let me live my life the way I want to.” ….

Bob Marley said….

“Who are you to judge the life I live?
I know I’m not perfect
-and I don’t live to be-
but before you start pointing fingers…
make sure you hands are clean!”

I love that quote…..

William W. Purkey… whose words on living should be followed…

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”

Dr Seuss said… “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

The words of Shel Silverstein, “Where the Sidewalk Ends” are just too beautiful….

“There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.”

“When my soul does lie to sleep, may it be beside such beauty…” Bulldog’s quote….

To be or not to be… a bird with a cricket.

My morning stroll took me close to where I had photo’d the Purple Rollers. The calls told me they were still in the same area. Could they have a nest here?

This species seems to be an opportunist breeder, possibly linked to rains, as its breeding season varies from place to place. It nests in natural hollows in trees or uses old woodpecker holes, usually laying 3 white eggs. The young are fed and incubated by both parents.

I spotted the one being chased by the Forked Tailed Drongo, in fact by two of them. As they are both similar in feeding habits, it was not unusual to see the one being chased off. They both spend long periods perched at the top of thorn trees or poles, watching for food items such as insects, spiders, scorpions and small lizards on the ground.

The other had caught a meal and was sitting with it in its beak… could I get a shot of that? Yes………….

and what was that in its mouth??? Acanthoplus discoidalis (armoured ground cricket, armoured bush cricket, corn cricket, setotojane or koringkrieke) is a species of katydid that is native to Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa Zimbabwe. They are wide-bodied, flightless and can grow to around 5 cm. Their thorax is covered in sharp spines and they have a pair of strong biting jaws. They are able to defend themselves against predators in an unusual manner by squirting haemolymph (insect blood) out of their bodies. Their populations peak in autumn and their bodies often litter roads during this time. When deprived of protein and salt they can become cannibalistic.

Here’s a photo of one, a horrible cricket to have crawl over you at night…..

But this one was to be a meal for the bird, or was it? The Roller did not eat this catch yet sat calling its mate and I waited for at least ten minutes…. I think this was to be a meal for the young and it was not prepared to show me where the nest was… Well I got good photos again and that made it all worth the walk…

All in the family… One more beautiful than the other

Lets keep it in the family!!!.. On more beautiful than the other, but actually both beautiful…

We have the Lilac-Breasted Roller and the Purple Roller that grace our continent and we have the European Roller that visits our shores. All are so colourful and unusually marked.

The Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus)…

and the Purple Roller (Coracias naevius)….

Still well coloured….

I feel a breeze next to my ear… what could it be.??

I staggered onto the veranda at the club, tired and dry mouthed, over done the walk… stop talking bull dust Bulldog!!! When I returned from a short walk, I felt this breeze near my ear and turned to see where it came from. 

Could I be so lucky as to have a beautiful female, gently blowing in my ear? No, when I turned I saw the second African Palm Swift (I hope the ID is correct, feel free to correct me if I’m wrong… Thank yoiu Carol of whichwaynow101, it is in fact a Rock Martin.) sweep close to my head. “Must have a nest near by!!” the mind though and sure enough it was right…

Then one settled on a table next to me as if to say “get the hell out of here we’re busy!”

The African Palm Swift (Cypsiurus parvus) is a small swift. It is very similar to the Asian Palm Swift, Cypsiurus balasiensis, and was formerly considered to be the same species. It is a Rock Martin …..

It is a common resident breeder in tropical Africa. Now they usually nest under palm leaves so this one might be a little lost, or I’ve screwed up the ID something terrible… yes I screwed up it is a Rock Martin, thanks Carol…

So anyone in the know feel free to help if I’ve missed the ID here…