Back to the Past…

How often do you return to look at certain photos you’ve captured? Having nearly 60 000 photos saved on my computer (I really need to delete the bad ones, that would reduce it to about 20 000) I often page back through the files.

One that I always spend time looking at is the file with over 200 photos I took when finding the flamingos in the middle of the city… I really love the captures I got that day and will never delete a single one (bad or not.)

So here are a few I do enjoy, you might have seen them before….

Lorna? Phyllis? call her what you want… she’s a beaut..

Here are a few more of the Grey Crowned Crane I captured the other week, Like the flamingos, I can’t get enough of these photos, as well as the cropping such close ups afford…

Enjoy these few that I just love… A star burst ??

I am so watching what you are up to… wow I do love that eye…

Have a great week all of you…..

Bat-eared Fox.. Kalahari Gemsbok Park.

The bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) is a canid of the African savannah, named for its large ears.

The bat-eared fox , also referred to as big-eared fox, black-eared fox, and cape fox, has tawny fur with black ears, legs and parts of the pointed face. It averages 55 cm in length (head and body), with ears 13 cm long.

The bat-eared fox commonly occur in short grass lands as well as the more arid regions of the savannah. In addition to raising their young in dens, bat-eared foxes use self-dug dens for shelter from extreme temperatures and winds.

The bat-eared fox is an insectivore that uses its large ears to locate its prey. 80–90% of their diet is harvester termites. When this particular species of termite is not available bat-eared foxes feed on other species of termites and have also been observed consuming ants, beetles, crickets, grasshoppers, millipedes, moths, scorpions, spiders, and rarely birds, small mammals, and reptiles. The insects they eat fulfil the majority of their water intake needs.

The bat-eared fox is predominantly monogamous. In contrast to other canids, the bat-eared fox has a reversal in parental roles with the male taking on the majority of the parental care behaviour. Females gestate for 60–70 days and give birth to litters consisting of 1 to 6 pups. Beyond lactation, which lasts 14 to 15 weeks, males take over grooming, defending, huddling, chaperoning, and carrying the young between den sites.

A males job is never done….

Black-backed jackal.. Kalahari Gemsbok Park.

Black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas)

Although this is the most lightly built of jackals, it is the most aggressive, having been observed to singly kill animals many times its own size, and its pack relationships are more quarrelsome.

Black-backed jackals are small, fox-like canids and are the smallest of the three species called jackal. They measure 30–48 cm (12–19 in) in shoulder height and 60–90 cm (24–35 in) in length. Weight varies male jackals 6.8-9.5 kg (15-21 lb.), while females weigh 5.4–10 kg (12-22 lb.).

Black-backed jackals are omnivores, which feed on invertebrates, such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, termites, millipedes, spiders and scorpions. They will also feed on mammals, such as rodents, hares and young antelopes. They will feed on carrion, lizards, and snakes.

A pair of black-backed jackals in the Kalahari desert was observed to kill and devour a kori bustard and, on a separate occasion, a black mamba via prolonged harassment of the snake and crushing of the snake’s head. Brave, tenacious little fellows…

Sounds made by black-backed jackals include yelling, yelping, woofing, whining, growling and cackling. When calling to one another, they emit an abrupt yelp followed by a succession of shorter yelps. Jackals of the same family will answer each other’s calls, while ignoring those of strangers.

And then for a lucky capture.. this fellow was not keen on getting mud on his paws and having witnessed a Blue wildebeest jumping over the mud he decided to do the same… and I pressed the button at the right time…

After drinking he left the waterhole via some wood lying next to the hole… he got mud on his feet then… I wonder if he just didn’t want to dirty the water.??

Blue Crane, the national bird of South Africa.

Blue Crane (Anthropoides paradiseus).

The Blue Crane used to nest on my old farm, where I managed to capture them on film (I mean old time photographs), these I lost when our house was flooded and everything went floating down the river.

The photos I captured recently in a conservation area, a beautiful bird that stands proudly, till a parachutist flies overhead. I was astounded when these birds standing calmly started to get very agitated and were watching the sky. Expecting to capture an eagle of sorts I looked up, and there was this person floating past with a parachute. Where he came from, and where he went, I have no idea..

The Blue Crane is a tall, ground-dwelling bird, but is fairly small by the standards of the crane family. It is 100–120 cm (3 ft. 3 in–3 ft. 10 in) tall, with a wingspan of 180–200 cm (5 ft. 10 in–6 ft. 7 in) and weighs 3.6–6.2 kg (7.9–14 lb.).

This crane is pale blue-grey in colour becoming darker on the upper head, neck and nape.  The bill is ochre to greyish, with a pink tinge. The long wingtip feathers, trail to the ground. The primaries are black to slate grey, with dark coverts and blackish on the secondary’s. Unlike most cranes, it has a relatively large head and a proportionately thin neck.

In South Africa it has a Cultural history…

The Blue Crane is a bird very special to the amaXhosa, who call it indwe. When a man distinguished himself by deeds of valour, or any form of meritorious conduct, he was often decorated by a chief, being presented with the feathers of this bird. After a battle, the chief would organise a ceremony called ukundzabela – a ceremony for the heroes, at which feathers would be presented. Men so honoured, wore the feathers sticking out of their hair, were known as men of ugaba (trouble) – the implication being that if trouble arose, these men would reinstate peace and order. The Skull Crackers….