The end of an era

Torti, the Leopard Tortoise (also known as the Mountain Tortoise)

I took Torti to be released in the Krugersdorp Game Reserve today. She arrived in 2008, no bigger than my hand and probably 2 or 3 years old, Now she's almost 10 and will be reaching sexual maturity soon and I feel it is time for her to meet some of her own kind. I wish you well and hope you're happy in your new home Torti!

Some stats : length 48cm, width across her shell 48cm, height 28cm, weght approx. 15kg. 

Destined for the pot or possibly muti (a term for traditional medicine in Southern Africa), I confiscated her from the aggressor and brought her home. My intention was to release here into a safe environment, but these are becoming less and less due to the area becoming heavily built-up over the last decade.

Torti enjoying her breakfast, a mix of lettuce, celery, carrots, apple, baby marrows, brocolli and some Echeveria leaves

The Leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis) or Mountain Tortoise face many dangers like illegal trade in wildlife, body parts being used in traditional medicines, veld fires, road kills and many more. So, right or wrong, she has stayed with me over the past seven years in the hope that some day I will find a perfect area in which to release her. In the meantime, she comes when I call her every morning for breakfast, taking her time and making me wait while she unhurriedly approaches and then digging in with gusto!

Torti relaxing in her enclosure

  

 Torti's enclosure

They are large tortoises (largest species in South Africa) that can weigh over 30kg and measure up to 60cm in length. Males have longer tails and a deep plastron (Bottom of shell) concavity as opposed to the females which have short tails and a flat plastron. Colouration is varied and the African Leopard Tortoise typically lives 80 to 100 years.

 Lydia feeding Torti

Torti basking in the sun

Read more here on how to CARE FOR YOUR LEOPARD TORTOISE

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Snoodles, a chick with attitude!

Camera : Canon EOS 550D 

Taken in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

This is Snoodles, the little chick I saved from the dustbin, took her out of the egg in November 2013 and she’s been living with me in my studio. She’s getting to be a big girl now and has already joined all the other girls in the chicken coop.

As soon as Snoodles was big enough, we’d go on field trips through the garden and my wildlife pond area, where she would investigate every nook and cranny, delighting in catching the odd insect. Here she hopped on a rock, chasing after a Dragonfly.

Good luck with that Snoodles!

 Snoodles standing on my computer speaker, taking a peek at what's going on outside

Snoodles taking some time out on the edge of Jacko's chair, much to his disgust!

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Pet wrangler

You care for all creatures, great and small. 
Whether they bark, tweet or even snarl.
Your house is a zoo and your bed a haven, 
because refusing puppy dog eyes is an impossible feat.
You’re most at ease when surrounded by fur, 
because birds of a feather flock together.

You're a pet wrangler! xx

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White-faced whistling ducks

Watercolour on Visual 200gsm 

Nonnetjie-eend [Afrikaans] 

White faced ducks (Dendrocygna viduata - also called White-faced Whistling duck) painted from a photograph I took at Sun City in North-West Province (South Africa) some years ago. They vocalize frequently with distinctive high-pitched, multi-syllabic whistles which sound very un-duck-like and their sweet "tweeeeet" belies their belligerent and boisterous nature as they constantly bicker and fight among one another, they're never still for a moment! Just getting a couple of photos was quite a job as they constantly swim and fly to and fro over the pond.

The lovely pond is situated right against the dining room windows of the Cascades Hotel, which offers gorgeous views over the gardens.

Most foraging activity takes place at night, so there is much nocturnal flying; during the day the birds roost near the water, often in flocks of several hundred, and preen themselves and others. They are found in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Northern Namibia, Eastern Botswana and South Africa.

The adult males have the front half of their head and throat white and the rest of their head and neck are black with white patches on the underside of the neck the lower neck and wing shoulders are chestnut; their flanks are barred black on white the rest of the underparts, underside of wings, the rump and tail are black.

There's a whisper in the garden...

There's a whisper in the garden that spring might be on her way...

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Soar like an Eagle

I'm not in the best of moods today. I've been hurt and betrayed by somebody I deeply care about and my heart is heavy. So while I try and overcome this blow I've been dealt, like this Eagle, I will try and soar above the storm until it has cleared. If anybody else out there is hurting, may you also somehow find comfort in your time of trouble.

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I put a seed into the ground and said, "I'll watch it grow."

I put a seed into the ground And said, "I'll watch it grow." I watered it and cared for it As well as I could know. One day I walked in my back yard, And oh, what did I see! My seed had popped itself right out, Without consulting me! - by Gwendolyn Brooks
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I've always been fascinated by sunflowers, partly because they're so huge and have such a sunny disposition and partly because I feed a lot of sunflower seeds to my various birds and chickens. A couple of months ago, last year beginning October 2013, to be exact, I decided to plant a few of my own and scattered some seeds in an empty spot. I watered the area and then waited.
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24th October 2013
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They popped through the ground within a week, two tiny little plants reaching for the sun. Within another 2 weeks, they were already 30cm (12") tall. But there were only two, of about two dozen seeds I planted and they chose the most inaccessible spot to launch their growth, right next to my Barrel Cactus, so I couldn't even transplant them to a better position. But who am I to decided where is the better position, obviously they think that, right where they are, is perfect!
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 12th November 2013

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Three weeks later the tallest sunflower was already standing over 5' tall and showing the first signs of budding. I could just manage to look at its crown by bending the plant over slightly to take a pic.

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3rd December 2013

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7th December 2013 

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Another three weeks later, 8th December, and the tallest one was just over 15' and the flower had opened. The second one's flower opened a week later.

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16th December 2013, approx. 8 weeks after planting

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A couple of weeks before, the flowers would face East in the morning and by late afternoon would be facing almost due West. It really is true that Sunflowers seem to follow the sun! But as the plant matured, the flower eventually stayed facing East, due to the stalk becoming more rigid and to prevent scorching of the flower in the midday and late afternoon sun. 

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Just before Christmas, the flowers and most of the leaves started drying up and soon I was able to harvest some seeds for my birds! And to plant more in the garden...

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This was taken on the 16th January 2014, and it seemed it was going to take just as long before I could harvest the seeds as it took for the plant to grow! 

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So all in all it seems the farmer has to wait 18 weeks before he can harvest his crop and get some money in. No wonder sunflower seeds are so expensive!

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