Argumentative Little Cuss!

Pintailed whydah

We have a little bird, 12 cm plus 22 cm tail! When he is not sitting in the karee surveying his territory for Other Birds, he is dive-bombing every bird in sight. First he clears the beach, where Jurg spreads the leftover bird seed. He has a harem, two wives so far, who enjoy dining in solitaryx2 splendour in a restaurant cleared of the rabble for their benefit.

Where the Proteas live

Today we went up the Piekenierskloof Pass. To Citrusdal. Then up through the mountains on the far side of the Elephant, to see how much snow there is. This part of our world is called the Koue Bokkeveld (where the weather man used to say – bring in your angora goats, there will be frost tonight!) Circle around through Ceres, where the orchards for fruit and juice, are just coming into a haze of flower.

Bees and proteas

Today we drove up the Dasklip pass.

We passed some bee-hives, mounted on poles, to protect them from badgers. They seek out the bee larvae as a protein source. Wild-life friendly consumers like us, can then buy honey labelled badger friendly!

Where the Disas live

We have just been to Hampton Court, where we too saw a spectacular display of Disas in colours ranging through red, pink and yellow, and all the subtle nuances in between. But I think of Maya Angelou’s book, I know why the caged bird sings.