Wild about Weavers

Taking some time out from writing the new manuscript, which has been getting a bit intense. Time out means time for other creativity. In this case, my other passion, photography.

About a mile from where I live, amidst middle class suburbia is a tiny oasis - a pond (or very small dam) which attracts a whole lot of birdlife. Not least of all a buzzing, squabbling flock of weaver birds. The males are gearing up for the nesting season and there is a lot of nestbuilding and displaying going on. And a LOT of noise and plenty of attitude. But, they are rather beautiful - and comical.

We start with a piece of grass...

We find a suitable location...

We start to weave...

It's hard and thirsty work...

And a chap needs some time out...

Got to make sure the front entrance is just so...

The finished product...

Now to find a wife... (and hope she doesn't tear it apart)

See what I've made, it's beautiful, isn't it?

Look at me, I'm beautiful, aren't I - you know you wanna marry me and have my babies...

Hyde Park Moments

The last iris

I think we've had more than enough words for a while, so I thought I'd share with you some more shots from my recent and disastrous trip to the UK.

It was our last day, I was feeling as sick as the proverbial parrot and all I wanted was space, calm, peace and green. I will confess that I found this particular time in London, flu notwithstanding, rather a stressful business. I think the current doom and gloom over politics and the economy is intensely pervasive in the city and there was a sense of dis-ease, confusion, frustration and resentment that pervaded the place in a way that I've never felt before. My own inclination was to escape and Hyde Park was just around the corner from the hotel. It was a little green lung, a haven in the midst of the other madness.

A green oasis

The Green Man was afoot...

A Narnia lamp post... a portal to other worlds?

Magic moments....

Park greens

Sunbathers (personally I'm not convinced the sun was actually out...)

Park lovers...

The house in the park

Down at the water

And was it all for the birds - perhaps so, perhaps not...

Golden reflections

Beady eyes...
- golden eye duck -

A certain softness of light
- a greylag goose -

Mallard rainbow

A goose's greens
- canada goose -

The Chaser!

"Rsssp!" I say, "Rsssp to you!"

Mallard reflections

Beauty is a red-crested pochard

And what have you got for me?

Bottoms up!

I couldn't help but be reminded, as I snapped away, of the Duck's Ditty from Wind in the Willows...

All along the backwater, Through the rushes tall,
Ducks are a-dabbling, Up tails all!
Ducks' tails, drakes' tails, Yellow feet a-quiver,
Yellow bills all out of sight, Busy in the river!
Slushy green undergrowth, Where the roach swim—
Here we keep our larder, Cool and full and dim.
Everyone for what he likes! We like to be
Heads down, tails up, Dabbling free!
High in the blue above, Swifts whirl and call—
We are down a-dabbling, Up tails all!

It's entirely for the birds

You may recall a tale a while back involving a silky pekin bantam chick that terrorised Ms Bo so that she (the bantam) had to be returned to the sanctuary from which we got her. Well, having returned Chick, we decided we'd spend a few hours strolling around the World of Birds. I thought you'd might enjoy part of that stroll with me. Be warned, these are not the best pics, but they are the ones that gave themselves best over to captioning... Or, to quote George Bernard Shaw... "My method is to take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then to say it with the utmost levity." Yes, well, I'm not sure about the utmost trouble, but I'm all for levity in these troubled times. Feel free to join in the fun and leave some captions of your own in the comments.

G'day, mate... Am I a fine sorta fella, or what!

Who? Exactly what do you mean Who-Hoo?

Wha'? Me? Not pretty...?!

Cooeee! Over here, Mildred, I'm over here!

Oh really...

Whaddayamean, "Open wide!"?

I spy with my beady eye...

I see. That's all. Just I see.

Alien, I am...

I int dead. I is sunbathing.

Hmmm. I just say, hmmm.
This captioning is just so below me.

Miss Jones, have you seen my pencils and quills?

Ooh la-la...Voulez vous couchez avec moi, c'est soire?

And I give you a vulture's rendition - cough, cough... la, la, la, laaaa....

O sole miooooooo...

And finally... Bo's second cousin - and especially for Fly from the Guinea Fowl International Association... A crested guinea fowl...

You did, didn't you, you went and stepped on my blue suede shoes....

Okay, your turn, let's see what you can come up with!

A tranquil suburban oasis

I can be a bit slow on the uptake sometimes…

For the past few years I’ve heard about a little suburban oasis known as Die Oog (The Eye, in English). I’ve long wanted to go there but have just never got round to it. It’s not like it’s far away - only about five minutes from where I live. Yesterday I finally got my butt into gear and armed with my camera made my way there.

What a treat. Amidst middle-class suburbia, tucked between the houses, lies a small dam fed by winter rainfalls. In its midst is a little island which was built about a hundred years ago. The place is a mini bird sanctuary and nature reserve with its own integrated biodiversity and it is a delight. See for yourself!

Tranquil reflections

Arum Lilly

Water Irises

Egyptian Geese aplenty

A Moorhen preening

A Rednobbed Coot sailing

And for me, the stars of the show - particularly at this time of year - weavers all a-nest building, all a-twitter and on display...

Weavers have nestbuilding wired in - it's not something they're taught. And the males, in their bright yellow finery do the building. The females, fairly drab, olive coloured birds simply have to inspect and choose. Competition is rife. He builds...

...and then he displays. Shrieking and fluttering his wings - hotly competing with the surrounding males - even attacking their nests.

She comes along and inspects. He twitters and chirrups and flutters some more - "look at me, look at me!"

The best nest builder gets the girl. It's about as intense and as simple as that!


And there there were the family of Yellowbilled ducks...



Now here's where the trouble startted... Mother Duck was shooed away by an aggressive male. The babies, happily dabbling didn't notice that mum had disappeared and only realised when she was nowhere in sight. Much furious amd plaintive peeping ensued.

"Mummeeeeee, where are you..." Finally the one in front plunged into the water, the other following hotly on his tail feathers. They set sail across the dam, peeping as they went - looking for all the world as though they had set sail for South America. Just as I was thinking I would have to become a surrogate Mother Duck, the mother appeared on the side of dam, paddling furiously, gliding at speed across the water, in pursuit of her babies.

And here, at last, a happy reunion. At which point, my nerves worn thin by bird antics, I decided to head home.