Bushveld Wildlife Fauna – Flora

Bushveld Wildlife

Symbiotic Relationship with the Erythrina Shrub or Just Another Parasite?

 
Sorting through the latest photos, we found a hodge-podge of pics…Sometimes there aren’t enough for a whole story. Sometimes the subject leave too soon or the images aren’t clear enough. Then there are the times (often) when that quick coffee on the patio turns into a major photo op… And the camera gets left inside! Other more stationary subjects – like the bushveld flowers – need a lot of research. Names can be elusive. Isn’t it amazing how colloquial names can be so different? In the first picture, the gorgeous flower spike of the Erythrina shrub plays host to a shield beetle and two large ants.
 

The Shrub was Covered with Butterflies

 
We live in a zebra corridor, all ages and stages pass the garden on their way to and fro.
 

This One’s Half Grown

 
Beautiful flowers in unexpected colors were hiding in the shady places.
 

Yellow Version of the Flame Lilly Gloriosa superba

 
Many  beautiful pictures were missed because of the (big mistake!) intention to “get a shot tomorrow when there’s better light.” “Tomorrow” the flower is gone… eaten or withered. Lesson learned – get the shot now!
 

Another Shade Loving Star, Jasminum multipartitum

 
Stepping out the door on a chilly Autumn morning, taking my steaming cup of coffee to a sunny spot, this guy was sitting on the step. He’s also looking for a warm spot, probably in the cottage! Is he poisonous? Better get a pic… Hmm, no coffee = bad photos. No it’s not poisonous, this is a spotted bush snake, sometimes mistaken for a boomslang. (very poisonous)
 

Stepped out the Door and … looking down is a spotted bush snake.

 
A closeup of his head…
 

Very Fast Mover when hot! Spotted bush snake.

Not long after the close-encounter-with-serpent, there was the incident from the sky. Breakfast on the patio was rudely interrupted when every bird playing, eating, bathing and fighting in the garden – dozens of them – took off all at once with a great whoosh of wings!

A little while later, this fellow arrived and sat on the barbeque, looking for some breakfast of his own, no doubt.
 

A Goshawk – Nemesis of Local Bird life. Very agile under trees and shrubs.

 
These birds are fierce hunters and swoop through the bushveld woodland, preying on birds and small reptiles like frogs.
 

Flowering Trees Like the Unusual Combretum seed pod (bush willow).

This bright flower belongs to the lovely Impala Lily.
 

One of the Impala Lily family.

There were vines and creepers growing over shrubs and trees in the semi-shade. Here is one of them.
 

Indigenous Black-eyed Susan – cream to orange flowers.

 
There’s been an awful lot of bread baked – this is the easiest, simplest, most delicious bush bread ever . From the time you take out the mixing bowl ’til you sit at the table with fresh butter, cheese, etc. this loaf only takes an hour! One hour…that’s all. You never need to eat another soggy, stodgy lump of commercial bread ever again! Next food entry will be the recipe.
 

Bush bread – crispy perfect, made from Cape stone ground flour.

 
One little, simple flower. These only last a day and I passed many by, only to find them gone when I went back with camera in tow.
 

Creamy Yellow Flower of the Hibiscus species.

 
This final shot is of the very ordinary little bush that produced the scarlet spike in the first picture of this entry.
 

A miniature Erythrina shrub (colral tree) Gorgeous Flowers

 
These sudden surprises are fascinating – suddenly a flower, an insect, a bush, a tree… will produce something extraordinary … Bushveld magic!