Notes from the Cape » Fauna

A whale of a time

Craig Strachan — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 09:17:56 +0000

On Sunday, we celebrated my mother-in-laws birthday by having lunch at her house. She live in St James, and her deck has a wonderful view of False Bay. Everybody came to the birthday party, even a mother and baby whale made an appearance. This shot of the mom and baby whale playing was taken from the deck (with my point and shoot, so this is as close as I could get).

Ducklings

Craig Strachan — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 07:16:33 +0000

I happened to see these ducklings on the vlei as I was driving past. As I grabbed my camera, they hopped into the water and swam off with mom (or dad) in tow.

Dripping Mushroom

Craig Strachan — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 11:29:56 +0000

A dripping mushroom is a strange thing. I have no idea how it happened, but as the mushroom grew it literally dripped onto the ground and onto the mushroom next to it. It was a cold, wet and misty morning, and I suspect that the weight of the dew on the mushroom growing caused this to happen

Still rather strange.

The soaring Eagabbit

Craig Strachan — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 08:53:35 +0000

About 2 months ago, I posted a picture of a white Rabbit. I was slightly startled yesterday to receive an email from Jesusdragon737, telling me that he had used the photo as a basis for some serious photoshopping. And the picture placed 3rd in a photo manipulation contest.

Above is Eagabbit, and below my original picture.

Amazing what you can do with digital manipulation.

Caught in Flight

Craig Strachan — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:09:06 +0000

I caught this shot of the bird just as he was lauching himself into the air. I don’t know what type of bird he (or she) is, but that long beak looks ideal for finding yummy worms in the ground (that is yummy from the bird’s perspective, not from mine).

A ‘shroom, or a ‘stool?

Craig Strachan — Wed, 18 May 2011 07:15:51 +0000

Isn’t it amazing how quickly mushrooms grow? Or is this a toadstool? I have no idea. This is why I always buy my mushrooms at Woolies, because at least then I know I can eet them?

I caught this one at my parent’s house on Sunday just as a think mist was lifting. I love the little water drops on the end of the blades of grass. And amazingly even though there were 25 people there for a birthday, nobody stepped on the mushroom. Perhaps they were scared of the faerie folk?

Was that a penguin I saw?

Craig Strachan — Sun, 15 May 2011 15:50:26 +0000

You don’t see penguins on the main road. Or do you? Boulders Beach in Simonstown is home to a colony of African penguins. But Simonstown Main Road is not home to a colony of African penguins. So, this morning I was surprised to cycle past the golf course and see two penguins wondering down the side of the road.

As soon as they say me they ducked into the bushes, so this is all I managed to shoot with my happy-snappy (no I don’t take my SLR when I cycle). While they look really cute, they don’t smell all that great…

The White Rabbit

Craig Strachan — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:34:32 +0000

(Cape Town away)

Oh my ears and whiskers, how late it’s getting! -White Rabbit (Alice in Wonderland)

Our guest house is not called the Rabbit Hole for nothing, here is one of the Rabbits that kept appearing on the lawn at unexpected moments.

Doesn’t he look like a little stuffed toy rabbit?

Rubbish Birds

Craig Strachan — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 09:40:32 +0000

No really, these are rubbish birds. I had a lot of cardboard that I needed to drop off at the large landfill/recycling site in Cape Town. The site is very close to the beach in Muizenberg, and when I got there, I found all these birds living on the trash, as tame as can be (and very well fed).

The visiting toad

Craig Strachan — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 08:26:30 +0000

We were having supper at a friends house the other day, and a Leopard Toad come wondering through their garden door, straight past Eccles, Lois’ guide dog. This litter fellow had not a care in the world, and Eccles was so surprised that she just sat there and watched.

The toad simply hopped inside, hopped around the lounge and kitchen for a few minutes, and then without even a goodbye, hopped back into the garden.

I believe that this guy is a regular visitor, and is often found sitting in their cats water bowl, much to the surprise of the poor cat!.
The Leopard Toad is native to Cape Town, and is often found in our gardens, especially when they breed in August. We find them in our garden quite often.

BTW: These guys even have their own website, where you can find out all about them.