Walking in Fernkloof – 28 October

Posted on October 28, 2020 by roncorylus

Eight Hurriers pitched for our walk in Fernkloof this morning – a pleasant change from the lower numbers we have been seeing, but I still wonder where the rest of you are. We walked up the Klipspringer Trail and onto Kanonkop, before traversing the Jeep Track to the top of Adder’s Ladder and then down the the Visitors’ Centre. It was pleasantly cool, but a strong West wind meant that we were constantly holding on to our hats.

Once again it was interesting to note the changes in the vegetation over a short period of a week, Suddenly the Aspalathus were out in glorious bloom, and there were more Ericas than we have recently seen. These included E. barbigeroides, E. parviflora, E. villosa and E. lutea as well as many more common varieties.

Up the Zig-Zag and along the Jeep Track in Fernkloof

Posted on October 25, 2020 by roncorylus

The weather forecast suggested light morning rain and we (Renee and I) had thought to walk in Vogelgat, but changed our minds and decided to do the Contour path above Voelklip instead. Well this idea did not last too long, as once we had started, the Zig-Zag looked too tempting, so up we went. It was a beautiful still morning, a bit humid and overcast – perfect for walking – and the fynbos at the top, along the Jeep track was simply stunning. Talk about a natural garden! This was superb!

Of course I had to photograph many species, and was pleased to see that the Orchid, Satyrium stenopetalum, was flowering profusely. We also witnessed the start of the spectacular Pillansia templemannii flowering, so it was pretty special. There were also some interesting Ericas that we do not see elsewhere. Birds, however, were in very short supply and we hardly saw any at all.

What was not so special, was that when we turned around at the Vogelgat boundary, it started to drizzle and we got thoroughly drenched over the 4 km return section.

A Poorly attended, but Beautiful Hurriers Walk in Fernkloof

Posted on October 21, 2020 by roncorylus

This morning six Hurriers started a walk up Kanonkop, but three fell out on the way, so only Renee, Carol and I finished the section along the Jeep Track and then down Adder’s Ladder and back to the Visitors’ Centre. The weather was perfect for walking and the fynbos as spectacular as ever! Those of you who are not walking are missing some wonderful outings.

Sunday Morning on the Contour Path above Hermanus

Posted on October 18, 2020 by roncorylus

We walked the Contour Path above Hermanus Heights and Northcliff this morning, covering a distance of around 8 kms. The weather was cool and great for walking and the flowers were amazing. It is so interesting to see the changes from one week to the next. Now the Orchids will start coming out, and today we got our first glimpse of Disa bracteatus and Pterogodium catholicum. There were, of course, many species that we could not identify, but I show them all below. There are no doubt many errors in the names! Botanists will be appalled!!

Braving the Gale

Posted on October 12, 2020 by roncorylus

Our walk up and over Kanonkop and down Adder’s Ladder on Sunday with Andrew and Gillian turned out to be a lot windier than we had anticipated. We were aware that there was a fresh breeze, but when we arrived near the top of Kanonkop we were literally blown off our feet. We estimated gusts at 100 kph and it was quite hard work keeping upright as we went through the most windswept areas. Fortunately the walk down was in the lee of the mountain, so it was much more pleasant, but it was, all in all, a very pleasant outing!

Hurriers back in Action

Posted on October 7, 2020 by roncorylus

This morning saw some Hurriers back walking again after a long Covid-induced lay-off. It was great to be out again and we managed to attract 7 participants, who all expressed joy at being active again.

Our walk took us from the Visitors’ Centre along the Contour Path to Elephant Path, then up to the Jeep Track and back along to Kanonkop, before venturing down the front of the latter. We covered just on 10 kms in cool, overcast weather, which was ideal for walking, and the veld was stunningly beautiful!

We had a wonderful sighting of a Cape Rockjumper, heard a Victorin’s Warbler and saw a Klipspringer posing with three Red-winged Starlings on his back! Unfortunately Derek’s hip appeared to collapse on the return, but he bravely pushed on. We hope he will be able to recover!

An Unusual Morph

Posted on October 1, 2020 by roncorylus

Hermanus Bird Club

Looks like someone had fun with their paint (RH)

Hi Ronnie,

I thought this might be of interest to the members:

Ringing friends of mine in the USA recently caught an extremely unusual morph of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. It is known as a bilateral gynandromorph, which means that the bird has both sexes, divided laterally right down its entire length. The sexes of this species are sexually dimorphic, with males showing pink and females yellow. Males also show white and black flashes on wing and tail, while females show plain brown.

Only a few of this type of abnormality have ever been found and a previous such bird was dissected, showing one testis and one ovary, and even the brain was found to be sexually divided.

It is believed that these abnormal birds are not capable of reproduction.

Cheers

Mike

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roncorylus

My family tree is full of nuts!

Monthly Archives: October 2020