At Last – The Disas

Posted on February 19, 2021 by roncorylus

Luckily, John photographed the Disas at Pig’s Snout, so this is part of what we were looking at.

Disas at Pig’s Snout

Posted on February 18, 2021 by roncorylus

This morning’s walk to Pig’s Snout with John and Carol took place in overcast and slightly damp conditions. We were in search of the February flowering Disa uniflora, and we were not disappointed. When we arrived at the pool at the base of the western waterfall, we were greeted with the remarkable sighting of around sixty disa flowers spread over the cliff face! Sadly, I did not have a telephoto lens with me so am unable to reproduce this sight, but we relished in the beauty of the place, and returned home well pleased with our walk!

In Search of the Red Disa

Posted on February 10, 2021 by roncorylus

A couple of years ago we were lucky to see a wonderful display of Disa uniflora at Fault Falls in the Vogelgat Reserve, so we thought, “Its February; we should go and see them again.”

Sadly, they do not appear to be doing anything this year, as there was no sign of them. Perhaps it has been too dry. What we did see, however, was a great display of March Lilies (Amaryllis belladonna) at the start of the trail.

Beyond Beautiful!

Posted on December 27, 2020 by roncorylus

When Tanja and David suggested meeting us for a hike in the mountains, we chose the Dot’s Dash walk in the Kogelberg, never realising what a treat we were in for. Admittedly, we have always regarded the area as special, but mainly because of the Erica pilansii which flowers so profusely in April. This time there was no E. pilansii, but wow – there was so much more, that I was, and still am, at a loss for words to describe the amazing spectacle which we saw!

We even got a couple of beautiful wild Orchids, Disa cornuta and Acrolophia capensis. The main colour, however, came from the endless displays of Leucospermum oleifolium on the lower slopes of the mountain, whilst further up it was the Erica tenella, Mimetes cucullatus and Aulax cancellata that really wowed us, along with many other species.

Fortunately the weather was really good for walking; overcast and cool, so we were not the only people out enjoying the fynbos and fresh air. Most even wore masks when we approached!

Roellas and more Roellas

Posted on December 19, 2020 by roncorylus

Our walk along the Contour Path above Hermanus Heights was memorable for the thousands of Roellas in bloom over most of the area. They really were spectacular and it was interesting to see the variations in colour on display.

Of course there were many other flowers in bloom and it was good to see how the species change over time. Suddenly there are Tritoniopsis and Thereianthus flowers everywhere, along with some spectacular Harveyas.

The Palmiet Trail at Nuweberg

Posted on December 8, 2020 by roncorylus

Anyone looking at the accompanying photographs might be forgiven for thinking this is a beautiful trail. It is not. Most of it is along a gravel road and much of this road runs through pine forest. The fynbos is not spectacular, but we did manage to see a few interesting flowers along the way. The best part of the trail, which measures 6.2 km in total is the short section of mountain path leading to the crossing of the Palmiet stream. This was flowing well and the bridge has washed away, so we had to take off our boots and wade through!

Tierhoek

Posted on November 20, 2020 by roncorylus

The farm, Tierhoek, north-west of Robertson, has some beautifully appointed cottages, which the Hermanus Bird Club rented for three nights. 21 members enjoyed the outing and a cruise on the Breede river, along with visits to wine producers in the area, and, despite rainy weather, managed to identify 112 bird species in the area.

There were, in addition to birds, some unusual and interesting flowers, including the rare Gethyllis, or Koekoemakranka, which we saw flowering profusely in a patch of veld at the Vrolijkheid Nature Reserve

Koekoemakranka at Vrolijheid Nature Reserve

I am not able to identify the other plants we saw, and the birds speak for themselves.

The Cliff Path

Posted on November 9, 2020 by roncorylus

Renee and I walked from Prestwick Village to the Lagoon and back this morning, enjoying he clean crisp air following 50mm of rain that fell over the weekend. It was good to see and hear the water running down everywhere and there were some interesting flowers along the way, most noticeably the Green Orchid (Bonatea speciosa).

What was not so pleasant was the plethora of other walkers without masks and without leads for their dogs. It seems that most people just don’t get it, when it comes to obeying the law and having some consideration for their fellow beings!!

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.

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!!