26th November 2007

Resident Balcony Toad
Bathroom Gecko Lying here in bed, I can hear a hyena calling. It was stifling hot and humid today, with no sign of more rain. Despite this, it seemed the worst evening for bugs so far, with a lot of larger insects attracted to the lights. Our resident toad seems quite happy and well fed, and the geckos too are not complaining.

Terminalia orbicularis seeding
Terminalia Pods in close-up
Terminalia Pods in backlighting

Too beautiful - I just can't stop! This afternoon I photographed the red pods of the Terminalia trees on the road near Kamunyu (for some reason these trees are further ahead in their cycle than the ones on our place – and they’re only a couple of kilometres away). The round pink-crimson pods looked fabulous in the strong backlighting.

I saw the flock of Vulturine Guinea Fowl on the open patch near the airstrip on the top road (on our neighbours’ property). They looked gorgeous both in the direct sunlight and when backlit in the long grass. The open patch where I found them (and where recently I keep seeing a herd of very skittish Impala – perhaps new arrivals in this area, for the ones nearer our house have become quite accustomed to cars) used to be an old cattle pen, in years gone by. It is amazing how, even more than a decade later, the ground has not yet recovered enough to sustain anything more than a grass carpet. As a result, you can still clearly see where the cow pen used to be, cut out of the bushland.

More creepers are extending their tendrils across the bushland – dozens of different types, with different leaves and shades of green, but all with the same intention – to grow as much and as far as they can, flower and seed before the dry season sets in again. Some of them are already flowering, others are fruiting and still more are just sending out their green-leaved tendrils.

"Almost-flying" across the water The Egyptian Goose family were down near the well this evening. I saw them almost-fly as they flapped their way across the surface of the water to a sand island. The river has dropped so quickly, and revealed its changing shape since the flood. New sand banks have appeared and the old familiar ones have been reshaped. The crocodiles are still lurking, green as ever…

See more photos of Vulturine Guineafowl, and other resident Kulafumbi birds...
See more images of November Trees, including more Terminalia photos, in my Tree Watch gallery...
Explore my collection of wild plant and flower photographs, including the creepers currently extending their reach across the bushland...
Follow the progress of "our" Egyptian Goose family, as their goslings grow to adulthood...