acacia blossoms

acacia blossoms

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Strange Things


I think I must start a file called Strange Things You See. I have some good candidates for this already. But to start off here are the baby warthog pics as promised. They are very very cute and active, but a bit flighty – which is a good thing for their survival – but difficult to get good pics of. However, I shall persevere. The middle sized warthog is last years student. She is a true survivor having been the sole youngster of the lawn mob to make it through the drought. We will always recognise her by the notch in her ear.

The dove riding a bronze eland. This dove flew into the window. Knocked a clump of feathers off its neck and sat on my hand blinking with concussion for about ten minutes before taking off in a raggedy manner and landing on the first available perch which was the bronze eland sculpture.

The odd looking birds are blue crane chicks being hand reared by a friend of ours. Their parents are third or fourth generation family pets. We arrived at the house for dinner – and therefore in the dark. The birds came stalking (storking?) out of the darkness, standing about a meter and a half high. They are most elegant creatures but they were a little agitated and kept making a noise like a football rattle and standing in our way. That was all about the chicks though.

After a day of unbelievable heat and headachey thunder pressure when the only solution was to hang in the pool like a frog – it rained properly last night!
We had some friends visiting so everyone had to go outside and do a rain appreciation dance on the lawn. We were drenched and the ground was soft, and it felt so absolutely good.

Oh and I have absolutely no idea how a comment I wrote on An Aerial Armadillo appeared as my blog header. It’s a complete mystery to me.

15 comments:

Lori ann said...

oh the piggys are healthy and beautiful aren't they? I don't think anything is strange that you write about Val, i love it all. And what a good thing you did helping that poor dove crashing into the window. And the bronze eland! gorgeous! did you make it? did someone you know? it's amazing. Thanks for the great photos. And yes i did think it curious about the blog title, i wondered!
xxx

Fire Byrd said...

I do love coming here, it's such an adventure form the cold English winter. To have the critters you have around you. To having to do rain dances. I simply escape to where you are for a while and it's like a mini vacation.
xx

karen said...

oh i love the warthoglets!!! sweetest little critters. Never get tired of them!! Well.. the bronze with the bird riding on it, is classic! and i am smiling away about "storking" birds, and the thought of you lot dancing in the rain... how wonderful that you got some good rain again! :-) xx

A Concerned Citizen said...

Thanks bunches for the warthog photos -- I didn't realize that they would be so difficult to execute, but I am very happy that you persevered! All your photos are lovely, and I love the new red background (I've been meaning to tell you that for a while now).

Anonymous said...

Ag such cute wartlets...and I know that rain dance, but it's been a while (after too long in Wales!!!)
Love the Eland, did K do that?

Anonymous said...

Hello there. On my initial quest through blogspot I found your blog and love, love, love it! The wildlife is Colorado has it's allure, but I tend to stick to domestic animals. One of my next blogs will be about my salamanders, Pete and Repeat. ~ Chlorista

Deepak Madabushi said...

Val,
Great post.. Definitely a great way to see Africa without leaving your couch ! Must be truly amazing to get up every morning and find something new.

Val said...

hi Lori - the piglets are soo cute. enjoyed our run this morning thanks :-)

Fire Byrd - thanks for visiting - i love visiting yours too!

Karen - hehe those cranes were awesome! and the rain dance...sigh

Adrianne - thanks - will try to get more and better photos for you of the warthoglets. glad you like the new colour :-)

Rob - yeah if you tried rain dancing in Wales you would never stop! Yes, K did the eland :-)

Clorista - hellow! nice to meet you.. thanks for visiting - i am off to yours now.

Deepak - yes life is always interesting here!

thanks all xxxx

Angela said...

Beautiful post as ever, Val! I so enjoyed the rain dance with you on your lawn (you always have me with you when you do funny things!). Did Miranda tell you how she had a warthog for a while who always claimed her bed to sleep in? They are such lovely creatures (if not in your bed). I also like the background!
The veri word is sublog, meaning su-perior blog!

Reya Mellicker said...

Wow the cranes are beautiful. For them, it's all about the legs, yes?

Sorry the dove conked him/herself on the head, but a visit from a dove is always a good portent, at least I think so.

Glad you're getting rain!

Tessa said...

Very mysterious indeed, Val...I saw it on my dashboard under your blog title! Strange blips in blogland, eh?

My sister and I spent many a long hour sitting high up a tree in an attempt to escape blue cranes kept as pets by friends of my parents! They are taller than you are at the age of 5 and pretty darn scary, too, with that weird rattle.

Val said...

Angela - i knew you were at the dance! those warties are cute but not sure i'd want one in my bed tho..

Reya - the crane chicks were amazing - dont think you'd ever see them in the wild.
and the dove - so happy he flew away :-)

Tessa - those cranes are impressive but i should think very daunting to a 5 year old!! cant blame you for climbing a tree. wonder if its the same people??

xxx

Unknown said...

And I thought guinea fowl chicks looked a little strange, those blue crane chicks are amazing!
And the hoggies, oh soooo sweet! I always love the way they run with their tails straight up like little remote control aerials!

Barbara said...

I finally got around to coming here and it makes me want to go to Africa! I have heard such amazing stories from Kristin about all the things she saw, but the highlight of her trip was meeting you and Karen and making a visit to the daycare center.

You are so fortunate to see these great animals in the wild instead of behind bars at a zoo. Thanks for sharing your lovely photos!

Val said...

Ab Van - the blue crane chicks were extraordinary and I am sure you would never see them in the wild. Their parents were pretty amazing too - wish i had got a photo of them! next time....Tis the season of young things!

Barbara - thanks for visiting! was so nice to meet Kristin, and hear about all your good works at home x inspirational stuff. I feel like we have met already xx