Gilding the Lily. Two White Spotted Fruit Chafer beetle's
inside a St Joseph's Lily flower.
So,...this is how they do it!
The Gymnogene (also known as the African Harrier-Hawk) is a fairly common resident and a cunning and acrobatic predator, especially of other birds and their nests.
When the Gymnogene gets excited it raises it's neck feathers into a hood and the yellow face flushes to orange.
The following pictures show a dramatic raid by the Gymnogene on the nest of a Red Wing Starling hidden inside the head of a Yucca tree but the sharp spiked leaves of the Yucca do not deter the oncoming attack.
Red Wing Starling swoops by to deter the Gymnogene but...
...too late and the Gymnogene flies away with its prey.
The Hadeda Ibis are frequent visitors to the garden.
Acanthcris ruficornis (a.k.a. African Grasshopper or Garden Locust)
Adult Green Dragonfly
Adult African Praying Mantis
African Praying
Mantis Nymph.
Nephila fenestrata, the Black-legged Nephila spider or Golden Orb spider. This is the female.
Female with much
smaller male lower on the web opposite the brown fern leaf.
The Cape
Robber Fly is a very aggressive predator of other insects.
Carausius
morosus. This stick-insect has six legs but is shown here with
its front two legs held together.
Close up of Carausius
morosus
Appreciation to Mr Paul Brock of the Natural History Museum,
London
for his help in correctly identifying this species of stick insect -for more
details click here
and here.
Trachylepis Capensis, Cape Skink or Cape Three Lined Skink hiding up in hedge to ambush prey, or....
.. just a nice place to sunbathe!
Note the smooth shiny skin.
The Cape Skink lizard has changed its skin.
Hemidactylus frenatus, Common House Gecko. The master of camouflage.
The ultimate "blendo" artist shedding a skin.
White-Spotted Fruit Chafer (Mausoleopsis amabilis) eating one of my White Gazanias!
Gardenia flower.
Pink Jasmine.
Orange African Daisies.
Multicoloured Bokbaai Vygies.
Gazanias.
Amaryllis.
Amaryllis.
Plectranthus neochilus - purple- (a.k.a. Smelly Spur Flower) is a "water wise" ground cover plant.
Encore Azalia.
African Geranium (Perlargonium) indigenous to South Africa.
Dietes Grandiflora African Iris.
Brunfelsia pauciflora - Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow.
Orange flower Clivia.
Clivia with Garden Locust ...so this is what nibbles the Clivia's!!!
Pink flower lemon scented Geranium.
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis - China Rose or Rosemallow with orange no-spots Ladybug.
Nasturtiums.
Plumeria Frangipani flowers.
Pyracantha saphyr orange, a highly scented shrub that produces little orange berries.
Sparaxis, Harlequin Flower.
Strelitzia reginae - Bird of Paradise or Crane Lily.
The Southern Boubou (predator bird) in Purple Leaf Plum tree (see centre of
picture in front of terracotta roof tiles)
as a Cape Robin swoops past trying to scare the Boubou away.
(More wildlife pictures coming soon)
© Martin Lovis, 2020. Website by Martin Lovis. All Rights Reserved.