the photograph-hare and the tortoise

This is a Padloper tortoise, Homopus areolatus, in the beautiful surrounds of Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens. He was moving so fast when I first spotted him I thought he was a pangolin until I got binoculars on him.

Once I realised what he was I jogged up for a few close ups whereupon he decided to play hide and seek

before running off into the undergrowth.

I've written about Kirstenbosch previously here , here and here but since then Charlie has done a much better job of it.

Leucospernum species at Kirstenbosch

Leucospernum's are African flowers that have a bizarre shape and lots of nectar. They are becoming popular with florists for obvious reasons and when I visited Kirstenbosch botanic gardens I got rather carried away - shooting loads of these until my batteries ran out.




As you can see from these photos the shapes of the flowers change completely as they open which creates a whole range of possibilities for the photographer.

Guinea fowl at Kirstenbosch BG

I shot these helmeted guinea fowl at Kirstenbosch Botanic Garden. Guineas are native to South Africa but they have been taken around the world as a popular table bird and there seems to be a little family of them in every botanic garden I visit. They seem to develop quite outgoing little personalities (perhaps because visitors feed them bits of picnics) and try to take over the place, like these hoodlums:

Grave thoughts

I don't think I've put this up before - if I have I can't find it.

This is the grave of the first director of Kirstenbosch botanic gardens in Cape Town - its in a lovely grove of Cedrus atlantica glauca in a beautiful spot. The cedars were a gift from RBG Kew.

The inscription at the bottom reads "if ye seek his monument look around". Nice thought, stunning monument.

Birds and Birds of Paradise

Here's a slightly unusual shot of a Bird of Paradise (Strelitzia reginae) flower. This shows the view directly down the tube that leads to the nectar. Heres the more conventional side profile. All these shots are of the cultivar "Mandela's Gold" which is a bit yellower than the more orange form usually seen. So why do they have this weird form? What could pollinate the flower and whats that big green fleshy bit at the bottom for? At Kirstenbosch botanic gardens a couple of quiet minutes observation will give you the answer.


The weird green fleshy bit is a perch for the pollinator; a sunbird. This is the more dramatically coloured male bird. The females are a drab brown. I'm afraid I haven't tracked down the exact species. This is what I love about spending time learning about the natural world, if you look carefully enough everything, be it beautiful or ugly, has a purpose.