Kiep's first egg!

Kiep, my little pet hen, comes from Bantam stock, though clearly mixed with a variety of other chicken breeds, and she actually looks like a miniature Leghorn.

Here she is in her nest box in my studio (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa), laying her very first egg! Scratching around in her nest box, trying to settle in, all her feather’s erect and a glassy-eyed expression until the egg finally appeared! Kiep was reared in my studio, straight out of the egg, and to this day, 9 years later, she still wanders into my studio too spend some time with me.

Bantam chickens have been domesticated for centuries. In fact, they are one of the oldest known domestic animals. Marco Polo wrote about banties in his journal. While all bantams are chickens, not all chickens are banties.

All bantams are smaller than regular chickens and they share some unique personality traits. I personally think they have more personality than chickens do, are more able to care for themselves, and find more of their own food. They seem to keep the grasshopper population down better than other types of poultry! I haven’t seen a bug in my garden for ages since introducing chickens to my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa) again early this year.

Healthy bantams are curious. They will check out anything that seems unusual and loudly announce the arrival of visitors. I do not keep them locked in the pen, they roam as much as possible (a chicken’s raison de etre!) and have access to fresh, green grass, insects, and whatever else they find in addition to the feed I give them.

Camera : Kodak EasyShare C195
Taken in my previous garden, Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa.

Chi-Chi in the Leopard lilies

We’ve been having extremely hot weather and even my chooks have been gasping in the heat. My chickens have no problem with winter, but every summer you can find them listless in the shade, trying to cool off. Unfortunately chickens don’t bath in water (they have sand baths) otherwise that would be a quick solution to cooling off! But they do find shady spots for a bath in the cool sand leaving my garden looking like a volcanic eruption has taken place!

Here Chi-Chi, the youngest of my pet hens, takes a break amongst the Leopard Lilies and ferns.

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
Taken in my garden (Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa)

Early-morning along the garden path

There is nothing more exhilarating than checking up on your garden plants just as the sun is rising. Everything is smiling in anticipation of another glorious day!
 
And two Aloe ferox eagerly await their turn in the sunshine!

Taken in my previous garden in Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa
Camera : Canon EOS 550D

Memories of Tarlton - Gettin' caught in the rain!

After months of drought, few experiences can match the sound and smell of falling rain – unless it is the exhilaration of being caught in it while working in the garden!

Camera : Canon EOS 550D
Tarlton, Gauteng, South Africa

Saying goodbye

Well, we've sold our smallholding, so this blog was a very brief sojourn! We're moving down to the North Coast, Kwa Zulu Natal (South Africa) and hopefully our new life there will be as exciting, ordinary, meaningful and wonderful as our 42 years in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) has been.

It's hard, difficult and heart-breaking to say goodbye to a life-time of gardening, chooks, running our business, sketching and painting the area and joys and sorrows, but life has a way of taking one in different directions and enjoying the journey is what it is all about, right?

I will be documenting the move and happenings here till the last moment and maybe throw in a few Tarlton articles in between. It will be adieu, but not forgotten...

Introducing the Cradle of Humankind

Situated in the heart of Tarlton, The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site region in South Africa is approximately 90 minutes' drive from the Johannesburg city centre and offers visitors the opportunity to learn about stones and bones, wine and dine in tranquil surroundings, try out a range of adrenalin-pumping activities, have a beautiful wedding, discover a range of wonderful wildlife and experience culture and craft. The Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site is one of eight in the country. It's the world's richest hominin site, home to around 40% of the world's human ancestor fossils. The area is also home to a diversity of birds, animals and plants, some of which are rare or endangered.

The striking Tumulus building, which houses the Maropeng visitor centre, greets you as you arrive for your journey to discover Maropeng.

In one of the passages inside Maropeng

In one of the passages inside Maropeng

Outside in the gardens

The impressive entrance to Maropeng

One of the passages inside Maropeng

The largest collection of human hominid fossils are on show right now, but not for long - go meet Naledi and learn about the awesome cavers Rick Hunter and Steven Tucker who discovered the fossils, the incredible all female anthropologist/archaeologist team who retrieved them, and (my favourite) Professor Lee Berger who led the team 😍 also, their latest addition of an Experience Lab is awesome. Kids got things lucky these days.

Maropeng is not just a showcase for old bones and history. You can also take an awesome boat ride through the "depths of the earth", traversing ice tunnels and erupting volcanic chambers. Be sure to hang onto your hat for this exciting trip!

The drive to Maropeng offers beautiful vistas. Discover the Cradle of Humankind and the Sterkfontein Caves all in one day.

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Early morning mist

Camera : Canon EOS 550D -- 6.15am

It is purported that thick, early morning mist heralds a beautiful day ahead. Yesterday it certainly turned out to be true, beautiful blue skies and not a cloud in sight.

Wikipedia says mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in air. Physically, it is an example of a dispersion. It is most commonly seen where warm, moist air meets sudden cooling. It can also occur as part of natural weather, when humid air cools rapidly, for example when the air comes into contact with surfaces that are much cooler than the air.

The only difference between mist and fog is visibility. The phenomenon is called fog if the visibility is one kilometre (1,100 yards) or less. Yesterday morning the visibility was about 50m, so technically I suppose this is fog!

Storm clouds heralding no good

An ominous sign – storm clouds building up over my garden this past week, but from the west, which never heralds any good. Our rain here in Tarlton (Gauteng, South Africa) comes more or less from the south to south-west (from the Randfontein side) and anything else, especially from the west, normally spells trouble, like hail and heavy lightning.

While I was holding thumbs for rain but not the fury of nature, it didn't help much. Within seconds of the first lightning strike and roll of thunder, the heavens opened up and heavy rain poured down. And within minutes it took a turn for the worst and the hail came. LOTS of it, furiously, pounding the garden mercilessly, leaving destruction in its wake.

I watched helplessly as the storm got worse and worse, pounding the trees, the plants and wreaking havoc. Luckily my chooks were already in their coop as I had suspected some foul play earlier in the morning and had left them inside.

Mr. Brown, a stray rooster, was in the aviary (at the back of the pic), hiding in the shelter provided and the sound of the hail on the tin roof must have been deafening, it certainly was in my house, we couldn't even hear one another talking.

The hailstorm lasted for about 20 minutes, more heavy rain followed and then, suddenly all went quiet. Within seconds the sun was shining, producing the most gorgeous rainbow I have seen for a long time. Isn't nature just wonderful?!

Farm talk - The Crowned Plovers have hatched!

Crowned plovers - Vanellus coronatus

After the big to-do of the Crowned Plover stopping my husband's 5-ton truck from destroying her nest, I kept on checking on their nest, from a distance, and Saturday morning at 8.30am I was rewarded by seeing two of the three eggs hatch, hopefully the third will follow soon. Luckily it was warm and sunny and the parents were keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

 

Trying to take these pics of them was an ordeal in itself, as I once again was dive-bombed mercilessly and one of them even almost got tangled up in my hair! 

They are so well camouflaged, I almost missed them 

Breeding occurs in the spring months from July to October. The nest is in a shallow depression in the soil with a lining of vegetation and other debris. There are normally 3 eggs, sometimes 2 or 4. Incubation requires 28 to 32 days and is done by both sexes. Immediately after hatching, the young leave the nest while both parents look after them. Egg-laying is timed to precede the rainy season and most incubating is done by the female. The male assists only on hot days, when he either incubates or shades the nest. 

The one on the right is still wet, with some egg shell sticking to its feathers 

Pretending no-one can see it!

 Eyes tightly shut...

Bare-part colours of males brighten in the breeding season. Different types of display flights lure the female to the defended territory. A female accepting the male and territory will follow the male during his display flight. Mates may be retained for life. 

 Still wet from hatching out the egg

Although generally outnumbered by Blacksmith Lapwings, they are the most widespread and locally the most numerous lapwing species in their area of distribution. Their numbers have increased in the latter part of the 20th-century after benefiting from a range of human activities. They live up to 20 years. 

After the photographic session, I left them in peace and 3 o'clock that afternoon I returned to find that the two hatchlings had moved about 3 meters away from the nest, hiding close to a clump of grass.

Their colours are absolutely gorgeous and perfectly suited to their surrounds. They both kept their eyes tightly shut, barely breathing as they tried to blend into the surrounds.

Those typical long legs are already apparent!

The third egg seems to have been abandoned. I returned early evening but couldn't find the babies anywhere. The parents were about 100meters further down the plot and I presumed the babies were there with them. I am totally thrilled to have witnessed this happening and now just hope and pray the next door neighbour's dogs keep away from my property!

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Farm talk - The wrath of a Crowned Plover

... or, the love of a mother....
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Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential.

Yesterday my husband had to pull the truck out of the workshop to deliver a tractor to a customer and as he got a couple of meters from the workshop gate, he was confronted by a very angry Crowned Plover, standing in front of the approaching truck, wings spread and loudly proclaiming her intent on not moving.

Perplexed, my husband got out of the truck to look what was going on, upon which both parents flew at him in attack mode, swooping and screaming loudly, trying to get him to move. Suspecting that there might be some babies, he called me to see if I could see what all the pa-lava was about.

As soon as I arrived, I was dive-bombed in the same manner and as I carefully walked around slowly, looking out for any babies, the one parent would flap around in the grass, feigning injury and, as I approached, move on a bit, trying to lure me away from the spot. This is a strategy they use, pretending to be injured and easy prey, so getting a predator to follow them away from the nest. So I knew there definitely was something around there.

 

Both parents kept up this behaviour, alternating between dive-bombing us, flapping in the grass and screaming at the top of their voices.

 and this is what all the raucous was about!

Eventually, taking my cue from where they were at their most frantic, I found the nest - three beautiful speckled eggs so well camouflaged that it took me ten minutes to find it! The eggs were within meters of the truck's front wheels, my husband has stopped just in time! If it wasn't for this brave little bird stopping a 5-ton truck, the nest might have been destroyed.

After taking some photographs and enduring a lot more abuse from them, my husband reversed the truck and did a wide berth around the nest. Now that we know where they are, we avoid that area and hopefully will be able to see the birth of these little wonders.

The Crowned Plover (Vanellus coronatus) occurs across much of sub-Saharan Africa; in southern Africa it is common in Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, northern and south-western South Africa and southern Mozambique. It generally prefers dry, open grassland, sparse woodland, open areas in Karoo scrub and man-made habitats, such as open fields, short pastures, airports, golf courses and roadsides.

They build their nests totally in the open and only after the grass has been cut on our smallholding. No trees, long grass or any other sort of cover for hundreds of meters around them. It always amazes me that they face the elements this way, with no cover whatsoever, but understandably it gives them a wide range of sight to see any predators approaching.

They mainly eats termites (which make up approximately 80-90% of its diet), using the typical foraging technique of plovers, running, stopping then searching for prey on the ground. It often forages in groups, sometimes alongside Black-winged lapwings, moving in a regularly spaced line.




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