September 4, 2011. I sat on the porch and soaked up the gentle morning light, filtering through between the palm trees. As I sipped my first cup of coffee of the day (always the best), I couldn’t help noticing the birds babbling and chirping away happily, full of the joys of Spring. . . and no doubt jousting for primacy in the never-ending circuit of seasonal courting games.
One particularly stout birdie caught my attention, silhouetted against the morning sun as it pottered around in the local tibouchina tree. At first I assumed it was a hadeda, so well fed and chunky were its proportions, but when it burst into its trademark loud chatter, I quickly realised it was a loerie. As it hopped from branch to branch, jabbering away, I decided there and then to name it the Loerie Julius Malemus Maximus, a fit name for such a feisty fella. And just on queue he went hop, hop, hopping away and chased another bird off its perch.
Although loeries are regular visitors to our garden, this was a particularly funny old chap, full of character and demanding all the attention in the garden.
Along with loeries, we’re regularly visited by countless weavers, sunbirds, hummingbirds, finches, starlings, kingfishers (these little guys are always full of character too), a local gymnogene, a variety of eagles and other flotsam and jetsam. At this time of year the environment is bursting with life, an entertaining parade of all shapes and sizes.
It reminded me yet again that we really are blessed in this town with the most special weather and the freedom and space to enjoy our environment. . . . especially at the weekend.
In this vein, we decided to take advantage of the sensational weather to take a drive along the North Coast to Ballito, and further afield. The star of the show was the peerless North Coast scenery which unfolded, from Umhlanga along the M4, towards Umdloti, La Mercy, Westbrook and across the lagoon towards Zimbali.
Massive swells were rolling in across the Indian Ocean before smashing into the coast and running on a high tide right up the beach. Just another day in paradise.
While I didn’t see any more Julius Maximus’s up there, I did spot a cousin, many times removed, the eagle-eyed, seemingly wise and powerful African Fish Eagle, circling around one of the many lagoons up north. This is not that unusual a sighting, as I’ve regularly spotted fish eagles in my ventures to Ballito, Salt Rock and back.
Just then there was a thundering roar, as a squadron of mighty muscle machines came lumbering up the M4 and roared past us . . . these, it turned out, were members of the IBV Supercar club who were holding a breakfast run and event at the Fairmont Zimbali. And what a procession it was, Ferraris, Mercedes Benz, Audi R8, Aston Martin, Lamborghinis, Lotus, what little remaining hair I have almost blew off as they snapped and growled, cruising at a controlled speed (how they must have been itching to burn some rubber).
Quite a sight to see, and I’m sure if Julius had been with me, he would have squawked and muttered in bitter objection at being upstaged.
As it was, the majestic fish eagle hardly bothered to turn his head, as he soared high above and continued his vigil over the waters and beyond.
1 Comment
Fantastic blog, Garth. Absolutely spot on!