h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Today I was off to a patch of veld which hosts, as far as we know, the main concentration of the small plant Kleinia venteri. The conservation of the veld however benefits other plants and critters as well.

As I approached, I saw that the grass had been mown by the municipality. They know about the Kleinias, and keeping the grass short benefits those tiny plants. Anyways so there weren't many flowers, most plants had been mown down and many had been crushed under the mowers' wheels (the mowers are large vehicles). But so there were swathes of mown grass, and I watched for the plovers, since I've seen a couple of chicks a month or two back. But the first residents I saw were a couple of Swainson's francolins. As I entered they ran off; I also saw lots of doves in the trees. Then in the distance I saw a heron! It was a black-necked heron. And it had something in its mouth! As I came closer I saw that it was - a bird! I was fascinated. I tried getting closer but the heron was leery and walked away as fast as it could. It seemed like a dove to me, it was dark grey. Finally the heron got fed up with me and flew off, still carrying the bird in its bill.

Well ... did it kill the dove, or did something else? If a cat had killed the dove, the heron might have driven it off, or it might have picked up a dove that had been hit by a car. It might even have caught a dove unawares by itself. At any rate, I did not see the heron eat the dove, but it probably did. Swallowing a dove whole would not be a difficult job for a heron.

I wish I'd brought my binoculars! I only brought my camera. I didn't expect to see anything weird!

But anyways I watched for the plovers. I found a family of six, and close by another family of five! They were all grown up, so any of them could have included the chicks I'd seen. The veld being mown short suits them just fine! I made a small video of their calls, you can just hear two calls over the wind. It follows at the end of this article.

Of course I also searched for Kleinias ... and I found them! With the grass mown short it was easy. I found probably around two dozen! This is great news because last few times I'd been there I didn't find any at all! I feared they had become extinct in that veld! But they're still there. So: this species is still in that veld, also in the patch of veld between my house and the shopping mall, and I also found some of them in the Euphorbia clivicola hills, and Fanie Venter whom I've spoken to mentions two more locations where they're found. And I've quite a few here at home as well. The Kleinias have no problem with the veld being mown: they have underground tubers and even the above-ground stems are too short to get hit by the blades. All the plants I saw were in good shape. This opening-up of the veld actually helps them.

I must see to getting photos of these back on the 'net, the only online photos of them were mine but they've disappeared because the site that hosted them went down.

I took photos of some of the trees as well. I also took a few photos of trees in gardens on the way there! Most gardens look great now with all the rains we've had.

But anyways ... other nice sights in the Kleinia veld: there were many sparrow-weavers, and I also heard and saw a Spectacled Weaver!

http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/ploceidae/ploceus_ocularis.htm

Ain't that a handsome fella! Don't know if you can see there but he has a deep black 'bib' as well as spectacles. This one treated me to two calls: the contact call which is a whistle 'wee-wee-wee-wee' that descends the scale, as well as a 'swizzling' call that is territorial and attracts females. They're usually very secretive but this one seems to not have noticed me for a while, it relaxedly searched around for tidbits in a thorn tree and called every now and then.

There were also beautiful Eurasian Bee Eaters flying overhead! Perhaps fattening up now for the flight back!

There were also palm swifts twittering and flying overhead.

OK here are the photos!

Broom Cluster Fig in a garden in my street:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/BroomClusterFig_zpsad5ccfb6.jpg

This thorn tree (I think it's a monkey thorn) was heavy-laden with pods, one of which drooped over the fence:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/MonkeyThornPods_zps8c09fc4e.jpg

Many folks here have these large date palms in their gardens, I think it's the Canary Island Date Palm, Phoenix canariensis:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/DatePalm_zpsec7b401c.jpg

Now for the veld itself! These handsome large-leaved climbers are Ipomoea albivenia. They're related to the sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas! They make huge underground tubers that I don't think are edible and have large creamy flowers that open only late in the afternoon and at night. The ones in the veld weren't flowering. The stems can ascend up to a 10 m height into trees. This one is climbing into a puzzle bush:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Ipomoeaalbivenia1_zpsfcce1fb3.jpg

Another Ipomoea albivenia scrambling up an Umbrella Thorn tree. Look how large and luxuriant the leaves are:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Ipomoeaalbivenia2_zpsd4aa9515.jpg

This is a Jacket Plum tree, Pappea edulis. It is in the litchi family and has sweet fruits beloved by birds, but flowers and fruits irregularly. See the weaver nests in it! These trees are common here and often form small thickets amidst the grassland, with other trees and shrubs:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/JacketPlum_zps2a333517.jpg

A plover! Look closely:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Plover_zpsc2191f8f.jpg

Two plovers!

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Plovers_zpsd1f4fc23.jpg

A Puzzle Bush, Ehretia rigida. So-called because of the complexly intertwined branches. They also form thickets and have lilac flowers and small berries the birds love:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PuzzleBush_zpsca823bed.jpg

The Tinderwood is a shrub or small tree that is so-called because its soft wood is traditionally used to start fires. Maybe I will soon get to Bakoni Malapa Northern Sotho Museum and take some pictures showing how they make fire by friction. It also has berries that birds love, and its white flowers attract butterflies and other insects. A member of the Verbena family (or the mint family ... classifications are in flux):
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Tinderwood_zps76a14f73.jpg

The Caterpillar Pod is a member of the Pea family, with pea-like flowers followed by these hairy pods that look like caterpillars infesting the tree:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/CaterpillarPod_zps30634116.jpg

A close-up of the pods:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/CaterpillarPods_zps256eb80a.jpg

A video as well! You can just barely hear the plovers calling there:

http://s360.photobucket.com/user/WillemvdMerwe/media/MOV09527_zpse1623028.mp4.html

So anyways it was just a very short outing but interesting and I was glad to get out and be amidst some living thingies and getting a bit of sun!

Thanks for sharing those with us, Willem. That Spectacled Weaver bird is really pretty and the polvers are cute. They seemed very happy in the newly mown grass---probably they get lots of good bugs that way.