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

Today for the first time in very long I went on a nature exploration again! This time it was just a trip on foot up and down a series of hills to the east of town. It was a four-hour hike and I didn't get as far as I planned since I started out too leisurely. I also didn't take as many photos as I wanted. Next time!

But in terms of what I saw and what I found it was a very productive trip! Right out of my front door I saw wonderful pretty little flowers in the patch of 'veld' in between my suburb and the highway, and lots of pretty butterflies were visiting them. From there I hiked along the highway - but in the strip of 'veld' - and then up to the hills. Close to the suburb there was a lot of signs of human activity ... rubble and rubbish lying strewn about, diggings, and a couple of 'hobo tents', but further on it was more pristine. We've had a bit more rain than average this year so everything was green and the grass was rank in places. So I had more difficulty spotting the small and low-growing plants than usual.

But anyways these are only some of the things I saw:

Trees seen:

1. Common Hook Thorn, Acacia caffra
2. Umbrella Thorn, Acacia tortilis
3. Candle Thorn, Acacia hebeclada
4. Silky Thorn, Acacia rehmanniana
5. Cork Bush, Mundulea sericea
6. Tree Wisteria, Bolusanthus speciosus
7. Wild Medlar, Vangueria infausta
8. Small Knobwood, Zanthoxylum capense
9. Wild Pear, Dombeya rotundifolia
10. Jacket Plum, Pappea capensis
11. Common Wild Fig, Ficus burkei
12. Broom Cluster Fig, Ficus sur
13. Buffalo Thorn, Ziziphus mucronata
14. Caterpillar Pod, Ormocarpum trichocarpum
15. Mountain Aloe, Aloe marlothii
16. Candelabra Euphorbia, Euphorbia cooperi
17. Blue Guarri, Euclea crispa
18. Common Spike-thorn, Gymnosporia buxifolia
19. Glossy-leaved Corkwood, Commiphora schimperi
20. Marula, Sclerocarya birrea
21. Sausage Tree, Kigelia africana
22. Sacred Coral Tree, Erythrina lysistemon
23. Mountain karee, Rhus leptodictya

And others I can’t remember. I hope to cover at least some of these in upcoming installments of the Phyto-Philes.

Birds seen:

1. Helmeted Guineafowl, Numida meleagris
2. Redeyed Dove, Streptopelia semitorquata
3. Laughing Dove, Streptopelia senegalensis
4. Palm Swift, Cypsiurus parvus
5. European Bee-eater, Merops apiaster
6. Hoopoe, Upupa africana
7. Acacia Pied Barbet, Tricholaema leucomelas
8. European Swallow, Hirundo rustica
9. Arrowmarked Babbler, Turdoides jardineii
10. Blackeyed Bulbul, Pycnonotus nigricans
11. Neddicky, Cisticola fulvicapilla
12. Rattling Cisticola, Cisticola chiniana
13. Blackchested Prinia, Prinia flavicans
14. Spotted Flycatcher, Muscicapa striata
15. Paradise Flycatcher, Terpsiphone viridis
16. Cape White-eye, Zosterops pallidus
17. Chinspot Batis, Batis molitor
18. Fiscal Shrike, Lanius collaris
19. Threestreaked Tchagra, Tchagra australis
20. Cape Sparrow, Passer melanurus
21. Whitebrowed Sparrow-Weaver, Plocepasser mahali
22. Southern Masked Weaver, Ploceus velatus
23. Bronze Mannikin, Spermestes cucullatus
24. Blackcheeked Waxbill, Estrilda erythronotos
25. Blue Waxbill, Uraeginthus angolensis
26. Blackthroated Canary, Serinus atrogularis

Butterflies seen:

1. Hypolimnas misippus, Diadem
2. Junonia oenone oenone, Blue Pansy
3. Junonia hierta cebrene, Yellow Pansy
4. Princeps demodocus demodocus, Citrus Swallowtail/Christmas Butterfly
5. Danaus chrysippus aegyptius, African monarch
6. Vanessa cardui, Painted Lady

And lots of others I couldn’t identify for sure – yellow ones, white ones, tiny blue-and-brown ones.

Here are some photos.

This is what the 'veld' looks like in late Summer after good rains:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Veld1b_zps043835bb.jpg

Mountain aloes - there are thousands of them on this hill:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Wildlife%20Photos/Aloemarlothi1b_zps1bb80e6f.jpg

Common wild fig - a beautiful tree attracting many fruit-eating birds:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Wildlife%20Photos/Ficusburkei1b_zps9ab8bfe9.jpg

A Leonotis species or 'Wild Dagga' - these red flowers attract many nectar-loving birds like sunbirds:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Wildlife%20Photos/Leonotis1b_zps4cab27f4.jpg

Yellow Hibiscus:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Wildlife%20Photos/Hibiscus1b_zps33fa4a32.jpg

Pergularia daemia - no common name but this is a common plant, a climber or scrambler. These warty fruits can look like birds perched in bushes from a distance - I've been fooled more than once. They dry out and burst open scattering large quantities of seeds with fluffy white tufts to help them blow away in the wind; I think a good common name for this species would be 'fluff grenade':

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Pergulariadaemia1b_zps3253c80f.jpg

I also heard a few birds I didn't get to see. And I'm not even mentioning the scores of small plants - there were some very pretty flowers. The hibiscus I include here is one of the most striking species, the flower being 4 or 5 inches (10-13 cm) in diameter.

Very . What a fruitful walk, Willem. Thanks a lot for the pictures. It is very lovely there. Thanks for sharing this exotic landscape with us. I just wish we could afford money for a photosafari in South Africa. It is truly lovely.

An excellent day, by the sound of it!

oh Willem great photos and I'm so happy that you got out for a trek

Like peanut, I am amazed at the photos and list of species you found. I'm also in agreement with her to be very glad to hear that you went out on a long hike. I really hope you feel like doing this again. Well done Willem!

Hi everyone, thanks for reading and commenting! Here are some photos not by me showing a few more of the species I'd seen:

Helmeted Guineafowl:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/helmeted-guinea-fowl-pravine-chester.html

Acacia Pied Barbet:

http://www.flickriver.com/photos/wildafrica/264206328/

Paradise Flycatcher:

http://pl.treknature.com/gallery/photo89324.htm

Blackcheeked Waxbill:

http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/estrildidae/estrilda_erythronotos.htm

Very hansome birds, Willem, The farmer across the street from my home in PA kept a flock of guinea hens (plainer ones with no crest) as burglar alarms. They did unleash quite a racket when someone was coming.

There's a domesticated guineafowl roaming around the suburb as well, Elektra! Much smaller 'helmet' and not as intensely blue in the face as the wild ones.

Here are two of the butterflies I saw. Now I actually saw *dozens* of these citrus swallowtails flying about ... so many nice flowers to visit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_withers/6927032388/

Their larvae also feed on plants of the citrus family to which the Small Knobwood (which I saw on the hill for the first time yesterday) belongs.

The African Monarch:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/2462227590/

Not at all rare over here actually.

The Yellow Pansy:

http://www.outdoorphoto.co.za/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=297790&title=junonia-hierta-cebrene-2c-the-yellow-pansy&cat=548

These are easily seen here! Yesterday I saw two of them mating.

Wow is all I can say.