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

(I know this is a very long entry - please skip whatever you're not interested in)

The Polokwane Bird Sanctuary is situated to the north of the town. It is right next to the sewage works. The water, after having been treated at the works, enters a sequence of ponds after which it finally enters a river and flows off, probably joining the Sand River at some point. The Bird Sanctuary is situated around these ponds. It includes different kinds of vegetation: riverine woodland, reeds and sedges, a lot of rank, weedy growth, and a bit of savannah woodland. There is a very significant presence of invasive non-indigenous plants in the reserve; most are of the weedy kind but there are also prickly pears (a succulent) and several kinds of alien trees. But there is still a lot of natural vegetation too. The reserve hosts a wonderful diversity of bird species in all habitats; the lush riverine woodland attracts species only rarely seen in the open savannah, and the ponds themselves are frequented by many waterbirds. The reserve has several hides around the ponds, and there’s a couple of buildings, a grass-roofed conference centre at the entrance and a lapa deeper in. There are a few benches and places for picknicking and barbecuing.

Photos:

The entrance -
http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/ConferenceCentre_zps1bb7fdcd.jpg

Bush with Guarri, Thorn Trees, Aloe and Prickly Pears -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/BushwithAloeGuarriPrickyPear1b_zps6aedec5a.jpg

Large Eucalypt covered in climbers, as well as Persian Lilac and Thorn Trees -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/EucalyptLilacThornTrees1b_zps78ec8d65.jpg

The river flowing beneath a bridge -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/River2b_zpsf404e2a6.jpg

Another view of the river -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/River1b_zps11f21aa1.jpg

One of the ponds showing reeds and fringing trees -


http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PondReeds1b_zpsdb3ac787.jpg

Another view of a pond -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PondReflectionReeds1b_zps3acb7652.jpg

A large number of blacksmith plovers around one of the ponds -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PondBlacksmithPlovers1b_zps7d4b44be.jpg

A somewhat closer view of the plovers - sorry but they're still very distant -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/BlacksmithPlovers_zps55bc307a.jpg

Many Whitefaced Ducks at one of the ponds -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PondWhitefacedDucks1b_zps1f7a48c4.jpg

The ducks a bit closer up -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/WhitefacedDucks_zps5e046dd1.jpg

A high-standing hide overlooking two of the ponds -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/HighHide1b_zpsc022b776.jpg

Riverine woodland with bushwillow and thorn tree -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/RiverBushwillow1b_zps23a2074c.jpg

Inside the riverine woodland -

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/WoodlandInterior1b_zps8a68435a.jpg



Today was a warm and sunny day – we’ve been having dreary, cold and wet weather but today it’s cleared up, and the Summer didn’t feel over quite yet. I even got a bit sunburned! But I did wear a floppy broad-brimmed hat and long-sleeved shirt and long pants, so it’s only my face and neck. The key to excursions like this is to make it as comfortable as possible but there’s still going to be some discomfort – getting sweaty, tired at the end of the trip, getting a few nicks and scratches from thorny bushes, et cetera. But still this is very enjoyable, even with the bit of discomfort, since I’m feeling alive, getting my body in motion, and experiencing the countryside in so many ways!

Incredibly today I was rewarded with a ‘lifer’ (a bird seen for the first time in one’s life) … at this age and after so many years watching birds and in a place I had been to many, many times … and right at the very start of the trip … and not just one bird, but several … and behaving interestingly as well!

This was the Blue-grey Flycatcher, Muscicapa caerulescens. Just behind the grass-roofed building at the entrance I saw these – three or four – and they were quite tame. They were swooping down to the ground every now and then, uttering soft chitting calls. I saw them struggle with big, fat grubs … I didn’t want to go too close and disturb them but I think they actually caught the grubs from burrows close to the soil surface. This is to me a very strange behaviour for flycatchers, since flycatchers usually, as the name suggest, catch flying insects. Probing the soil for grubs is something quite different, which one would associate with hoopoes or thrushes. But in this case the grubs might have been very close to the surface if not actually out in the open. I later quickly went for a look and saw some loose soil as at the entrance of a grub’s burrow, but didn’t see any grubs. The blue-grey flycatcher is more a species of the lowveld to the East of where I live; Polokwane has several other flycatchers which I see regularly, namely the Spotted, Marico, Fiscal, Black and Paradise Flycatchers. It was wonderful to see this species for the first time!

Another major goal of the trip was to start cataloguing the plants of the reserve. Alien species include huge red-purple weedy plants probably in the Amaranth family, here’s a photo:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/WeedyAmaranth1b_zpsa9c0f6cb.jpg

These weeds can stand over three metres tall!


Other aliens include a weedy tree, Nicotiana glauca, related to the tobacco plant; castor-oil bush, Ricinis communis; Persian Lilac Tree, Melia azedarach; Weeping Willow, Salix babylonica; Tipuana, Tipuana tipu; Poplar Trees; several species of Solanum (from the tomato and potato family); a kind of climbing plant with bean-like pods; a few Eucalyptus trees; Prickly Pears, Opuntia species; Morning Glory, Ipomoea purpurea, a twining herb with very pretty purple flowers; Jammy Mouth Ryttya fruticosa, not very alien, coming from East Africa; Jakobregop (‘Upright Jacob’), Zinnia peruviana, a pretty member of the Daisy family with orange flowers standing very upright and facing upwards; a similar but bigger species – here’s a photo:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/MiniSunflowerish1b_zps1187e54e.jpg

And another a weedy member of the Daisy family, Flaveria bidentis – here’s a photo:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Flaveriabidentis1b_zps19d7241e.jpg

And many others. Indigenous tree and shrub species in the reserve include sweet thorn, Acacia karroo – here’s a photo of a particularly tall and lanky specimen:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/TallSweetThorn1b_zps2de1fc86.jpg

And here's one growing sideways:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/CrookedSweetThorn1b_zpsed009f7a.jpg

Also Monkey Thorn Acacia galpinii, Fever Tree Acacia xanthophloea, Silky Thorn Acacia rehmanniana, Blue Bush Diospyros lycioides, Buffalo Thorn Ziziphus mucronata, Num-num Carissa bispinosa, Kei Apple Dovyalis caffra, River Bushwillow Combretum erythrophyllum, Taaibos Combretum pyroides, Puzzle Bush Ehretia rigida. Outside the reserve I got a photo of a craggy tree called a Caterpillar Pod, Ormocarpum trichocarpum – so called because its pod (it’s a member of the Pea Family) look like thorny caterpillars. The tree itself looks like this :

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Ormocarpumtrichocarpum1b_zps31394ff1.jpg

There are many interesting small plants as well. On this trip I took particular note of a couple of species of the wild cucumber/pumpkin/gourd family … I got a photo of a green fruit:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Cocciniasessilifolia1b_zps53956841.jpg

And I got a ripe fruit and some seeds as well! I think this species is Coccinia sessilifolia. These fruits when ripe are favourites of many birds.

The Common Bowstring Hemp, Sanseviera aethiopica, grows in large numbers in the shade bushes. These tough-leaved plants have been used as a source of fiber by San/Bushmen and other peoples. Here’s a photo:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/SansevieraAsparagus1b_zpsc3b09378.jpg

There's also a small wild Asparagus here, the delicate leaves (actually cladodes, fine green branches) showing at the right.

Outside the reserve proper I stopped to investigate a patch of open savannah. There I was rewarded not only by some birds I hadn’t seen in the sanctuary itself, but also by something entirely unexpected – orchids! I saw the first plant in a patch of scrub amidst the grass. It was the last place I expected to find an orchid – it was more suited to tough succulents. But there I spotted one – and close to it another, in flower! This orchid, Bonatea speciosa, is not as colourful as the Red Disa I’ve featured for Phyto-Philes, but still, it’s elegant and graceful and it’s an orchid – and I love the entire family! Furthermore it is a rare species; my one guide doesn’t even give it as occurring in Limpopo Province, but I have indeed seen it here before, in the Municipal Game Reserve, flowering in the shade of lush riverine vegetation. Here it was in a patch of dry scrub – most unusual! And … after finding the first two plants I found to more! Four plants in about a square metre/yard area! Here are photos:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Bonateaspeciosa1b_zps9fc0160b.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Bonateaspeciosa2b_zps57b9dc42.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Bonateaspeciosa3b_zps1cff3426.jpg

Invertebrates seen: a tiny, pale brownish jumping spider; many kinds of grasshopper; many butterflies; a wasp with a black body and bright orange tip to the abdomen, I think a Synagris analis; honey bees; dragonflies, including Brachythemis leucosticta, a delightful species with very transparent wings apart from two black spots near the tip of each pair of wings – these, in flight, look like three insects flying in formation, a long one in the middle (the body) and a short one on either side (the spots on the wings).

Amphibians seen:

A young toad, perhaps a Red Toad (Schismaderma carens) at the conference centre at the entrance, where I saw the flycatchers as well.

Reptiles seen:

Striped Skinks, Mabuya striata

Nile Monitor, Varanus niloticus. I was very happy about this one! It was lazily swimming in the ‘final’ pond, its head and a part of its back and tail protruding, flicking its tongue out every now and then. This is Africa’s largest lizard species, sometimes exceeding 7 ft in length. Closely related to the Savannah Monitor which I’ve featured for Colours of Wildlife, and also to the Komodo Dragon. It has a prettily patterned skin with black and yellow spots and blotches.

Mammals seen:

Hare, probably a Scrub Hare, Lepus saxatilis

Cows and a bull! Photos:

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Cows1b_zps8f778118.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/Bull1b_zps5fe66b92.jpg

Other birds seen:

1. Dabchick, Tachybaptes ruficollis. A small grebe; I saw a couple, adult and young on the first pond. They dive for long periods, swimming underwater and then emerging again a long way off.

2. Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis. They breed on vegetated islands in the ponds and in surrounding trees.

3. Hamerkop, Scopus umbretta, featured in Colours of Wildlife!

4. Hadeda Ibis, Bostrychia hagedash. Extremely noisy chicken-sized birds with long, curved bills. These also breed around the ponds.

5. Sacred Ibis, Threskiornis aethiopicus. A large black-and-white ibis with long downcurved bill and a bare black head and neck. They breed here and feed in surrounding fields.

6. Egyptian Goose, Alopochen aegyptiacus on and around the ponds. These are not true geese but large shelducks.

7. White-faced Duck, Dendrocygna viduata. A very pretty duck and there were MANY of them! They belong to the wood-duck group.

8. Yellowbilled Duck, Anas undulata. A fairly common local species but I don’t see them that frequently, so I was happy to see a few today.

9. Cape Shoveller, Anas smithii. A drab brownish duck with a long bill it uses for filtering food items from the water surface. I don’t see these much either, so again I was happy.

10. Cape Teal, Anas capensis. Only the second time I see this species! A small duck, greyish with darker speckles, and a pink bill.

11. Red-billed Teal, Anas erythrorhyncha. Another small duck, with a black ‘cap’ and a pinkish-red bill. These are common but it’s been a while since I last saw any.

12. A couple of birds-of-prey soaring overhead but too far away for me to identify them.

13. Black Crake, Amaurornis flavirostris. These small birds are very noisy, uttering chatters and groans. They are pretty if you can manage to catch a glimpse of them scampering around the reeds and sedges.

14. Blackwinged Stilt, Himantopus haematopus. Small black and white wading birds with long, thin, straight bills, and very long red legs. Several around the ponds, a couple flying overhead quite close.

15. Avocet, Recurvirostra avocetta. Another wading bird related to stilts, but with a bill that is upturned at the end. Very pretty black and white pattern; also a species I don’t see frequently, an unexpected bonus.

16. Threebanded Plover, Charadrius tricollaris. A tiny wading bird, very pretty with two black breast bands and a red ring around its eyes. I saw several on the margins of the ponds where they catch tiny invertebrates in the shallow water.

17. Blacksmith Plover, Vanellus armatus. A very pretty plover with a complex white, grey and black pattern. Named for its ‘chink-chink’ call like a hammer hitting an anvil. An abundant species, was all over the place.

18. Wood sandpiper, Tringa glareola. These shorebirds visit us from Europe and Asia each year! Many of them around the ponds.

19. Pigeons and doves … I didn’t pay much attention to these but they were flying around, probably Laughing Doves, Streptopelia senegalensis, and Redeyed Doves, Streptopelia semitorquata. There were also racing pigeons, Columba livia, flying by.

20. Palm Swift, Cypsiurus parvus. Swifts flit over and dip in the ponds to drink water.

21. Little Swift, Apus affinis. There might have been some Whiterumped Swifts as well.

22. Speckled Mousebird, Colius striatus. In the bush eating the many kinds of fruit growing on the weeds and shrubs.

23. Brownhooded Kingfisher, Halcyon albiventris. Just one, glimpsed at a distance … these kingfishers catch insects and invertebrates, sometimes small lizards and snakes, rather than fish.

24. European Bee-Eater, Merops apiaster, flowing overhead and uttering their mellow calls. Soon they’ll be heading back to Europe. They have beautiful colours.

25. White-fronted Bee-Eater, Merops bullockoides. These are local and stay the winter! These were catching insects and banging them against the twigs with a loud tock-tock sound. They’re also very pretty.

26. Greater Scimitarbill, Rhinopomastus cyanomelas. I glimpsed a couple flying overhead. Relatives of hoopoes, black with white spots in their wings and tails, and downcurved bills with which they probe for insects in tree bark. A not frequently seen species.

27. African Hoopoe, Upupa africana, in an open patch.

28. Acacia Pied Barbet, Tricholaema leucomelas, a stout-billed, fruit-eating relative of woodpeckers.

29. Cardinal Woodpecker, Dendropicos fuscescens. A small woodpecker, I saw a female, whose head is all black above; the male has the top of its head red.

30. Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Campethera abingoni. A larger woodpecker (but still small by woodpecker standards) with more extensive red on the head. I saw a female; the front of her head is speckled, but the rear red.

31. Forktailed Drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis, which I featured in Colours of Wildlife.

32. Pied Crow, Corvus albus, flying overhead – seen on the drive there. These crows have white ‘collars’ around their necks and extending to their breasts and bellies.

33. Blackeyed Bulbul, Pycnonotus tricolor. A lively and conspicuous bird that is abundant in gardens and also in the wild.

34. Whitethroated Robin-chat, Cossypha humeralis. A brightly coloured bird usually keeping to dense bush.

35. Whitebrowed Scrub Robin, Cercotrichas leucophrys. This bird is heard more than seen, its song being a very characteristic sound of the reserve. But I did see one!

36. A warbler, I think a Willow Warbler, Phylloscopus trochilus, another visitor from Europe and Asia – a tiny bird making a huge migration. Probably fattening up for the trip back.

37. Barthroated Apalis, Apalis thoracica. A tiny bird with very neat coloration and a very characteristic ‘pillip-pillip-pillip’-call. I was very happy to glimpse one!

38. Rattling Cisticola, Cisticola chiniana. An ubiquitous little brown bushveld bird with a very loud voice.

39. Tawnyflanked Prinia, Prinia subflava, another tiny and noisy bird, prevalent in the rank vegetation around the ponds, not at all shy as some other warblers are.

40. Bluegrey Flycatcher, Muscicapa caerulescens, as noted!

41. Cape Wagtail, Motacilla capensis. A cute and friendly bird, common in gardens but also around rivers and wetlands.

42. Redbacked Shrike, Lanius collurio. A small shrike, I saw males and females. Yet another visitor from Europe and Asia now preparing for the long flight back.

43. Southern Boubou, Laniarius ferrugineous. This bird has one of the loveliest voices of all, beautiful mellow notes sung in duet by the male and female.

44. Wattled Starling, Creatophora cinerea. Just a few at a great distance, without their wattles. I’ve never yet seen them with the wattles fully developed … they get these only when breeding; they’re very unpredictable nomads and I see them only in some years.

45. Whitebellied Sunbird, Cinnyris talatala. Tiny nectar-drinker with glossy green and purple plumage except for a plain white belly.

46. House Sparrow, Passer domesticus, around the entrance.

47. Masked Weaver, Ploceus velatus, in dull non-breeding plumage.

48. Small flocks of Redbilled Quelea, Quelea quelea, which might be the most abundant bird species in the world, in some places occurring in flocks of millions. These flocks were only of a few dozen!

49. Just outside the reserve I saw a Steelblue Widowfinch, Vidua chalybeata, a glossy black little bird with bright red bill and feet. It was sitting in a tree warbling its little song non-stop. These finches are parasites – they lay their eggs in the nests of waxbills (this species parasitizes the Redbilled Firefinch, a species I didn’t see today). Unlike cuckoos they don’t eject their hosts’ eggs, instead the waxbills raise the widowfinches alongside their own kids. The widowfinches sing songs very similar to those of the waxbills.

50. Bluebilled Firefinch, Lagonosticta rubricata, a very pretty waxbill species I hadn’t seen in ages! It’s deep red below and grey and brown above. It’s a relative of the redbilled firefinch I mentioned with regard to the widowfinch above – these species both occur in this area together with a third one, Jameson’s Firefinch.

51. Bronze Mannikin, Spermestes cucullatus, a tiny brown, black and white waxbill species. Many adult and youngsters feeding in rank grass.

52. Blackcheeked Waxbill, Estrilda erythronotos, another pretty waxbill.

53. Common Waxbill, Estrilda astrild, also very pretty with red bill, eye-stripe and belly patch.

54. Blue Waxbill, Uraeginthus angolensis, exquisitely beautiful waxbills with powder-blue faces and bellies.

55. Yellowbilled Canary, Serinus mozambicus, in large flocks.

Sorry a few corrections:

The Jammy Mouth is Ruttya fruticosa not Ryttia fruticosa; the Castor Oil plant is Ricinus communis not Ricinis communis; the Southern Boubou is Laniarius ferrugineus not Laniarius ferrugineous (stupid auto-correct!) and the last bird is the Yellow-Eyed Canary, not Yellowbilled Canary!

all of it will interest me Willem, I'm going to set aside some time to read it soon

Fabulous photos Willem. It is difficult to comprehend how lush the growth is there, when so much of what we see over over in film and photos suggests so much dry and barren land.

Good to see it is not all like that.

Websailor

Hello Peanut and Websailor! Peanut I hope you find time soon ... you can just click on a photo here and there if you don't have enough time to look at them all.

Websailor, yes, it's been a year with above-average rainfall, but even in a 'normal' year the veld is very nice and green and lush-looking in spring and most of summer. Also this reserve has lush growth on account of all the water and the, ahem, 'fertilizer' since the sewage works is next door to it. But even the open savannah can be very nice and lush ... I will take more trips and post photos at different times of the year. Since the winter is coming the grass is now going to become dry and brown and many trees will lose their leaves. But there's still greenery even in the middle of the driest winter.

What a beautiful place and such an abundance of life.
I'm so impressed at how many things you can identify.

I loved looking at those photos, sitting here in my jim-jams, wrapped up in a blanket, with a , what a lovely way to start the day

Thank you

I'm going ask a cheeky favour. When you go back please could you take two or three shots of the river, ponds, woods from a similar position because I would be really interested in seeing the changes over the seasons.

Again I am so happy that you are out and about do the things that you love.

Next time don't forget your sun block

Hi Peanut, I'm glad you looked at and liked it! For certain I'll return soon, the winter is going to come on rapidly now so I could catch it when starting to get dry and brown and will try and take photos from the same places to show the difference.

Anyone who's here ... could you perhaps please tell me which photos are your favourites? I am thinking of submitting a much shortened version of this for The Post.

I was thinking it should go in The Post in a shortened version. I will have a look and choose my favourites when I have a little more time. Evenings are a bit rushed these days.

It is good to see that sewage is used in such a useful and productive way as it is here in some cases, though not all unfortunately. They still like to dump it in the sea

Websailor

Yes, vote on those favourites and we'll do something in the Post - a miniseries, if necessary.

I'll pick mine tomorrow, first cup of again

Any idea how many would you like Willem?

Hi Peanut, how 'bout five? But if you like more, no problem! Thanks so much!

It will be a pleasure. I think five sounds about right.

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/BushwithAloeGuarriPrickyPear1b_zps6aedec5a.jpg



http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/TallSweetThorn1b_zps2de1fc86.jpg


http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/PondBlacksmithPlovers1b_zps7d4b44be.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/River2b_zpsf404e2a6.jpg

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/SansevieraAsparagus1b_zpsc3b09378.jpg

Hi Willem

Sorry I am late and it was very difficult to choose. I'll be back in bit to explain my choices

Hello again

I choose these with article in mind. I think that for me they show the variety of habitats in one area which supports biodiversity

Some difficult choices between the plover pictures, I went for that one although the birds are furthur away, the wider shot of the landscape very much interests me. This would be one that I would like to see over seasons.

The one I ummed and ahhed about the most was the last one, I included because of the bush skills element. Although I wanted to trade it out for

http://i360.photobucket.com/albums/oo45/WillemvdMerwe/EucalyptLilacThornTrees1b_zps78ec8d65.jpg

as I am personally very drawn and drawn in to this one, it just makes me want to explore

I know I said five but of course I wanted a sixth, the bull. It somewhat random, and I love it and also not what I expected, when I think bull this is what springs to mind

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=highland+bull&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=4u1jUeHcN9Cb0AWFnYHoDw&sqi=2&ved=0CDMQsAQ&biw=1080&bih=532#imgrc=TbWNHOJjIssBAM%3A%3BbB-_naGePwNMHM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mossdalefarm.co.uk%252Fwp-content%252Fgallery%252Fcattle%252Ffergus1.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.mossdalefarm.co.uk%252F%253Fpage_id%253D10%3B800%3B600

Anyway Willem, you be the judge of what or what not to include, these are just my suggestions

One final thing and i am loathe to mention this because I don't want to cause any embaressment or discomfort but there was some of the ads coming up were were really quite inappropriate.

Now I know that it not coming from my searchs and I am the only one to use this 'puter and I'm positive they won't be coming from Willems. It is either the website or I thought possibly from the innocent photos of your muscles that are there

Now I didn't take offense as such, ok raised an eyebrow, it is just something that perhaps should be consider if you are linking in

I'm very sorry Willem if that has caused you any discomfort but I thought I should mention it

'I thought possibly from the innocent photos of your muscles that are there' What I mean by this is some stupid adsense thingy (which I don't really understand) has gone horribly wrong in this instance

Been back to other people photos and got similar so obviously it is the website. Adsense isn't showing similar elsewhere.

Hi Peanut! Really sorry if there are yucky ads there ... I'm sorry, I don't know what's going on with Photobucket these days ... in the old days when I linked a photo you just saw the photo, not the site, but this seems to have changed, they probably think they have to force people to view the ads. I see a bunch of ads like that on Facebook as well but I generally ignore them. But if I put these in The Post I will NOT link them to Photobucket, I will send the photos individually to the Post people.

Photobucket used to be a good site for putting up photos but with this recent stuff maybe I should get a different site.

Nothing for you to apologise for Willem.

Your links do go to the photo only, no ads. I accidently got to your albums by hitting the refresh button, which was quite handy when I was making my choices so I was flicking though, rather than clicking here on individual links.

Willem, I just got single photos if that's any help.

Websailor