Young tubular flower of the spear thistle. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Also called Scottish thistle or bull thistle. A spiny, herbaceous, biennial plant, with a large basal rosette of leaves, a deep taproot, and a flowering stem growing from the center of the rosette up to 1.5 m high.… Continue reading Spear thistle (Cirsium vulgare)
Tag: Bathurst
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Painted Lady feeding on a nodding thistle on the farm. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Formerly known as Acraea acara subsp. acara but revised by Williams & Henning (2023). Male and female. Upperside. Ground-colour reddish-ochreous, basal areas olivescent-ochreous-brown. Cilia black, alternated with white. Forewing with an outwardly-oblique black irregular-shaped broken… Continue reading Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
African sacred ibis visiting a dam on the farm. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Adult with all-white body plumage, apart from dark plumes on the rump. Bald head and neck, thick curved bill and legs black. Wings white, showing a black rear border in flight. Eyes brown with a dark… Continue reading African sacred ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)
Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Cape glossy starling perched on the rails of a cattle kraal. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). A fairly large, short-tailed, uniformly glossy starling. Green head, with bright orange-yellow eyes but without darker ear coverts. Reddish-bronze shoulder patch, and glossy green belly and flanks. Larger than the arboreal black-bellied starling (Notopholia… Continue reading Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Purple predatory chafer (Campsiura cognata)
Purple predatory chafer on a small tree in front of the farm house. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). A member of the predatory chafers, in the tribe Cremastocheilini. General body obovate, slightly convex, darkly blood-red or chestnut, shiny. Antennae cadaneous.Head black with yellow triangular pattern on the clypeus and frons. Pro-thorax sub-smooth,… Continue reading Purple predatory chafer (Campsiura cognata)
Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
African drongo hanging on a tree branch, close to the farm house. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Black body with a blue-green iridescence in specific regions. Underside and belly uniformly black, contrasting with the glossy black-blue upper body. Robust black beak. Red eyes. Deeply forked lengthy tail. Males and females alike, with… Continue reading Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
Micragrotis interstriata
Shiny specimen of Micragrotis interstriata. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2025). Thorax blackish-brown. Abdomen brownish-ochreous. Forewing blackish-brown in the coastal-marginal area and in the cell, bluish-grey below it, browner in the marginal area, where there are black streaks at the veins and brown ones between them. Interior line fin, double, very strongly dentated inwards. Ring-macula and… Continue reading Micragrotis interstriata
Lycus poultoni
Two specimens of Lycus poultoni on top of each other. You can see two pairs of antennae. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). A member of the net-winged beetles in the tribe Lycini, family Lycidae. An ochraceous bug with species-specific black markings. Head very deeply depressed, eyes forming two deep pits, and long… Continue reading Lycus poultoni
Recurved swallowtail (Urapteroides recurvata)
Close-up of a specimen of recurved swallowtail. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Forewing 21 - 26 mm. Front margin of forewings slightly convex and bearing tiny brown spots. Wings white, bordered by a thin brown line, variably spotted, with fine black spots in some individuals, and neatly divided by 3 fine transverse… Continue reading Recurved swallowtail (Urapteroides recurvata)
Eastern Cape giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii)
The Eastern Cape giant cycad is shaped like a palm tree. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Medium to large evergreen, long-lived plant producing initially a single erect trunk and can grow up to 7 meters tall. Some plants will produce suckers at the base of the trunk, which in time develop to… Continue reading Eastern Cape giant cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii)
F*CK FISH 