Insects · Moths & Butterflies · South Africa · Terrestrial

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)

Birds · Freshwater · South Africa

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)

Land Birds · South Africa · Terrestrial

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)