Sondela is a birders paradise, with hundreds of species of birds of which I only managed to photograph a few.
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Male Red-headed finch.
Female Red-headed finch.
This guy was waiting for an open spot at the bird feeder, while he waited he had a snooze among the thorns. Those thorns are as vicious as they look, yet giraffe and other browsing antelope manage to pluck the tenderest leaves from among them.
Scaly-feathered finch.
Crested Francolin.
These Crested Francolin were photographed as the sun rose, with a slow shutter speed, thus the blurred bird in the middle.
Swainson's Spurfowl, there are several coveys of these birds here on the farm where I live.
White-crested Helmet-shrike. While I was at Sondela I photographed three different types of shrike, the Crimson-breasted shrike, the Grey-headed shrike and these.
Another view of the White-crested Helmet-shrike.
This is a juvenile eagle of some sort the closest ID I could get was one of the snake eagles.
When South Africans spend a weekend or evening together we almost always end up having a "braai", Afrikaans for BBQ. Well last Saturday evening we had a "braai" at Sondela.
While we were sitting around the fire this Nyala ewe wandered up looking for a snack, and here she is taking a piece of cucumber from my hand.
Mutton chops and some beef suasage over the coals.
The result on the table with a bottle of Cabernet wine. My sister in law Estele and her husband Wim. Wim designed and built the house at Sondela. Strange how people close their eyes when you take a photo.
The house they built a Sondela was not built just for their own pleasure and use, but to bless others as well. Dozens of families get to enjoy the facilities every year, all for free, gratis. These are two people who don't just live for themselves but to serve others.
This little stove in the lounge at Sondela, imported from Denmark, is the most efficient heating system you could imagine. Just a few logs of wood heats up a huge room for the whole night. Not cheap but worth every penny.
Some external and internal views of the house I stayed in over the past weekend.
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Northern view, the room on the left is the main bedroom, middle room is the living- dining room and kitchen section of the house. The tall mast on the right is a lightning conductor, there is another just off picture to the left. Every house, (120 in total) built here must have a thatched roof and lightning is a constant threat here in the summer,
This is the back door of the house on the southern side, looking right through the main living area. The kitchen is just to the left of the door.
Roof detail of the room I slept in, the beams are specially treated blue gum poles. The treatment protects the beams against termites and rot.
All the rooms have these cane/rattan roller blinds, and each room also has it's own exterior door.
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View of the other spare bedroom on the south western side of the house.
En suite bathroom for the spare bedroom above.
This is the view of the en-suite bathroom for the room I used. A large sheet of frosted glass divided the bedroom from the bathroom, I really enjoyed the oversized shower head. All the hot water used in the house came from solar water heaters, with a back-up electrical water heating system.
Sondela game, reserve where I spent last weekend, teems with birds, I wasn't able to photograph even a small fraction of them.
Crimson breasted shrike. Not a very clear photo as this bird was looking for breakfast and never sat still for a second.
Helmeted Guinea fowl kicking up dust while the scratch for seeds under the bird feeder.
African Grey Hornbil, looking puzzled, l trying to figure out how to get into the bamboo bird feeder. The dish on top was a temporary measure as the original lid had been mislaid.
Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, I think this was a juvenile as it's red breast feathers weren't fully coloured yet. I was only about three meters away from this bird but it seemed totally unperturbed by my presence.
The same bird as above, looking for thorn a thorn to spike his latest victim on.
Southern Yellow-billed hornbill. Females seal themselves into a hole in a tree trunk, the male bringing mud for the purpose, while hatching the eggs. Her mate feeds her through a narrow vertical slit in the mud wall.
Came across these Zebras while walking early on Sunday morning.
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Two mares and their foals.
Time for breakfast Junior.
Road Hog coming through. Warthogs don't ask permission, built like miniature tanks and just as strong there is not much they are afraid of. Those tusks are formidable weapons and they know how to use them. Fences are minor obstacles and are just bulldozed out of the way.
Not such a good photo, cropped out of another photo of a Zebra. Don't let those short legs fool you, Warthogs can put on a turn of speed that will surprise you.
Mother and child.
Nyala ram, the epitome of Roman Gravitas.
Head and shoulders a very handsome animal.
Arrived home yseterday afternoon after an absence on eight days, the dogs were ecstatic and went mad with joy. Poor Cat the cat had a rough time of it and hadn't been home since last Wednesday according to Maria my housekeeper. Late last night Cat came home and sat on my feet untill I went to bed.
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N3 highway looking south, straight as a ruler all the way to the horizon. Enlarge the photo to realy get the impact of space.
This part of the highway goes through the plains of the Free State Province of South Africa. Big sky country with wide vistas. The Free State is prime farming country, maize, wheat, sunflowers, sheep, and beef and dairy cattle.
This is my first post using my new laptop, I will be doing some more posts about the birds and animals at Sondela game reserve.
My brother in law, Wim, and I took a late afternoon drive to look for game.
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Gnu, or Wildebeest, lying in the sun chewing cud.
The rest of the heard.
Young Kudu bull.
Ground hornbil.
Old Kudu bull with magnificent horns. This old bull was just skin and bones, obviously on his last legs.
Bless buck ram standing proud.
Impala ram.
Black backed jackal slinking through the undergrowth. Jackals are natures true survivors in spite of centuries of persecution by man the still survive and thrive in Africa.
Went for an early morning (sunrise) walk this morning and managed to take photos of Zebra, an Nyala bull and a Warthog.
