The last few days have been rather hard for me. The atmosphere in the world right now seems hostile and I feel rather tired. 

I decided to choose some photos to share with you here in the hope that perhaps somebody just wanted to see something pretty. 

The last year has really kicked it to me how much we all should spend more time outdoors which is so paradoxical right now because so many of us are locked down in our homes. So I'll bring a small bit of nature to you. I hope you enjoy the pics. As always, comments are always welcome. 

Taking photos early in the morning was always a challenge to me. I love my sleep and getting up two hours before dawn is just not part of my repertoire anymore. I did this for years every morning to get to work on time, but very seldom to get to the outdoors and photograph the sunrise. Sunrises tend to hold a totally different feeling for me than sunsets. Sunrise is full of golden calm and slowly comes to life with birdsong. 

This goose caught me by surprise and I managed to only get this shot of it which reminds me of an advert for famous grouse - a totally different type of bird though lol. I have no idea how an advertising agency managed to link a fowl with whiskey, but they got it right. These birds make the most ridiculous sounding squeaks which makes them sound extremely comical for their size. I used to wonder if the other waterbirds mocked and teased them about it. 

These Gladiolus flowers never cease to amaze me with their different colors and petal orientations. There are more than 300 different species of Gladiolus around the world, of which 86.7% are found only in the Southern Hemisphere. They seem to be delicious to certain beetles and some of these are also pollinated mostly by bees. A few years ago I watched a brilliant talk about the relationship between flowers and their pollinators and how flowers have adapted to employ a reward based system for their pollinators as well as evolving their shape to be more ergonomic to particular pollinators while less so to those not suited. It's interesting to note than some bird species (especially humming and sunbirds) have found ways to cheat the system and sometime don't even venture into the flower to draw nectar, but pierce a small beak sized hole at the base of the flower and suck out the nectar (as you can see in the next picture). It saves the bird time and energy, but it robs the flower of cross pollination. Birdie = 1 ; Flower = 0

I've been fortunate to take some shots of birds that are extremely stubborn and elusive through the years, but out of every 20 photos, there might be one or two that I like. Needless to say I have a lot of photos that I need to purge so this is one of my goals for this year: sorting through my photos and deleting the shots that don't make the cut. I definitely still consider myself an amateur but I've looked through and compared photos I got a better camera and did a photography course and there is improvement. Admittedly I am itching to get my camera gear out again. 

This Longclaw really gave me the run around, but I managed to snap an ok shot of it before it was on its way. They are in the same family as Larks and Pipits, two of the most difficult families for me to differentiate between as they are almost all brown, with few defining characteristics,  extremely well camouflaged and flighty little blighters too. 

Mousebirds, you simply cannot ignore these clowns. I personally just love watching these birds as their circus trapeze antics are rather amuzing. I  like the effect I captured in this photo even though there is that annoying purple fringe and the lighting is coming from completely the wrong direction - sometimes to have to make do with what you are presented with. 

And of course I had to include South Africa's national flower, the Protea. These are pretty amazing plants which host almost entire ecosystems of bugs when they open as well as providing nectar for bees, beetles, sunbirds, their seeds are also eaten by mice. I am yet to meet a protea that I didn't like. 

And to end off, this is probably one of my better photos of a bird to date. These little dabchicks are particularly small water birds (about the size of an outstreched hand. I call them bobbing apple birds as they dive and spring to the surface again after some time, keeping you in suspense and often far from where they went under. The parents sometimes carry their chicks on their backs, occasionally popping up their little heads. Now that would be a photo I would love to capture. 

I am hoping that the lockdowns will end soon and that we can all get a little bit of healing and recuperation time soon. Everyone is still bravely facing each day and the challenges inherent with determination. I know that a lot of us are very tired. My wish for you all is that if you are feeling tired, that you find something that feeds your soul.

Have a good rest and then keep on trucking.