Local nature reserve visit

We visited a local nature reserve yesterday for the first time in 8 years. I used to work at the reserve and it was lovely to see the staff members that I consider family. 

I worked there for almost about 6 years, it seems like a lifetime ago. My life revolved around that special place - I breathed, ate, slept, dreamed and lived conservation. It was before I had a family of my own and my focus was primarily on living up to some ridiculous standard of work ethic (which cost me more than I would like to admit) to meet some stupidly high expectation set by society at large. Anyway, enough about that for now. 

We took a walk along the path that I got to know like the back of my hand and it was amazing to breathe in that air again. I realized how much I had missed walking through the reserve, picking up litter and fixing pathways, cutting the grass and flattening mole heaps. It was a daily task that probably kept me sane through some of the most harrowing challenges I faced at the time as a conservation officer. 

But now, I was a visitor, seeing the reserve from a totally different perspective and with my husband and toddler. It was a strange, yet refreshing experience. 

What we found along the way

There was some new infrastructure on the reserve which provided beautiful panoramic views of the wetland and bird life. We were there quite late in the morning though, so not nearly as many bird species were around as would be early in the morning. 

Some beautiful birds were out looking for food. 

A flock of flamingoes wading. These birds are seasonal and only arrive when the water level is within their preference range. 

A Blacksmith Plover flew over - They were renamed many years ago but I still prefer this name and I no longer have to be taxonomically correct (lol) - they were named Blacksmith Plover because their call sounds like a blacksmith hitting an anvil with a hammer, a perfect descriptive name. 

Below is a Tern that we saw, often mistaken for gulls, but much prettier and very good at fishing. 

I must admit that even though both my husband and I are photographers, we have become rather rusty and the zoom lens that we have is lacking in many regards, but we make do with the tools we have. 

Coming round the path bend, we spotted these cretins. Mallards. While in the northern hemisphere these are endemic (naturally occuring) in some places, these are considered a massive threat to our local ducks as they interbreed with at least two species of our ducks and their offspring are fertile, creating hybrids. They have caused at least 7 extinctions of indigenous duck species around the world as a result. 

Of course, these ducks become easily tamed by people feeding them and they didn't seem particularly worried about our approach - until our daughter wanted to hug them hahaha...

And so down the path she ran - the ducks were basically walking and she set off at a jog, needless to say the ducks ended up in the water, and she almost did too. It was funny to watch but she was very upset that they rejected her hugs. 

She cheered up when she came across two blue bird eggs on the sand which I suspect had been the product of a crow raiding a bird nest. They were pretty fresh and whatever had found them originally probably went back for them - we left them as they were. 

We found some beautiful flowers and bugs too. 

What we didn't find

It was always one of my favorite sections to visit to look for reptiles - there were always chameleons, skinks, tortoises and lizards, especially in warmer weather. I was dismayed at finding only one species of reptile and only 3 individuals. All the other species that I had come to see regularly in that section were very apparently missing. We also only saw one frog along the path and heard none calling. Which leads me to wonder if this particular reserve has become a reptile poaching hotspot. It broke my heart to think that this area that I protected at least twice against poachers with my life at stake could have fallen through the years to practically eradication of at least 3 species. I'll be taking this up as a point of enquiry with the powers that be. 

So even with the old familiar twang of knowing how threatened these ecosystems are, it felt so good to walk that old familiar path, I felt a sense of home, like reading an old favorite book for the umpteenth time. More importantly, I was able to share the experience with my husband @RedRo and daughter, telling them old stories about the reserve and where the various creatures live, where the endangered plants are and recalling things I learned while I was there. 

Even though I'm no longer a conservation officer, I still live by the same ethics I did back then. It's only through consistent effort from each of us that we'll have these ecosystems for future generations to appreciate. I'm no longer a conservationist by career, but I'm still a conservationist at heart. 

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed" - Mahatma Gandhi

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos. Comments are always welcome. Ciao for now.