Category: Fieldguide

Cape Turtle Dove

Date spotted: 03 January 2012

Place first seen: Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Bird

Sweet-looking little doves that are all over the garden here and eat the dogs’ food.

Red Bishop Bird

Date spotted: 03 January 2012

Place first seen: Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Bird

Fiery red. Small and cute. Looks naughty.

Crowned Guinea Fowl

Date spotted: 03 January 2012

Place first seen: On road to Muizenberg, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Bird

Funny hat on head. Not too smart. They run on the road ahead of the car and don’t realize they can just escape by running to the side. Eat anything (seeds, insects, worms, flowers, snails…)

Grasshopper

Date spotted: 02 January 2012

Place first seen: Abbotsleigh Rd., Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Insect

Compound eyes. Eats living plants. Female lays eggs in soil in egg case using her ovipositor (which is at the end of her abdomen). Babies hatch 1 month later. Locusts are a kind of grasshopper.

Rose Beetle

Date spotted: 02 February 2012

Place first seen: Abottsleigh Rr., Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Insect

Dark ones (bronze or black) are nocturnal (awake at night). Light ones (brightly coloured) are diurnal (awake during the day). Can badly damage cultivated plants. Have been known to crawl into an adults ear and not be able to get out. The person needs to go to a doctor to get it removed.

Egyptian Goose

Date spotted: 01 January 2012

Place first seen: Muizenberg, South Africa

Tag: Bird

Seen near the road on the way back from Muizenberg.

Seal, Cape

Date spotted: 01 Jan 2012

Place first seen: Simon's Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Tag: Mammal

Spotted by Lisa just behind a sea kayak in the swell near Simonstown. We thought it was a shark since there are a lot of sharks along this section of the coast. Shark spotters sit on the hills above all the beaches.