Diario de bluehillescape

So most of this year has been documenting Blue Hill Nature Reserve during lockdown, with a trip to the Overberg to assist Sanjo Rose with her MSc on Agulhas Long-billed Lark in August. Then I heard the flowers were 'best ever' on the West Coast, so decided to drop everything and head that way for a couple of weeks. So the next roll of photos will be associated with that journey. I was camped on some private farms between Calvinia and Niuewoudtville, birding, ringing and planting. Is planting a word? It was epic, but given I'm not a botanist, also very challenging.

The snowfall a month ago or so probably gave the soil the necessary boost to a beautiful spring. The year's rainfall is still <300mm, but the veld is looking lovely. In the last week I walked the East Road and Tatiana Trail with Eli and Charlie yesterday. It took 4 hours to do the 7km or so, with so much to see along the way. Highlights included the Malachite Longhorn Beetle and Gladiolus permeabilis.