Art in the bush

It all started with a few chairs left outside that looked like a deliberate installation.

Then, the installation idea grew on us to include stretchers...

... and fully fledged works.

This one is a "cloth on cloth" work by Ghanaian visual artist Tei Huagie.

A golf course at Baboonland?

You would think so. But you would be wrong.

These are mushrooms. Perfect, spherical, mushrooms.

These ones are more "conventional" in shape, but come as a surprise too, because of their colour which makes them almost invisible until you've almost stepped on them.

Wonderful nature...

Did you say dull?

Whoever said (or thought) that living in the bush is dull should give it a second look. Really.

After publishing pictures of yellow, then blue, birds, I'm completing the primary colours series with red.

It took me about 2 weeks to have a camera handy when these beautiful little creatures came to grace my property (usually early in the morning, at breakfast), and another two days to get decent pictures.

But my patience and persistence were rewarded with what I think is both the male (colourful) and the female (yellowish/greenish brown with a black tipped red tail) of the species.

Again, I'll need help to identify them, and will add the name when I have it.

I'm still undecided. It may be a bar-breasted firefinch (Lagonosticta rufopicta, Amarante pointé) like the ones I saw when I was living in town (http://ghana-outdoors.blogspot.com/2008/12/red-throated-visitor.html), but it may also be any of the other reddish Lagonosticta varieties. Maybe they'll oblige tomorrow or later and allow me to see them up close. In the meantime, I'll go with probabilities and say it is the same as those I identified a few years ago.

Almost a month later... I'm still undecided, and haven't seen the "bar" on the breast, so I'd lean towards an African Firefinch / Lagonosticta rubricata / Amarante foncé. But... it doesn't have a blue bill, which is said to be characteristic. But then again, not all the African Firefinches I've seen on the Internet did. So... Let's keep trying to get a better sighting.

Astonishingly blue bird...

I've seen this bird before around the places where I lived pre-Baboonland, but I'd never been able to take pictures of it. The metallic blue-green feathers are quite extraordinary!

A couple of days ago, we were visited by two of these outstanding animals:

The yellow inquisitive eye is almost a bit unsettling... And here the beast seems almost menacing!

I'll ask for help identifying this extraordinary bird and will add the information as soon as I get it. (my connection is quite slow and whimsical, so I need friends to do research for me at times. Living in the bush is not 100% perfect, but what is, in our world?)

After consulting a knowledgeable friend and a few online resources, I've come to the conclusion that it is probably a Greater Blue-eared Starling / Lamprotornis chalybaeus / Choucador à oreillons bleus.

Another source, much closer to home since it was birding notes from scholars (?) visiting Shai Hills Nature Reserve a stone throw from our place, identify this as a Purple (glossy) Starling / Lamprotornis purpureus / Choucador pourpré.

I tend to be willing to agree with them. 30/05/2014: After checking with my new bedside book (Les Oiseaux de l'Ouest Africain, Delachaux & Niestlé), I think I can confidently confirm it's indeed a Purple glossy starling / Lamprotornis purpureus / Merle métallique pourpré.

Birds of a feather...

These cattle companions apparently also enjoy the company of their own...

Oddly enough, there is no cattle around, yet they've been on this meadow for the last 50 minutes or so. Maybe just enjoying a little sun on a Sunday afternoon after the rain...

Tiny (again)

These smell heavenly!

It's always a pleasure to (re)discover nature's wonders with a little one. Like these leaves retracting like shy maiden girls when touched. I think the scientific name is Mimosa pudica.

And the pompom-like flower is beautiful too!

I can't get tired of all this beauty.

After the rain

The pond, this morning around 5.45am.

More (much more) rain today. Hopefully I'll be able to access it tomorrow to check on the water level.