Author: Nature on the Edge

Glorious Yellow

| Nature on the Edge
The showy Leucadendron laureolum puts on a worthy show across the mountain slopes.
The yellow flower heads show up against the green folliage.
Protea lepidocarpodendron – the handsome Black-bearded protea.
Berzelia lanuginosa – Kolkol, vleiknoppiesbos.
Oedera uniflora – prolific flowerers – their flowers stand up to the fierce winds.
Protea coronata – Green sugarbush protea
Mimetes fimbriifolius, Tree pagoda
Leucadendron laureolum in full bloom.
Glorious yellow, Leucadendron laureolum.
Prolific flowering in July.
In the early 20th C hunters had all but wiped out this species of antelope. Only seventeen survived. Thankfully conservation-minded farmers established a reserve in 1931 and fortunately their numbers increased and today they flourish.

Swathes of yellow catch the eye as the mountain slopes in the southern part of the Cape Peninsula are in full bloom with the showy Leucadendrons (the cone families of the Protea species).   Winter is a dynamic time for a number of the protea species – Blackbeards and Green sugarbush proteas also flower showing off stylish flower heads.

Red Tide

| Nature on the Edge

Pools of toxic algal bloom which sometimes occur when there is an upwelling of nutrient rich phytoplankton, turn the water an unusual  reddish brown colour.  These red tides cause depletion of oxygen in the water which is harmful to filter feeders and crustaceans.    Tons of of rock lobsters and other shellfish become casualties and the beaches fester with the die off of many of these species.

WPC:  Unusual

Roots ‘n shoots or bins ‘n boots?

| Nature on the Edge
A collage promoting natural foraging for baboons versus raiding refuse bins and car boots.

Creating applets in Photoshop is a creative way to collate a series of shots and it fits with this week’s photo challenge  “Collage”.

The message here is if we paid a little more attention to disposing rubbish responsibly, stopped littering in conservation areas and secured refuse bins carefully wildlife such as the Cape’s Chacma baboons would be less inclined to raid bins for leftover food.    Foraging in the wilds for roots and shoots is far healthier and natural food choice rather than the detritus left by humans.

The Link between Dinosaurs and Ostrich

| Nature on the Edge

Ostriches crossing a sandy corridor in a gale.

Imagine if you will Tyrannosaurus rex running through the landscape, and how compelling this scene is knowing that evidence now points to birds being the dinosaurs’ closest living relatives.  Back in 2004 scientist Mary Schweitzer at North Carolina State University made this exciting discovery when studying the soft tissue of an ancient leg bone of a T.rex. which had been dug up in a site in Montana.  Proof of the evidence came when she compared samples of the dinosaur bone with ostrich and emu bones which show near-identical features.

Since then further fossil finds are revealing more information on feathered dinosaurs and evidence to their link to the evolution of modern day birds particularly the ostrich.

WPC: Bridge