Spying on KZN Garden Creatures

Lockdown gifted me time to spy on garden creatures, from bugs to birds, fish to fowl, plants to pond weed. All of these serendipitous shots were caught while camera was at hand...many other critters escaped celebrity. Click on photos to enlarged.
(See pix taken before lockdown.)

Plain Tiger Butterfly
I saw the Common Brown River Snake
in the garden pond. No camera in hand that day.
(c) Snake Bite Institute.
Crab in garden pond (Common Brown Pond Crab?) 
Ditto: Crab in garden pond (Common Brown Pond Crab?) 
Sapphire Damselfly
In US this is a ladybug; in SA, a ladybird.
Orange dragonfly
Orange dragonfly
click to enlarge

Raucous Frog
Southern Black Flycatcher

Praying Mantis

Vervet monkey in garden

Neighborhood Vervet monkey troop

Neighborhood Vervet monkey troop

Hadidah Ibis
click to enlarge

Hadidah Ibis
click to enlarge

Hadidah Ibis
click to enlarge



Malachite Kingfisher. 

Shrike. Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020
Common stonechat? Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020

Common stonechat. Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020

Blacksmith lapwing. Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020

Blacksmith lapwing. Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020

Spurwinged goose? Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020

African Sacred Ibis. Seen at Karkloof Conservancy, August 6, 2020



3 views of African Hoopoe in the garden
(plucked feathers likely indicate she's been mating).

I’ve noticed, occasionally, what looks like evidence of trampling in areas of the garden pond. I’d hoped it might be otters – clawless otters and river otters frequented the pond before my mother fenced them out to fence in her dogs. I considered it might be a dog, but nah. The dogs aren’t interested in pond life. 
Today, I saw this pair of woolly necked storks foraging in the pond, trampling the pond foliage.





Brown headed kingfisher relaxing after fishing in the garden pond, October 12, 2020










Yet to be indentified critters appeared between the stream and the pond.

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