Life is a journey. Travel safely. Eat Well. Take a camera.
A trip down some of the highways and byways of a journey through life, with an enjoyment of good Food and normally with a camera in hand.
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Hunting a Grey Heron at the Lake
© 2013 hairy1travels.com
That grey heron at Brackley’s St James Lake! He eluded me for a long time. Indeed I still have few photos of him, though I have to admit that I spend much less time at the lake these days.
All of my efforts to take a photo had, so far, proved reasonably fruitless. The excellent weather on this particular morning seemed like a good opportunity to take the camera for a walk and track down this elusive bird.
Well, this morning’s visit proved to be a bit more productive. First off, I grabbed a shot or two of the heron, until he flew away. At which point I realised that there were in fact two of them!
The (second) grey heron parked himself on a temporary fence, put in place to protect some vegetation. He and and I sat and stared at each other for a while. He clearly was aware of me.
Eventually his need for breakfast caused him to reach into the water and grab a fish, providing me with a great shot of the bird and a reflection (at the top of the page).
Of course the time waiting for the grey heron to move was not wasted. Although I missed the landing of a flock of Canada geese, a white goose just happened to fly by.
Footnote
This is a refresh of a post originally posted on 6 August 2013. I still like the photo, but the post was looking a bit dated!
Udu Dam Acacia Trees
Udu Dam Thorn Trees
A grove of acacia thorn trees at Udu Dam in Nyanga, Zimbabwe, against the background of a granite dome. That’s a place wher I walked on a few occasions. It is beautifully cool and shady in the tropical sum. But not to be underestimated. It is, after all, the African bush. Those thorns are pretty vicious, and, on one occasion I did surprise a reasonably large Boomslang snake.
Memories
Udu Dam brings back many memories.
Alone at the dam
In 1978, towards the end of the Rhodesian war, i took a week long trip to Nyanga with a friend. At that time there was no camp at Udu. We spent a glorious morning there, just the two of us, swimming and sunbathing and having breakfast. Perhaps not the safest thing to do, but it was fun.
Udu Camp
After the war I took a trip to Udu with my Dad to survey the site for the construction of cottages. The dam is situated in the Nyanga National Park, so the Zimbabwe Parks And Wildlife Management Authority were considering building cottages there. What is now the Udu Camp.
With the family
Fast forward a few more years, with my family in tow, we had a few great Nyanga getaways, staying in the cottages. My kids loved Udu. It was always a peaceful spot, and with just a few cottages that peace was generally not spoiled.
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