A rare sight - Oyster catcher

The African black oystercatcher can often be seen in the Cape St Francis area. This is really special, because sadly these birds are in danger of extinction, as their habitat is increasingly being threatened by man.

There are apparently less than 5 000 birds left in the world and it is the only oystercatcher that breeds in Africa.

Oyster catchers mate for life and may live for 35 years. The name is a misnomer, as the birds eat limpets and mussels and not oysters. They do not breed until they are three years old.

A perfect landing

A sea gull coming in to land at the Port

food!

And here is the reason for all the animal activity shown in the past few posts.... a knot of fish swirling around, fighting over some bits of fish thrown off a fishing boat as it tied up at the jetty. The fish came for the scraps, the cormorant and seal came for the fish, and we came for the photographs!

on the same day......

Yesterday we mentioned that on the day that photo was taken, there were other interesting creatures keeping the moth company in the yacht basin of the Port. The water is usually a murky green but on this particular day, it was clearer, and because the sky was brilliant blue, it was reflecting a wondeful turquoise colour. The resident seal was having a ball gliding about amongst the yachts.

Friendly Mongoose

Not quite St Francis.... on our way here today we stopped off in nearby Jeffreys Bay, and went to the world famous Supertubes Beach (home of the perfect wave as far as surfers are concerned!)

In the carpark we came across these two friendly mongooses..... mongi..... mongeese... we saw a mongoose, and then we saw another mongoose! They were surprisingly friendly and willing to pose, usually they are shy creatures and you get brief glimpses of them streaking into the bush.

Happy Easter everyone.

How's this for wall art?!

This was another possible contender for this month's theme day.... This is the side wall of the Adjubatus marine rehabilitation centre where we showed you the King Penguin recently. Clever way to draw attention away from a really ugly building, and educate visitors at the same time!

A different kind of road....

Since we are talking about roads on the PE blog today, I thought it would be an idea to do the same here. This sign is on the road to the Seal Point Lighthouse. The R5 coin is about 30mm in diameter. The "Kimberley se gat" is a colloquial reference to the great hole of Kimberley, an enormous abandoned diamond mine.

What they fail to mention is certain other less cute creatures that can be found there, like this mean looking Puffadder! Most snakes will get out of your way if they hear you coming, but Puffadders are lazy and would rather wait till you are close enough to bite, so you have to be very alert when walking through the bush, and particularly in dead leaves, where they are very hard to spot.

Ajubatus Marine Wildlife Rescue

Jackass penguins at feeding time. As you can see from the wall behind them, they are much smaller than the king Penguin. (taken through sea spray covered glass, so a bit blurry)

Yesterday we showed you the King Penguin that ended up at St Francis. Isadora asked a very good question, 'Does this happen often? The reason I ask is that there is a Penguin rehabilitation center ready to help! I was surprised.'

So I am answering it with today's post. No Isadora, it is extremely rare to see a King Penguin in Africa. Ajubatus was created to rescue marine and wildlife in the St Francis area. They do a lot of work with the local Jackass penguins, which have become a vulnerable species, as well as seals and many other species too. So the king penguin was just really lucky that he got stranded where and when he did!

Here yours truly enjoys a cup of coffee and a view of the lighthouse. The penguin centre is the building between the coffee shop and the lighthouse, with the green wall.

They now have a base at the Cape St Francis Lighthouse, and raise funds by running a coffee and curio shop next door, and giving lighthouse tours.

I wanted to find out what became of the stray visitor so I phoned Jared of Ajubatus this morning for an update.... I also found a much nicer picture that Max took, as well of one of him when he first got there looking all bedraggled. You can read about it and see the extra pix here.

I also found a very interesting post giving details of his capture and rehabilitation here.

a rare visitor to these shores...

This King Penguin got seriously lost last year, he is supposed to live in Antarctica, but somehow ended up on our shores! He was in bad condition, but the good guys at the Ajubatus Penguin Rehabilitation Centre at Seal Point cared for him. The plan was for him to stay there until the next ship goes to Antarctica and he can hitch a lift home! Being accustomed to somewhat cooler conditions, the staff had to keep hosing him down because he couldn't handle the heat (even in our winter.) Unfortunately he was rather aloof so all we got was a cold shoulder!

Resident Seal

There is a Cape fur seal who is a permanent resident of the harbour. She is blind, and relies on handouts of fish from the fishing boats. She is quite entertaining as she wallows around waiting for breakfast.

It's For the Birds!

On the top of the hill overlooking St Francis Bay is a group of large Pine trees. These have become the nesting grounds for a large family of Egrets and Herons. The birds congregate there each day at sundown, and the jockying for position as they settle in for the night is great fun to watch!