Preparing the earth in the Cape for winter's pending arrival.
No mountains could be seen in the picture above, and it would be amiss of me not to report the chilling and wet cold fronts that struck us this past weekend.
The first cold front landed on Friday, and the second landed on Sunday, leading into Monday. Severe flooding, and storm damages were the result, with trees blown over some roads, and water rising halfway up the walls of houses in the floods. Snow in April? Indeed, as the mountain peaks further away inland were covered with snow. Unheard of, as our winter only starts in June. The weather man reckons that an El Nino system was in place, and as we are situated next to the wild Atlantic Ocean, we are the first to be struck by the cold front storms. After it lands here, it moves up into the north of the country, and it is icy cold.
I will show three shots of the conditions and then let's have a look at how the small wildlife manage in the storms.
Not a pleasant sight early morning on the roads, with almost zero visibility. And the streetlamps did not help very much in the conditions.
This is what it looked like later in the day.
During a break in the rain the little critters rush around for food.
The little doves that eat here every day know where to find food, and it was so cold that this little one kept its wings tightly wrapped around its body.
Amazingly, the rain was not constant, and as big pregnant storm clouds filled with rain came over the little ones scattered into their hiding places.
This little sunbird below was trying to catch some bugs during a break in the rain.
Shame, she actually sat on the ground outside our study window, but I didn't see her catching any bugs. It is a little female Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus).
Now here is something else. The squirrels came in to feed and the wife put their nuts down separately in order for them not to fight. One at the bottom, one up on the wall, and the other one at the front.
Did I tell you that it was wet? And if not, here is evidence of the conditions. Shame, she was full of mud.
This little one below was also fed separately under a bush and look how she uses her tail as an umbrella.
Like I said above, the rain had many little breaks in-between, and its conditions that we are not used to, as the rain seems heavier when it falls. I keep a close eye on the dam levels, but it seems that even after the two cold fronts the levels are still not rising. One of those heavy clouds can fill a dam within 30 minutes, but they just don't seem to travel over the rainfall catchment areas. Meanwhile, headline news is full about the storm damages, and thankfully no life has been lost yet, but many have once again lost their houses.
The emergency teams work night and day, and they have a real fight on their hands. Another thing that I don't understand, is that many drivers don't take care in the rain, as there are constant accidents on the roads. During rainstorms it is advisable to practice extra care, and many accidents are caused by negligence or driver error. The weather has become unpredictable, and the new conditions are the talk of the town. One can imagine being used to steady rain patterns, but now everything seems to have been turned on its head. We know that it is also happening in other countries, and our message is to take care in weather like this.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Until next time, cheers!