The Fiscal Shrike

I took a photo of the lovely program for the Slice of Life Exhibition. How neat the gallery looks! This show with it's mass of even-sized paintings will run until the 21st of January 2011. I hope to receive some news about my set of birds! I could have painted 5 gannets and 5 of seagulls, but am so fond of sets of four, that I filled the remaining two blocks with something different. So here is the image of my little shrike.

As you know, there are no trees here on the West C0ast, so all the small birds around here perch themselves on top of the bushes that we call "fynbos". The fiscal shrike is such a cute round little creature as he scans the world all around for insects. I have never came upon a fiscal shrike larder here, but as a child we had a barbed wire fence and my dad would call us every time he found a larder....oh my, what a grizzly experience this was for a little girl!!! But I never missed a chance to see crickets, worms and grasshoppers impaled on pieces of barbed wire, left there to dry in the breeze like our fisherman do with the snoek and bokkoms!

Do you know the Fiscal Shrike? It lives all over our country, but this little one was only a few meters from the ocean.

We are the Custodians of Nature

"Man, the Hero" is sitting on his pedestal. How big is his task to reign over the earth, yet he looks quite smug and loves to be admired! As consumers we are so totally responsible for the balance in our world. Of course we may use certain things, but how much can we safely claim for ourselves? As consumers and travellers we need the oil that is transported in huge amounts over the oceans. How can it be done more safely without spoiling our beautiful planet? We all know how a great spill can effect our birds!

We have little control over the harvesting of hundreds of thousands of seabird eggs yearly in societies where it is the main source of protein for humans. Closer to home, cats, with the blessing of their vets, insist on their favourite brands of tinned food, while at the fish factories fleets of boats are going out to trawl the oceans for the tons of fish needed to be processed as pet food for the supermarket shelves!

For tourists and photographers, visiting the gannets is a breathtaking experience, yet care must be taken while large stone buildings are erected. Busy, noisy and dusty human activities can be stressful for the birds indeed. Tourism provides the funds needed for caring and monitoring the birds, so we hope that the pros outweigh the cons when we build these bird hides! The habits of the birds can be carefully monitored from here, but sometimes selected birds will have to carry a ring with data inscribed in it. Scientists have noticed that the ringing of a gannet can put the pair off breeding for a whole season!

My big-headed little man on his pedestal! I hope he can keep the balance! (The cartoon was done in great haste and from the imagination as I had to leave the West Coast for my solo exhibition in Pretoria.) I would love to hear your thoughts on this sensitive topic.

After commenting here, I recommend a visit to the amazing miniature gannet painting done by the inimitable Tracy Hall. Now that is lovely, don't you agree?

Yzerfontein Vignette

From the highway, you go down to Yzerfontein waterfront, down, down, past the lime kilns (registered National Monuments), past the small CBD and the large 70's era houses. And there it is: one of the most beautiful stretches of water on the coast! The beach meanders on and on for many kilometers in both directions. Should you decide to walk this coastline from the harbour in the direction of Cape Town, you will see millions of birds, beaches with rocks for anglers, waves for surfers and a feast for the eyes for all. In the ocean you will notice the pretty guano encrusted little mound, aptly called Meeurots (Gull Rock), where seagulls and cormorants dry their wings after fishing. There is also a very close view of Dassen-eiland where penguins live and breed.

In this view we look back at the town. Man-made breakwater rocks are added to the large natural rocks to build a safe landing passage for returning fishing boats. Alert gulls on their cluster of rocks keep an eye on the returning yield and form a frame for the scene behind them, a composition that helped me to overcome the awkward square form of the canvas.

Bird's Eye View of Cottages

The best things in life are free, they say, and looking at seagulls are absolutely the best! We who live by the sea can only see the animals up North at great cost. Looking for the Big Five, the Little Five and the Ugly Five can cost a fortune. But lets see what we have here: these gracious white birds, day after day! I love them when the ants are out and they circle the house to catch them in midflight. I love them when heavy waves beat tiny sea creatures unconscious, and they do their daring dives into the turmoil. But the nicest time is the day after New Year, the traditional picnic day for the local people. Then these scavengers glide in lazily and low, they come from everywhere, in no haste and enjoying the scenery from up above. On that day you can lie on your back pointing the camera skywards and take hundreds of photographs. I have painted this picture as a gift some years ago. In it I show the proper 'bird's eye view' of the cottages.