My Vibrational Voice: A day in the Veld

Recently a gift has been given me from my brother that my Mum and Step Dad bought over 25 years ago, a week (out of season) at Dikhololo which is a game park in the North West Province. We took a drive out there today to sign the transfer papers. I am wild about nature in general, the bird life, especially has a very special place in my heart. Though all of Gods gifts to walk with man are overwhelmingly special .... here are a few little friends that popped in to make my day!

A crested Barbet found some apple in the tree and trilled at the sight of it .... as I am sure he was thrilled by it too .....

View from one of the chalets - we visited some friends there on a weeks break-away.

A little Morning Dove - the birds are very tame - having little fear of the visitors.

The lush veld after the ample rains this season.

Some "fineagowl" as I sometimes refer to them : Helmeted guinea fowl ... a whole troop waltzed in and waltzed out in the space of 2 minutes .....

Then a lonely Grey Lourie popped in for a feed ..... did not ask us to "go-away" ......

Kobus, drew our attention to this dear lady drifting in the breeze, after I mentioned how wonderful it would be to take a blanket and take a siesta under a tree ......

As I found out she is known as a Argiope (garden spiders)

Life Eukaryotes Opisthokonta Metazoa (animals) Bilateria Ecdysozoa Panarthropoda Tritocerebra Arthropoda Arachnomorpha Cheliceriformes Chelicerata Euchelicerata Arachnida Araneae Araneomorpha Family: Araneidae

Argiope is one of the most familiar genera of orb web spiders. Being diurnal, garden spiders are colourfully marked, the carapace silver and the legs banded. The aposematic (warning) yellow and black coloration of the abdomen remind birds that they are unpalatable.

The Argiope web normally has two zig-zag bands of silk radiating outwards from the hub (center) to the bottom corners of the web. There may be four of these bands in some species while some juveniles may construct a spiral. These are called stabilimenta and serve various functions; stabilize and strengthen the web, make the web visible perhaps serving as a decoy for birds, or also to reflect ultraviolet light thereby deceiving and attracting insects.

The spider sits head down with its legs positioned in pairs, forming a cross with the two anterior (front) pairs resting on the stabilimenta.

"Argiope" means "silver face" with reference to the silver prosoma and may refer to a Greek mythological person.