An early outing...

...to see how the summer sun dried up the water in a lake.

There is always something unexpected that pops up here, and this time round it occurred again.

But first I will show you two shots of the morning moon, and then the other views.

This lake stretches out about 40 hectares, and it dries out every summer season in the African sun. Very shallow, and all kinds of water birds come in after the lake is filled by our winter rains. Spring season is important as it is the breeding season and many birds, including the Flamingos, come in to feed and breed here. Trouble here this time is that I have to walk very slowly in order to avoid my legs cramping up and so it was a fairly tough job to get to a hidden pool that we discovered last season. But we made it, and you will see the pool later in the post.

This below is what the moon looked like when we left our home.

I found a dwarf chameleon sitting on the reeds the last time that we walked on this foot path. Sadly, nothing this time round.

Things opened up dramatically when one emerges from the reeds.

Just a closer shot of the mountains in the distance.

And now we walked on the dry lake towards a pool hidden in the reeds at the left hand of the picture.

Stealthily we crept up to the pool trying our best to stay unobtrusive, and we saw that Sacred Ibis in the pool.

But then a blacksmith lapwing appeared at the right of the Ibis. All of it would be okay, but then the blacksmith started sounding the alarm.

Now, imagine the shock that you get when the reeds rustle and a heap of birds hidden in the reeds suddenly and loudly take off right next to you.

I don't know what kind of birds they were, but yeah, they were not very happy with us:)

So yes, we love the thrills that we encounter on these outings, as one can never know what to expect. There was a narrow strip of water left at the opposite side of the lake, with some birds in it, but it was too far away for us to get to it. We did however find some Springbok buck tracks in the mud and also horse tracks. I don't suppose that you will want to see what the bucks poop looks like:)

My worry is that I will soon not be able to do posts every day anymore, as I have some serious medical issues, but I will try my best to at least do some posts every week. Things are not easy here, but I am not complaining, as age is getting to me with its revenge for the mistreatment of my body in my younger years. So, if I may give you some advice, please be very careful in the way that you treat your body, as if you don't, then you will pay a painful price for it in your later years.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith-All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

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