Then two weeks ago, I was unlucky and crashed my motorbike one evening on the way to check the borehole. Since then I've been bed bound and unable to reach any internet connection. Now slowly I'm regaining movement and soon hope to be out chasing butterflies once again. Conditions are just perfect at the moment and according to my friend, who is staying with me, many fresh specimens of various species have hatched this last week. It's been trying I must say, just to be able to spot a few flitting past my bedroom door with the aid of binoculars.
For a large portion of the year I migrate from UK, south to where the weather is more conductive to pass my time. For most of my adult life I've done this - spending the European winter in various countries around the world with the main stints in Australia, India and South Africa...
I'm fortunate enough that my grandfather, when he was young, had enough of city life and decided to break out into the bush and live a more wild existence. He had recently married my grandmother and together they bought land deep in the bush of Limpopo province in the northern part of South Africa. It was hard beginnings and to get a government loan they needed to find permanent water. So they camped in a canvas tent under a large marula tree at the head of an enchanted and magical valley and started digging a well. It was wild then and still is now. But then communications were non existent so time had a different meaning. For three months my grandmother hardly left the tent due to fear of the unknown. But gradually she grew accustomed to their new environment and eventually fell in love with her new surroundings.
After months or digging and dynamiting my grandfather struck water, a loan was secured, and they were able to make a permanent life on the land.
That was eighty years ago - they have both gone now and I've been lucky enough ( along with my cousin) to take over what they started all those years ago.
In the early years the only way to make money in this area was to farm cattle and this carried on until around ten years ago when due to health reasons my uncle decided to sell the cows and focus in on hunting during the winter months. We have mainly local people who come once a year to shoot and stock their freezers for the rest of the year. This hunting takes very little time of the year and so the rest is left open to maintenance of roads, the water network and a thousand other jobs which always need doing - oh and of course the study of nature and in particular the butterflies.
The farm is situated in what's called the bushveld, about four hours to the north west of Johannesburg. A chain of low mountains run through the area, of volcanic origin and so perhaps 75 per cent of the land is inaccessible unless one is prepared to walk. Many different habitats are present, from grasslands to heavily wooded areas, damp valleys and lush spots where after heavy rain springs issue forth. The farm is actually called buffalo springs, named after the particularly strong spring that rises from the top of a hanging valley to tumble down a cliff to the lower areas below.
Apart from the cattle which were kept here, the bush has seen almost no interference by man. Of course people have lived in this area for eternity but their actions have only but touched the nature.
Around my house a troop of vervet monkeys live and above in the valley where the track passes to reach my place, a couple of troops of chacma baboons spend the nights. Nightly, leopards walk past the house along with a host of smaller mammals including brown hyenas, honey badgers, porcupines, civets, Genet's and aardvarks. During the day antelope of various species can be seen including impala, kudu, wildebeest, zebra, giraffes, mountain reedbuck and a host of other species. Sitting quietly by the house it's often possible to see up to forty or fifty antelope of different species grazing on the lush grass in my garden ( I have no fence at the moment so the bush runs up to the house).
Bird life is rich with six eagle species present and many small raptors/owls and hundreds of other birds from hornbills, lilac breasted rollers to tiny fire finches and waxbills. It's actually a bird watchers paradise and I'm yet to get to grips with all the birds. The area, again because of the topography, is rich in tree and plant species. Trees we have a comprehensive list but of complete flora, not yet.
Which then leads to the Insects and specifically the butterflies. I've spent most of my life looking at the insects - not truly seriously - but avidly and still daily I see new species. The variety seems endless and it's extremely easy to fall down a rabbit hole if something in particular catches one's eye.
From about the age of ten I started looking at the butterflies with my father, and since then have had a life long fascination with these incredible flying gems. I feel lucky and privileged to have this area of the planet to study at my free will when the fancy takes me. Until now I never truly got down to the job ( I was busy fishing and travelling), but for the last two seasons I've been making a concerted effort and got much deeper into the subject - still I'm only scratching the surface but at the moment I'm working on a comprehensive list of the butterfly species which occur here.
I'd like to keep a records of this here and will try over the next week's and months to share some of the discoveries I've made with the readers of UK butterflies.
I can't promise updates will be too regular because I also have a lot of other work to do ( house renovation/ garden work) and I also don't have direct access to the internet. But when I have time I'll share photos and the discoveries I've made.
Regards, Scott
