African Red-eyed Bulbul

The African Red-eyed Bulbul has a conspicuous wide orange-red eye-ring. We've always had a resident pair of bulbuls in our garden. Last year I featured a pair near their nest in an old rose-bush outside the entertainment area. I'm not sure where they nested [in the garden] this year, but had the pleasure of watching a parent and juvenile in the mulberry tree (not photographed!) and also on our bird feeder. 

 I took this photo too quickly, not checking my function settings and it's a little blurry. The juvenile on the left is waiting for its parent to drop some apple into its wide-open bill! 

The juvenile's eye-ring is narrower and yellowish pink

The juvenile chews on a piece of fruit which it pecked from the apple itself

Mama/papa looks on

And also digs in! 

Both birds having their fill

On closer inspection, the juvenile is still quite fluffy

The African Red-eyed Bulbul is very common and near-endemic. Its food is mainly fruit, also nectar, insects and flower petals. It's call is distinctive - "Wake up, Gregory!"- and can be heard very early in the morning - in our garden - before sunrise.  

I'm linking to Wild Bird Wednesday here

Happy Wednesday to you all! 

All the Hedges Grandchildren

Hi everyone, I'm soooo late with my Tuesday blog post! But here it is.

John, Debbie and children arrived on Friday night en route from their home in the Drakensberg to their "other" home in Mozambique. 

Angus and Amanda and their three children came over from next door and we had a wonderful time together.

Israel and Keren-Happuch with Skabenga

The cousins played beautifully together - running races in the driveway

Skabenga just LOVED having so many children to play with! 

Bethany races ahead while several other grandchildren confer at the gate! 

Joel and Elijah were firm competitors with Abby pulling up in the rear! 

Eryn, the oldest grandchild is so good with all the children! 

Here the oldest Hedges grandchild sits with Liam, the youngest, on her lap

The one thing all the children LOVE is being taken for rides around the garden on Gran's bike! 

When Angus arrived home from work, he took over taxi-ing the kids around on my bike

Later in the garage, Granddad let Joshua (oldest grandson) start up the "BIG" bike! 

A great time was had by ALL! 

I'm linking my post to Our World Tuesday here

Rush to the city hospital

While Grant was being discharged from hospital in the city ten days ago, our three-year-old granddaughter, Abby gave everyone a big fright here in Marquard . Angus said she quite a high fever earlier that morning, but once he'd left to do a job (in Johannesburg - 350km away), Amanda managed to settle her on the lounge sofa where she fell asleep. However, she says as she returned with a cup of coffee, intending to sit near the child and keep an eye on her, Abby - who seemed to wake up momentarily -  reared up and fell back onto the pillow.  Her eyes rolled back in her head. Amanda shouted to Liesbet (the children's nanny) to fetch help - and at the same time she scooped Abby up, dashed up the long passage to the bathroom 
where she turned the cold taps onto the now blue child. 

Liesbet ran to the back fence where she saw Sello, the neighbor, Angus' colleague and who, ironically had the day off - and shouted that Abby had had a convulsion. Sello cleared the boundary fence in one leap and Amanda said as she turned around from the bathroom she saw Sello in the passage. Liesbet had given him Angus' car keys and Sello grabbed Abby, loaded her into the car (the garage leads off from the passage) and told Amanda to jump into the back with the child. 

Rina who had heard all this from our garden, said that she saw Amanda's car reverse out of the garage, and race down the street past our house. Liesbet and Francina (Amanda's house-lady) ran to our boundary fence, and both crying hysterically, told Rina, John, the gardener and my house-lady, Ericca what had happened. All three my people then burst into tears! 

While Liesbet recounted the scene to Rina and team, they heard Ballina, Sello's wife pull up in the street, and shortly behind her, Amanda's parents in their car. Rina told them that Sello had taken Amanda and Abby to the doctor's surgery and they all set off in that direction. 

Afterwards I spoke to Marianne, the doctor's receptionist who's a neighbor and good friend of mine. She said she had never seen a child in a coma caused by a fever convulsion. She told me that Sello ran into the surgery with Abby in his arms and straight to Dr Henk's rooms. Henk placed an oxygen mask over Abby's face which stabilized the child. He also gave Amanda a tranquiliser. The poor lass was in a terrible state. Henk had arranged for Amanda and her mum to ride in the ambulance with Abby. He wanted her to go to the city hospital to check her lungs - it seemed that Abby had inhaled water when Amanda dunked her under the cold tap. At the hospital the paramedic and driver remove a comatose Abby on the gurney from the ambulance  

Poor little mite...

Angus had just entered the traffic in Johannesburg when he got the call from Amanda. He turned around and drove (quickly, I think!) down the N1 National Freeway to Bloemfontein. He met up with Amanda, Celia (and Lourie who'd arrived in his car with Joel and little Liam) and Abby - now settled in a ward. 

Angus sent me photos of Abby who'd by now been settled in the hospital bed with a drip in her arm

By now we'd arrived home - Grant almost fully recovered, except for a cast on his arm. Angus and Amanda spent the weekend at the hospital with Abby. 

On Monday morning Rina and I walked over to Amanda - Angus had taken the day off - to see how Abby was. She showed me the two puncture marks in her right arm and said that she'd been to the hospital! When I asked her if she remembered going in the "bee-bah" (what our kids call an ambulance) she said: "No, I was in the hospital!" She had no recollection at all of riding in the ambulance to the city! 

Our petite little Abby on Monday after the fright she'd given everyone 

over the weekend

Abby is scheduled to have her tonsils removed next week. These little appendages had caused the high fever and ultimate convulsion. 

All's well that ends well!