Conservation

From the cameras on the mountain there recently came exciting photos of our wilderness inhabitants. The Landmark Foundation (1), devoted to biodiversity conservation in the Western Cape have set up fourteen camera stations in the Pardeberg and Voor Paardeberg. From these cameras have come, amongst other animals, pictures of leopards, a serval and a caracals.…

Despite it being only mid-August and very cold, the farm is bursting into flower. Maybe it’s the occasional hot days that has set off this miraculous display.

A short while ago one of our giant quiver trees keeled over. We are not exactly sure why, but we do know that this is not their natural habitat. They are happy in Namibia and Botswana and further north too. In fact being concerned about them some years ago we had a discussion with the…

People often say wistfully that it must be just wonderful living in this stress free peace out of the rat race. I always smile. Quite apart from the millions of things to be done on this farm, there seem to be continual environmental battles to face – for our farm and for the Paardeberg as…

The BDI (Biodiversity and Development Institute ) exists to create opportunities to do fundamental and applied biodiversity and development research, incorporating both science & humanities perspectives. Their field ranges across all mammals, insects reptiles and birds. The latter is where we have been most fortunate to intersect with BDI. This is the second year that…

A few days ago across the back of Sonkop a plume of dark red smoke emerged. We know that kind of smoke very well: it spells fire much too close for comfort. Fortunately the South Wester was blowing the fire away from both us and our neighbour at Uitvlught, but wind easily changes direction. The…

Members of CREW, an environmental organisation protecting endangered plants, braved the rugged summit of Dragonridge in search of Erica Hippurus (horse heath), a rare and endangered Erica. They miraculously found it hidden in the grass and have written up their find in inaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14198648 But they were in even more luck. While bundu bashing they…

To start with we have to say that the reserve is not named after us, but after my father and uncle Denis and Gerry Simson, and Johan’s Mother and father, Ray and Jack Simons. It is about 300 hectares in size and corresponds with the wild land of both Dragonridge and Sonkop mountains. It has…

We were delighted to receive these pics of a nesting Black Eagle and one in flight taken by Sue Goodman here on the Paardeberg. It’s not easy to catch these high flying birds on camera, but we see them often wheeling above the farm. Our latest house `Black Eagle’ is named for them because it’s…