Hannibal strikes again

True cannibalism - the larger ate the smaller - same species - then dragged off the empty shell on its tail to absorb the calcium at leisure.

See predator: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11209847

Part 1: The catching process.
The bird was noted high up in a tree, flew down into low shrubby growth, perched for a few seconds then flew up and got hold of a large caterpillar. After much flapping and tugging, freed the caterpillar for the shrub and flew off with it's catch.

A 2.4m long Green Mamba caught this Village Weaver then dropped the prey onto the ground below. Within 30 seconds it went down onto the ground and positioned itself to ingest the bird and once the bird was partially swallowed it pulled itself back into the undergrowth and later was seen in the tree with a lump in its body. There is a resident pair of these snakes in my garden that I see regularly. I have posted this same snake earlier this year with a Grey-headed Sparrow. Has a yellow scale above its right eye. It hunts over my bird table in the garden.

Nymph collected from water trough in garden 27 March 2020 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40874462)
22 July two more nymphs added.
20 August - nymph positions itself on the side of the container above the water line.
24 August - adult emerges. First photos 07:00.
25 August - final photos 08:30 when it had to be encouraged to leave.
26 August - second adult emerges.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57716400

I went down to my swimming spot with the aim ofremoving some branches from a tree which had fallen across the river. As I arrived I disturbed a young Fish Eagle who was sitting on this tree. Rustling in the undergrowth on the opposite bank alerted Dog and me that we were not alone and soon an otter popped up its head, sending the dog into a fit (she probably thought it was a swimming honey badger). Another otter also started popping up and down and doing a sort of long moan-growl. To my surprise the closer otter started making a bee-line for us and was probably only 3m away from the dog when I called her back. After a while they settled down so I entered the water to commence my pruning task, keeping a close eye on the nearest otter. Dog was sensibly sticking to the bank. After a few minutes I noticed the otter had moved closer, was staring at me intently and again moan-growling. Being waist-deep in water with nothing for protection but a swimming costume and a folding saw, I decided to calmly retreat and the otter immediately snaked over and claimed the territory I had just vacated. Video here:

https://youtu.be/GHbui1YX31k

A female Giant Ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) oviposits into the side of a tree.

I was honored to have this observation selected as observation of the day for June 11, 2020, and again as observation of the week (week of June 21, 2020). It is covered in this blog post: A Trip to Texas Provides a Long Sought Photographic Opportunity - Observation of the Week, 6/21/20.

Found on the underside of a branch of a Voacanga thouarsii that the beetle had, beaver-like, felled.
The beetle lays its eggs in a felled branch such as this and the larvae develop in the dead wood.

Last two photos show the cut stem of the plant and the felled branch.

Habitat = Swamp forest

See obs of the plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/45852253

Following on from my previous observation (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42458753), this was the split second before the Cape fur seal escaped the white shark's jaws... surprisingly without a scratch. Seen in the bay of Mossel Bay, a couple of hundred meters from Seal Island.

Lock-down Challenge. More to follow once a correct id has been agreed to!
A once in a life time sighting of the African Rail? Excuse the many photographs, a small selection of the thousands taken during a two-hour long sighting of two of these birds. Two of us in the hide, observation only stopped when a family, complete with bicycles, dogs and noisy children burst it.

Raríssima e pouco conhecida, essa planta parasita fungos micorrízicos. São conhecidos apenas dois indivíduos que estão depositados em uma coleção cientifica do Rio. Essa é a primeira foto na natureza dessa espécie.

Failure to launch ...

On 11 Feb 2020 I was inspecting a small clump of Virgilia for pupae (larvae previously recorded, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/33054859).

At the original site the tunnels had been colonised by Anoplolepis ants and no pupae were found. Empty tunnels and ants were noted at several other trees. When I found a single pupa I worried that it might also fall prey to the ants and removed it.

The pupa was very vigorous and appeared to be developing well - I last took pics of it on 9 March. Shortly after that no more movement was noted.

I manually exposed the moth for photographs.