Saturday 22nd August 2020 was a beautiful day for a walk and I was so glad I had chosen this day to take some local members of Friends of Rietvlei on a walk in the reserve. All neighbours, we only had a short walk to the reserve entrance at the end of Sandpiper Crescent and bottom of Grey Avenue. Showing our Friends of Rietvlei membership cards we were greeted by the ever cheerful gate guard.
Our walk took us past the reserve offices and the Friends Cabin then along the edges of the main dam where paddlers and power boat enthusiasts were already setting up. The water was perfect for all to enjoy, there was a stunning blue sky above plus hardly a breath of wind.
As required by the authorities when walking in public, we all adhered to the rules and wore our face masks. Several complaints were heard though as we walked due to sunglasses misting up when breathing out.
We walked on to the boardwalk to the bird hides and admired the number of birds that were making use of the plentiful water. It was only a few weeks ago that this walk would not have been possible due to the water levels being over the walkway, but even now the levels of water are impressive. With spring fast approaching all birds were busy making the most of the environment to prepare for nesting and feeding up on the abundant insects and greenery. One notable arrival at the vlei was the swallows which had only a couple of weeks ago been enjoying life in Europe.
With all the recent rains the foliage in the reserve is in fantastic shape and flowers are beginning to appear everwhere you look. As always at this time of the year the Arum Lily is in full bloom and made a great background to the edges of the paths.
We were only out for a very short walk but it was a great way to start a Saturday and everyone said how they enjoyed it. A big thank you to Hein Von Baden for joining the group and who has shared some of his photos for this post. You can see more of his work on https://hein854.wixsite.com/vonbadenphotography.
