Two agamas

Both masters of camouflage.
At top, the Tree Agama (Acanthocerus atricollis.) It is not uncommon to see this lizard peeping with his blue head from behind a tree. Only the male has a blue head, yet it is still well disguised. Presumably atricollis is a reference to a black neck.
Below is a Southern Rock Agama (Agama atra.) I found this individual on the Robberg, Plettenburg Bay. Like the Tree agama, only the adult male has a blue head.
At bottom I have put in an enlargement of the head,it doesn't really help much in picking out the Agama.
 

Selaginella and Butterflies

The fern was incidental to the butterflies. At the time I wasn't sure what the moss-like plant was. It is in fact a fern, a Selaginella (probably S. dregei.)
At top the butterfly is a female Colotis antevippe (the Red Tip.), below Cupidopsis cissus (the Common Meadow Blue.)
 

Bufo gutturalis

The guttural Toad. He lived under a slab in the garden. In our wet summer months we would often hear his his guttural croak on a cloudy evening and at night. Its call was more intermittent than than the more continuous chorus of our Raucus Toad. In the suburbs the two species often hybridize during a mating frenzy.
     

Lampyridae (Glow worm)

A glow worm (at least I think so.)
Usually the male takes on the form of a beetle with wings and elytra, the female usually as a "glow worm." I don't know if this is a larva, or a larviform female.
   

Grey Heron

Again, pushing the camera to its limits, and it performing remarkably well.
The Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), an occasional visitor to our pond, and always rather shy, leaving as soon as it felt it was being watched.
   

Moon 1st quarter

I think the dramatic pictures taken from space probe these days has taken something from the excitement of astro-photography (and in particular observational astronomy.)
Well, I was taking the camera through its paces. Here the moon just a tad before first quarter. For a "point and shoot" it performed remarkably well. The telephoto 90mm (equv 500mm) showed the craters quite nicely (the Ptomelaeus group on the terminator.) but the chromatic abberation was marked. Converting to black and white removed most of it. (For normal photos this abberation was less important; eg see next post of the Grey Heron.)
 

Asplenium rutifolium

The Carrot Fern, found frequently at Ferncliffe, and living up to its common name: resembling carrot leaves.
It may be either epiphyte or lithophyte. The oval sori are on the underside. They are mostly on the medial side of the lobe, the indusium opens on that side.
 

Lachenalia

The Cape in spring, this Lachenalia from Darling among the wild flowers. The genus is mostly endemic to the Western Cape. What a remarkable colour combination.
This plant a namesake of Werner de Lachenal, a Swiss botanist.
 

Paragomphus cognatus

I found this Common Hooktail on the banks of Kingfisher lake, NBG-KZN. The widening of the tail, and the foliations are a feature of most of the Gomphid (Clubtail) family, as well as it having no anal loop in the hindwing. Also the eyes do not meet in the middle. The anal appendages are those of a female.
 

Palystes Rain Spider

The Rain Spider would often come into our house during our wet season. Despite its large size and rather frightening appearance, it is harmless. Nevertheless our method of putting it outside was gently getting it caught up in a feather duster, then depositing it outside. During this it would rear up and raise its front legs in an aggressive stance. Once put out it would nearly always return in a day or two. The palps are amazingly large.
Its size, stance and white "mustache" are characteristic of the genus.