Delana built this house in 2001 & lived here for many years. However, when she met me nearly seven years ago, things began to change, as we went travelling the world, sometimes for months at a time. We used the house less & less. Delana then decided to rent out the house & for us to use the one bedroomed flat, attached to the house. This worked fine for five years, as we used the flat as a base & to store our off-road caravan. However, we probably only spent two to three weeks here during an entire year.
Things changed in December 2025, when the tenants gave us notice that they were leaving, as a change in circumstances meant that they could no longer afford this house. So, we arrive here in early January this year. It made sense for us to be based here, at least for the next few weeks. I needed to be close to hospitals for scans etc. I will find out soon if I qualify for liver surgery, as I have two large mestatices on my liver. The surgery will remove these tumours, but it is major surgery & I will be largely off my feet for a minimum of six weeks. Then it will take several months to get back to a kind of normality. So it makes sense to be here, at least for the next couple of months.
Spartanly furnished at the moment.
However, we are kind of indoor camping, as we sold off most of the furniture for this house when the tenants moved in. But it is not too bad. I will probably be sat in the garden for long periods over the coming months, so I thought it made sense to post a blog about the birds & animals which visit us on a regular basis.
We arrived back from our little Waterberg trip on the 10th February, ready for me to go into hospital on 11th February. I was admitted at 9 am & to my surprise they said they were going to operate in three hours time. This is highly unusual, as one normally waits for many hours.
Videos taken on 12th February
Video taken on 13th February.
Video taken on 14th February
After three nights in ICU I was moved to a normal ward on 14th February. It is always good to get out of ICU as soon as possible, as it is pretty intense in there & incredibly noisy. Very hard to get any sleep, a combination of high nurse/doctor activity; constant beeping of the machines & been woken up every one & half hours by nurses taking blood pressure etc.
Tom is on the right.
Female Nyala at the pool.
Common Duiker
Crested Francolin
The commonest Francolin species in the garden.
European Bee-eater
A common summer migrant.
White-throated Robin Chat
A pair are resident in the garden
Male African Paradise Flycatcher
Spotted Flycatcher
Yellow-bellied Greenbul: an unusual species here.
Juvenile Greater Honeyguide
An unusual & hard to see species here.
Male White-bellied Sunbird
Has decided to nest in our atrium.
Delana brought in my computer & I spent the afternoon watching rugby. England lost to Scotland! Meanwhile Tom my Scottish mate, was watching the match in a pub in Ilkley with his friends. He went home very happy!
On 15th nothing much happened, apart from me trying to move around. The pain is still quite bad, but I tried to push through it.
Me watching cricket at home!
On the morning of 16th February the surgeon came to see me & told me I could go home! This was most unexpected, as I was expecting to stay at least four nights in this ward. Delana was summoned to pick me up, but she was worried I was not ready & should be staying in hospital a little longer. It was nice to prove here wrong!
Spent 17th reading & doing my exercises. Sent the above video to Rob in Gibraltar. The next day I sat in the garden for most of it. The weather was brilliant & I tried to photograph the Red-throated Wryneck which is in the garden. One hears it all the time, but seeing it is another matter! However, a very unexpected visitor, was an immature Greater Honeyguide, which I managed to photograph. Our 420th photographed species since starting on 1st September 2025.
The 19th February was a quiet day at home, with me getting slightly more mobile. I decided to do the big reveal of my scar!
The next day was another quiet day but I am getting better! Almost no pain now, just a hell of a lot of aches! Went on my first short bird walk with Delana.
