Winter beauty on show in Melville Koppies
Make sure you have binoculars to examine the amethyst sun-bird carefully.
While we humans are hunkering down and covering ourselves up to survive winter, some plants on Melville Koppies choose winter to burst open and show their flowers.
ALSO READ: Test your fitness on Melville Koppies hills
Look carefully and you’ll notice all sorts of different-shaped flowers designed to entice different pollinators. Some flowers are tubular shaped like the wild dagga and aloe.
They attract the amethyst and white-bellied sunbirds that constantly chatter on the Koppies at this time of year. Make sure you have binoculars to examine the amethyst sun-bird carefully.
From afar it looks pitch black, but zoom in and its head is topped by a sparkly dusting of emerald-green while its throat gives away the reason for its name – purple sparkles glint in the sun.
Other flowers have a massive head of flowers that exude a sweet scent.
There you’ll find bees buzzing and dancing across the minute individual flowers, inadvertently picking up pollen that they carry with them to pollinate others.
ALSO READ: Melville Koppies – 41 days of lockdown notes
And then there are the stinky flowers, there you’ll see flies of all sizes devouring the nectar. Others have no scent that humans can smell but their bright colours attract beetles, bees and butterflies.
Book a guided tour on a Sunday morning by calling 079 532 0083 or be there by 08:30.
Alternatively, do the self-guided heritage trail which gives some of the historical facts about Melville Koppies.
Test fitness levels on the 5km self-guided trail or take a map and wander along the many different paths that criss-cross the Koppies.
ALSO READ: Melville Koppies offers season tickets
Melville Koppies is open between 08:00 and 11:30 every Sunday. Entry fees are R80 for adults and R40 for children.
Security on the Koppies is provided and visitors can park in secure parking opposite the entrance at Marks Park in Judith Road, Emmarentia.
For more information, contact wendavid@mweb.co.za or call 079 532 0083.
Also follow us on:
