This is too weird for words…Do they read road signs?…

Where in the world would one drive down a road to encounter this site outside their car window?

“Sighting of the Day in the Bush”

We didn’t realize we hadn’t cut this piece of lettuce into smaller bites for Ms. Bushbuck.  When we saw her tackling this big piece, we couldn’t help but laugh.  She managed it eat the entire big leaf.

After finding the ostrich chicks and mom and dad on Volstruis Street on July 6th (see that post here) based on a text Louise sent us after she’d spotted the family, we couldn’t help. Still, we were amazed that they were hanging around this particular street that translates to “ostrich” in the Afrikaans language.  

At that point, we thought it was a fluke that ostriches would be grazing on a street that means “ostrich.” But, that fluke didn’t keep us from returning to that street several times in the past month in an attempt to see the family again.
First, we spotted mom and dad hanging out near this building.  Moments later, we saw the seven chicks.

On Friday afternoon, before our usual drive along the Crocodile River to see what we could discover, we decided to drive down Vostruis Street to see if we could find the ostrich family.  

Alas, after heading down Volstruis in one direction and then another, we saw them, the mom, the dad, and the seven chicks who’d easily doubled in size over the past month.  

We were thrilled to see all seven had survived this past month.

“How peculiar!” we both commented in unison. Do these fantastic oversized birds read road signs? How is it they so happened to spend a good portion of their time on a street, meaning ostrich?

Then, we wondered if perhaps before the street was named, it was indeed a haven for ostriches prompting the naming of the street some 40 years ago. Who knows?  If any Marlothians out there have an answer, please let us know. It’s quite curious.

Even more peculiarly is the fact that when a lion was sighted within the confines of Marloth Park a few months ago, it was first seen on Leeu Road, which translates to “lion” in Afrikaans.  

We didn’t have an opportunity to take a photo of all seven chicks together.

We’d shared a post, found here, regarding the lion sighting mentioning the fact it was first seen on Leeu Road, not realizing at the time that “lieu” translates to “lion” in Afrikaans. 

Last Sunday, when we spotted the lions across the river at the “Two Trees” overlook, I saw a young boy, pointing across the river shouting, “leeu.” At that point, it dawned on me the peculiar fact that the lion appeared on Leeu Street, which we wrote about on June 23rd, as indicated in the above link.

The chicks, most likely a few months old, are on their own in foraging for food. The parents do not feed them once they’re out of the nest. They emulate the parents pecking behavior and begin foraging at a young age.

Surely, these sightings on these two roads must be entirely coincidental unless one has some mystical beliefs regarding this magical place. Neither lions nor ostriches read road signs, as far as we know.

Regardless of what any of this may or may not mean, we were thrilled to see once again this family of seven chicks and their diligent mom and dad watching out for their safety.

Dad kept a watchful eye on the chicks when they wandered off.

There’s little information online as to the raising of ostrich chicks. We can only surmise how the young chicks are raised by their diligent and cautious parents through our observation.

It is clear that the female watches for predators and the male watching the chicks so that they don’t wander off far from view. We’ve observed this on several occasions, and it is further indicated in the above photo.

At specific points, the chicks say close to one another as they search for food.
Never for a moment do we fail to appreciate the gift of being privy to the cycle of life here in the bush. And, over the next many months until we depart in February, more and more offspring of these amazing animals will be born, allowing us to cherish further the remarkable ability most animals possess in caring for their young.
Dad lets them know to stay close.

Today, we’ll embark on yet another drive. It’s overcast and still a bit windy and, due to increased tourist activity over the weekend, we’ve had few visitors since Friday other than a few warthogs and mom and baby bushbucks. All of them we thoroughly enjoy, as shown above in the “Sighting of the Day in the Bush” photo which we took last night slightly before dusk.

Have a pleasant balance of the weekend, wherever you may be!

Photo from one year ago today, August 5, 2017:

There was a cafe at the front of the Supermercado Coopeatenas, where we grocery shopped, often busy with ex-pats. For more photos of Atenas, Costa Rica, please click here.

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