The birding has been great this month with 98 species recorded. This beats my previous best July count of 85 recorded here in 2018. New ticks for my list here included a Speckled Pigeon and a Groundscraper Thrush. This brings my total on the Reserve to 205 species A portrait of a Black Stork showing off the breeding season sheen. A Red-billed Firefinch warming up in the sun A Blue Waxbill Three-banded Plover An obliging Fiery-necked Nightjar A dark form juvenile African Harrier-Hawk at the waters edge A juvenile pale form African Harrier-Hawk posted last week by way of comparison This is only my second sighting of a Lappet-faced Vulture here in three years. This uncommon resident is listed as Vulnerable. It was soaring high in a thermal overhead and I managed to get this ID image
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Here a Purple-crested Turaco visits our waterhole. Recently a family of six or seven have been coming to drink. Obviously the adult pair have managed to raise a large brood. Some Little Bee-eaters spent a few minutes hawking insects in front of the house this afternoon. A lovely splash of colour in the middle of Winter A Yellow-billed Hornbill feeding on large black ants late one afternoon A Southern White-crowned Shrike warming up in the afternoon sun This White-throated Robin-Chat was including a few Black-eyed Bulbul notes in its song The resident Striped Kingfishers are getting comfortable with my presence which is allowing for some great images A family of Retz's Helmet-Shrikes were gleaning insects in the canopy of the tree next to our deck. Here one gives me an inquisitive glance This Black-collared Barbet was enjoying feeding on the berries
I was travelling along our boundary with the neighbouring Reserve and was fortunate to come across their two male Cheetah lying up close to the fence-line. They were very relaxed and allowed me to sit with them and observe their behaviour for a good while The light male The dark male. Also note the unique face spot patterns which is another method of positively identifying individuals The light male showing that they had recently killed and fed well Before they moved away they both scent marked against this nearby tree. Note the stain on the tree trunk. I feel that they are trying to attract our female who does frequent this corner of our property from time to time The dark male also took the oppurtunity of carrying out some claw sharpening All these images were taken using my telephoto lens and I was fortunately able to zoom past the intervening electric fence The sad reality is that fences exist between certain properties for various reasons. Thankfully the trend is to drop fences and consolidate land into larger tracts to more closely resemble what would occur in the "wild". Hopefully it will not be long before this happens between these two Reserves. Note the dark male on the left with the light male behind. Some movement has attracted their attention and they were busy investigating some movement in the distance It was a cold and overcast morning and tthis was the view of our mountain on my way home
An African Hawk-Eagle soars overhead A female Collared Sunbird A male Collared Sunbird also pops in for a top up Brown-hooded Kingfisher A Bearded Scrub-Robin which refused to hop out into the sunlight Sabota Lark Our resident breeding pair of Egyptian Geese defend their territory against an intruding pair. Look carefully to see the goslings caught up underfoot
An obliging Long-billed Crombec A Brown-crowned Tchagra in warm early morning side light A pale form of a juvenile African Harrier-Hawk. Plumage variations range from pale to dark brown An adult by way of comparison. This image was posted early in June Cinnamon-breasted Bunting Golden-breasted Bunting Yellow-bellied Greenbul Red-faced Mousebird Speckled Mousebird Yellow-breasted Apalis A skulking White-browed Scrub-Robin A female African or Jameson's Firefinch tbc Red-billed Hornbill
I have had a great run on Sunbird images over the last few days. It started with a couple of visitors to the Mistletoe in our garden.(see previous post) and has progressed from there A couple of Marico Sunbirds were aerially hawking insects from a bush near the waters edge. Here is the adult male Marico Sunbird A juvenile male Marico sunbird transitioning into adult plumage was also present Within the bush there was this juvenile White-bellied Sunbird which had just caught a tiny insect A male Collared Sunbird was also in the party I later staked out a tree Aloe that was flowering and was rewarded with another male Marico Sunbird coming to top up with nectar Male Marico Sunbird
A male Comb Duck in soft evening light. Note that the comb is not so prominent outside of the breeding season and it has lost the orange-buff colouration A cryptic male Red-crested Korhaan keeps a close eye on me Portrait of a Red-billed Hornbill This hemi-parasitic plant (Mistletoe) growing on a Knobthorn tree in our garden has come into flower. I hope to be able to get a few good images of Sunbirds as they come to feed on the nectar. Later when the fruit appears I also hope to see Tinkerbirds visit as they are the main disperser species. Here a male Collared Sunbird investigates This male Scarlet-chested Sunbird also popped in but sadly did not hang around Whilst I staked out the tree a female Chinspot Batis arrived to glean insects in the canopy
Southern White-crowned Shrike Dark Chanting Goshawk Portrait of a Dark Chanting Goshawk Lanner Falcon. A Near-threatened species. Only my second image of this raptor A pair of African Spoonbills A juvenile Red-billed Oxpecker. The red bill and the yellow eye wattle are still to develop. Note the dark rump which distinguishes it from the Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Another Near-threatened species Portrait of a Purple Roller A Hamerkop feeding in the receding water level of one of the dams Striped Kingfisher The aptly named Cut-throat Finch
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April 2024
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