The Iconic Woodland Kingfisher. My wife's favourite bird This tiny African Pygmy-Kingfisher flew into one of our windows and stunned itself. You can see how small it is with it snuggled in my fingertips. Happily it went on its way a few minutes later A secretive but very colourful Black Crake A Brown Snake-Eagle perched in the top of a Marula Tree A Dark Chanting Goshawk. Note the bird ring on its right tarsus The Hamerkop tucking into frogs at the pan again A Steppe Buzzard down at the waters edge about to have a drink One of a pair of Three-banded Plovers frequenting one of the waterholes A Brown-hooded Kingfisher perched in the canopy
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Whilst I was sitting quietly at the hide this Common Cuckoo flew in had a few sips of water and then flew off again. I was just lucky to be at the right spot at the right time. This is my first sighting of this bird in Africa, so a lovely tick for my list. Being a first year bird with rufous colouring still visible it baffled me as to what it was as the bird books did not show juvenile plumage. I sent off the images to get a second, third and fourth opinion before finally confirming the I.D.. It is listed as an Uncommon non-breeding migrant which is silent whilst in Southern Africa. The African Cuckoo and to a lesser extent the rare vagrant Madagascar Cuckoo and the Lesser Cuckoo were all possibilities. So a nice bit of excitement this week First year Common Cuckoo On its way again
Sitting in the hide at the Waterhole this week I managed to capture these images of four Giraffe and then four Zebra drinking at the same spot. A Tower of Giraffe come down to drink at the Waterhole. There were nine in total but I could not fit them all into a single frame Followed shortly by four Zebra I also managed to get my first image of one of this years Zebra foals
Grey Heron African Jacana. A resident species highly nomadic in response to water fluctuations Little Bittern. Generally uncommon. There are 2 populations. Non-breeding Palearctic migrants present Dec - Apr, and breeding residents present all year in some localities. Natal Spurfowl. Locally common near endemic species A female Golden-tailed Woodpecker A soaring White-backed Vulture. Regarded as Vulnerable due to decreasing numbers A light brown Tawny Eagle. Regarded as Vulnerable due to decreasing numbers A dark brown form of theTawny Eagle. Note the extended crop A male Comb Duck. This image, taken in soft evening side light, highlights the feather colours nicely A Hamerkop with catch A Hamerkop carrying out some tail preening
We went on a field trip to visit the recently opened Graskop Gorge. You climb into a glass-sided lift to descend 50 metres to the forest floor in the gorge. There is a well constructed elevated wooden walkway through the forest with stunning views of the waterfall as you wander through the lush afromontane forest in the gorge A view of the glass-sided lift Trees Rule Here A view of the waterfall through the canopy Birding highlight of the day - A White-starred Robin
The other evening I came across a small flock of Little Bee-eaters that were hawking insects. They allowed me to approach close to where they were perched which enabled me to get a collection of images The world's smallest Bee-eater.
Scaly-throated Honeyguide. A mostly uncommon and overlooked resident. My first image of this species. Please excuse the somewhat OOF shot African Hawk-Eagle Lesser Masked-Weaver female Red-billed Quelea male A pair of African Black Ducks Black-collared Barbet Steppe Buzzard A pied morph Jacobin Cuckoo. Another first image of a species for me A juvenile Scarlet-chested Sunbird busy feeding. Note the still fleshy gape A Violet-backed Starling to round off the collection
After a very windy night I woke up early in the morning to go and sieve the leaves out of our swimming pool only to find a very wet and tired juvenile owl that was caught in our overflow well. I quickly rescued the bird and assessed it to see if was damaged in any way. Fortunately it was not but it was drenched to the bone and fatigued. Initially I placed it on a branch to let it recover but the continued high gusting winds proved a bit problematic. I then found a large cardboard box and a piece of dead wood as a perch and placed the owl inside the box to recover quietly out of the wind. As it was very wet I then used my wife's hairdryer to carefully dry out the feathers. This also had the added benefit of warming the owl up nicely. I then left it inside the large box until I heard it getting a bit restless which I took as a sign it had regained some of its strength and was perhaps ready to be released again. I took it outside and placed it back on a branch to see what would happen next. It fluffed up its feathers, regained its bearings and after a quick pause took off and flew a short distance before landing on the ground. It had one last look back before once again taking off and flying away, a very happy ending indeed A very drenched and bedraggled looking juvenile Spotted Eagle Owl which I had just pulled out of the swimming pool well Trying to stay perched on the branch in very high winds whilst drenched to the bone proved a bit problematic Back outside on the branch after being warmed up and dried out with the hair-dryer Portrait of a juvenile Spotted Eagle Owl All good to go once again just prior to take-off A final glance back before this magnificent Owl flew off again. A very happy ending indeed
Here is hoping that 2018 turns out to be a bumper birding year! On the road to 2018. A view of the mountain early on the 1st Janaury Female Amur Falcon. Amur Falcons fly about 22 000km from Mongolia to South Africa. This is the longest known raptor migration. Check out their story on the internet A magnificent male Comb Duck Comb Duck on take-ff A very pale, not so common form of the Steppe Buzzard. A common Palearctic migrant A transitional plumage male Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah A transitional plumage male Purple Indigobird A Lesser Striped Swallow Water Thick-knee chicks blending in with the surroundings A very happy looking Woolly-necked Stork Striped Kingfisher. A new tick to the growing Kingfisher list on Leadwood
They have released the Cheetah from the boma onto the larger property which is now her new home range. Her movements have been tracked by means of a radio collar attached around her neck. Limited access to view her is now allowed as it has been established that she has made a kill and fed, signs that she is settling in. Patrolling along the fence line getting to know the extent of her new range. Note the fitted radio collar Scanning the surrounding area Here she is very relaxed as she rests up in some deep shade. Note the extended belly indicating that she has recently had a meal A big yawn Casually checking out the nearby vehicle as I sit and watch her
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