I returned to where I had previously seen the African Barred Owlet. To my delight there were now a pair of them perched in the tree. Perhaps they have a nest nearby. I came across two Woolly-necked Storks, They are listed as Near-threatened in S.A. Both resident and migrant populations occur in the region I got a fleeting glance of this Lizard Buzzard as it unsuccessfully tried to catch a lizard that was on the tree trunk. Note the diagnostic black throat stripe I observed what I at first thought was a circling Vulture. It then turned out to be an African Hawk-Eagle. These are my first ever images of this raptor African Hawk-Eagle As I was sitting on our deck I saw a few pigeons fly into one of the Fig Trees in the riverbed below. Much to my delight they turned out to be an African Green-Pigeons. Hopefully I will get to see many more of them over the summer as they come to feed A lovely image of a Male African Grey Hornbill perched in the upper branches of a Knob Thorn Acacia. The female has a red tip to the bill with the rest of the upper mandible being pale yellow And for comparison a Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill feeding on the ground
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Here is a collection of Vervet Monkey images I have captured whilst sitting waiting for birds to put in an appearance. I have displayed a couple of them previously but they belong in this collection. I challenge viewers to come up with some suitable captions to add to these shots of the troop as they go about their daily routine at the waterhole
A couple of hours of viewing at the waterholes the other day produced an interesting selection of species A pair of Egyptian Geese One of two Blacksmith Lapwings on show A lone Three-banded Plover feeding along the waters edge This Grey Go-away-bird came down for a quick drink A single Cape Glossy Starling dropped by for a bath This pair of Namagua Doves spent some time feeding near the waters edge. The male bird is seen here Female Namaqua Dove There was a steady procession of Emerald-spotted Wood-Doves all afternoon flying in to drink A lone Wood Sandpiper arrived and busied itself feeding A caught a fleeting glance of this Long-tailed Paradise Whydah male in transition plumage when it appeared The local Hamerkop was on patrol
My neighbour alerted me to the fact that he had spotted a pair of Ayre's Hawk-Eagles in the riverbed below our house. I quickly drove down to see if I could connect with the birds which are listed as Near-threatened and would have been a great tick for my list. Unfortuneatly I dipped on the Eagles but was compensated with a few other good sightings African-Barred Owlet African Barred Owlet. The barred chest differentiates it from the similar looking Pearl-spotted Owlet A Brown-hooded Kingfisher female as told by the brown back and wing coverts. In the male these are black A very striking Black-headed Oriole
White Rhino. Note the horns that had been cut as an anti-poaching measure which have partially regrown For comparison a Black Rhino with a fully grown set of horns. This image was taken earlier in the year at Mjejane An Nyala male with a good set of horns Nyala female Kudu Bull Kudu cow
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April 2024
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