The first of two Striped Kingfisher sightings I was hoping that the other half of this pair would arrive and then I could possibly observe and capture this tasty snack being handed over. Not so lucky Jacobin Cuckoo. A fairly common breeding migrant. Brood parasite of the Dark-capped Bulbuls and the Fiscal Shrikes A male Red-backed Shrike. Another non-breeding Palearctic migrant. My first record of the season for this species A pair of Little Bee-eaters were using the fence as a perch as they hawked insects in the fading evening light
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This pair of African Hawk-Eagles have bred here successfully this year and their chick has fledged and flown the nest
Their calling alerted me to their presence. The calling and wing displays continued for some time I then understood why, they have a nest hole in the tree. I will monitor with interest Woodland Kingfisher
Yesterday I saw my first flash of bright blue as an early unmistakable Woodland Kingfisher flew into a nearby tree. They are back for the Summer! Woodland Kingfisher
Fortunately the removal of fences between properties has been ongoing for some time now to enlarge tracts of land over which the resident animals are free to move. We have one such fence on a boundary with a neighbouring Reserve. We wait patiently and with some hope that at a point in the not too distant future the landowners involved can resolve the issues that caused the installation of this fence a few years ago and will see fit to remove it once more. I apologise for the poor quality of some of the images, but include them to illustrate the point I am making. Collar on Southern fence line Mullet on the Southern boundary Mariep crossing under the Eastern fence Collar on the Southern fence line A rhino patrolling the Leopards Bend fence line from the other side A Red-crested Korhaan spent several minutes trying to find a way through. It eventually gave up and walked away Southern fence line Male Cheetah coalition on the other side of the fence in the South Eastern corner Male lions playing the waiting game in the South Western corner Southern Boundary fence line bush clearing by the Elephant Sadly this Tortoise succumbed on the trip wire Coitus interuptus on the Southern fence line From the outside looking in Another casualty on the fence line. Unfortunately this happens to Impala on a regular basis Wild Dogs have no respect for fences and successfully manage to find and dig tunnels under the wire at strategic weak points
A decision was made to try and lure the Hornbill with the leg ring closer and a plan was hatched to achieve this. A series of leg snares as used by the Vulture monitoring group to catch Vultures gathering at carcasses for ringing purposes was going to be used on this occasion. This decision was made as the cage method had not been particularly effective when used in the past. The plan was to put a decoy Hornbill in position where the bird was last observed. Taped recordings of Hornbill vocalisations would then be played which should induce the resident bird to approach and investigate. As it approaches the decoy it hopefully gets caught in one of a series of leg traps set up around the decoy. The team waiting and observing can then quickly approach and catch the bird. The ring could then be re-assessed and replaced if necessary The decoy bird, a magnificent specimen. Note the series of trap lines on the ground around the decoy A close-up image of one of the trap lines A speaker was placed near the decoy to transmit the vocalisation recordings in an attempt to lure the bird closer Vocalisations as used on the day Unfortunately the best laid plans of mice and men do not always work. After persevering for several hours it was evident that the Hornbill was not responding. We did have one Rhino Bull approach and sniff around for a while before moving off. Luckily he did not do any damage to the decoy or the speaker. It was decided that if the bird was observed again a more rapid response would be triggered to arrive and do the set up as soon as possible as their territories are large and when not on nesting duties etc birds can roam far and wide. We suspect that this is what may have occurred and that the bird had moved off and was out of earshot during our first attempt
Black-chested Snake-Eagle using the overhead pylon as a look out post Dark Chanting Goshawk Common Greenshank. A non-breeding Palearctic Summer visitor Diderick Cuckoo. A common breeding intra-African migrant. A brood parasite of Bishops, Weavers and Sparrows amongst others Wood Sandpiper, another common non-breeding Palearctic migrant
There was a concern that the leg ring of one of the Southern Ground Hornbills on the Reserve was too tight. After being alerted to this I went out and searched for the whereabouts of the bird with a view to capturing some images of the ring so that a decision could be made as to what needed to be done. Fortunately it was located and I managed to get some images of the ring for assessment by the APNR Ground-Hornbill Project I D chart as supplied by Kyle of the APNR Ground-Hornbill Project As per the ID chart this was an adult male bird Kyle has assessed the leg ring and is happy that all is in order. Ring Number G32680. This bird was hatched on the 27th October 2017 on the Thornybush Nature Reserve. He noted that it is unusual for a male to disperse at such a young age Southern Ground-Hornbill. An uncommon resident listed as Vulnerable in South Africa.
A few days ago I managed my fist ever image of a Scrub Hare. As luck would have it I came across another one last night. This one obliged by watching me for a while before turning around and moving off. I think I disturbed its evening meal of nice green grass by the looks of things. Once again the light conditions were poor as it was just before dusk and I had to ramp up my ISO setting to get any kind of image.( f 5,6, 1/500 sec, ISO 51200) Despite this I feel these are better images than my first attempt the other day Scrub Hare Scrub Hare
The Jackal reintroduction program has been a huge success. After they were released from the boma they seemed to remain in this area but subsequently have now spread out across the Reserve. Whilst quite shy in the beginning they now seem to have become more habituated. This one was seen in the area around our main dam My first image of a Scrub Hare. Even though it is slightly O.O.F I will take it Notch and Mullet quenching their thirst after a very hot day of over 40 degrees C Collar was being very responsible and socially distancing himself at the waterhole Veld condition on the 08102020 coinciding with the first rains Veld condition as of the 04112020 by way of comparison Another sunset over our hill
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