European Bee-eater

I'm always happy to add a new species to my garden bird list, so i was very happy to snap this European Bee-eater flying over the other day:


That brings my garden list to 44! I have also been hearing the very distictive call of the Red Chested Cuckoo around, but i will resist the urge to add it to the list until i actually see it :)

Rose-Ringed Parakeet

I mentioned in my garden bird list that I have seen Rose-Ringed Parakeets in the garden. These birds are not indigenous to South Africa, but there are extensive colonies of these escapees living and breeding in Johannesburg - I understand they have been present since the 1980's! I have never managed to get a good picture of one here though and usually see them flying over. Last week however I found a young bird with a badly broken wing in the Garden.


Although initially panicked the bird soon settled down on my balcony and even ate the fruit provided. I have taken the little one to FreeMe rehabilitation centre and the vet seems to think the prognosis is good ...

Ovambo Sparrowhawk in Emmarentia?

This morning while slowly waking up with a cup of coffee on my balcony I observed a medium sized raptor with a kill fly over my garden in the direction of the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens. I was beyond excited as the only raptors I have previously seen from my garden are Spotted Eagle Owls and Yellow billed Kites. Luckily I had my camera close by for a few snaps. I initially thought it might be a Gabar Goshawk but on closer inspection of the photographs it is almost certainly an Ovambo Sparrowhawk with what looks like a Red-faced mousebird in its talons. I guess this is not completely unexpected as Ovambo Sparrowhawks are regularly sighted in Golden Harvest, which is about 10km from where i stay and have occasionally been spotted in Delta Park - still it is fantastic to have these spectacular birds right on my doorstep and i will be keeping a close eye on the sky for the next few weeks. Here are the rest of the photographs:

Red-faced Mousebird

Hi have blogged previously about the Speckled Mousebirds that are ubiquitous around Johannesburg and mentioned that although Red-faced mousebirds also occur here I had not see one since returning from Dublin - so i was very excited to glimpse this guy in the Mulberry tree next door this morning:


The Speckled Mousebirds are still around too:

Wordless Wednesday - Grey Lourie Fly By

Meyer Farm - Alberton

I spent Saturday morning with Bo and Siggi from the Urban Raptor Conservation Project trying to track down a missing Verreauxs' Eagle. When we arrived early in the morning the female was hunting along the ridge above the farm, but there was unfortunately no sign of the male or youngster. Never-the-less, it was a lovely walk and it never ceases to amaze me that a large raptor can survive in what is essentially suburbia - within sight of the Johannesburg CBD. Below is a snapshot of Black Eagle habitat in Johannesburg!


Although we were unsuccessful in our search, a number of other raptors made an appearance, including a Black Sparrowhawk and a Steppe Buzzard (I also saw a little sparrowhawk in Randburg on my way home!). As always when walking in the African veld there was alot to see, like the tree agama above and this lovely cactus adding a splash of color:

Feeding Update

I blogged previously about offering half apples to the birds in winter. I have noticed that as spring has turned to summer and food is more plentiful, there are fewer and fewer visitors to the feeding station. In fact I have had an apple untouched the whole weekend! Although this guy did come down to have a look he did not touch the food!


I have however converted an empty coke bottle into a seed dispenser, this is very popular with the cape sparrows and weavers, and has even attracted some of the previously rare visitors, such as this Red Bishop:


It has also attracted some unknowns. I initially thought this might be a juvenile Cape or House sparrow, but it is somewhat larger and has a slightly different shape to these. Perhaps a Southern Grey-Headed Sparrow? Can anyone provide an ID?


*Update. Thanks to the folks over at simplybirding for comfirming the ID as a Southern Grey-Headed Sparrow!

Giants Castle - Bald Ibis Sighting

On Heritage Day, Romy and I decided to take a hike up the valley to see the Bushman paintings at the main cave. These were fantastic and are well worth the hike for anyone in the area:


However the highlight for me was the colony of Bald Ibis nesting just around the corner from the cave. these prehistoric looking birds are locally common in the Drakensberg, but are classified as Vulnerable due to their restircted habitat and limited numbers. It really was a privilage getting to see these birds up close and I got some lovely snaps.

Giants Castle - Cape Vultures II

I could not resist one last post on the vultures at Giants Castle - these magnificent birds really where the highlight of the trip, like the one above launching. They are definitely at their majestic best in the air:

Giants Castle - Camp Birds

The camp at Giants Castle really is a birders paradise, especially if you like raptors. In our brief say we had nice sightings of Rufus-Chested Sparrowhawks, Wahlberg's Eagle and elusive Bearded Vulture - none of which I had my camera ready for!

However, the bushes around our chalet presented lots of good birding oportunities too, and I spotted plenty of Bokmakierie, Malachite and Greater Double-collared Sunbird's , Gurney's Sugarbird, the Bar-throated Apalis, Cape Weavers, Cape White-eye and Black-capped bulbul's. Here are some of the most frequent visitors:


Not too forget the ever present ravens and Red-winged starlings:

Giants Castle: Jackal vs Vulture!

I was lucky enough to spend a few days at Giants Castle in September. This is always an amazing experience and will surely give me enough material to blog for weeks to come.

The following amazing shot was taken at the Giants Castle Vulture Restaurant and shows a Jackal stealing a meal from a Cape Vulture.


I never thought I'd be complaining about having too much lens, but as you can see I could not fit the action into the frame with 420mm ... Grrr. Nevertheless it was an amazing sight to experience so I'll "let the pictures tell the story" with the full sequence:

Golden Harvest - Ovambo Sparrowhawk

I have been hearing about the sparrowhawks at Golden Harvest Park in northern Johannesburg for a while how. Apparently Black, Ovambo and Little Sparrowhawks are all breeding in the park. Since the Black Sparrowhawk is possibly my favourite raptor, I visited the park to try and spot one ... but it is a large park and I had no luck. This morning I returned following some advice from Niall Perrins, and although I did not manage to spot the Black Sparrowhawk I had a lovely sighting of an Ovambo Spar (I initially though it might be a Shikra but the orange legs confirm it is an Ovambo).

I initially saw it sunning itself in a Eucalyptus:



I sat quietly and watched him for a while, and after 10 minutes he suddenly became very alert and darted after some weavers flying through an opening in glade. The chase was obscured by a large tree, so i missed the kill, but after 30 seconds or so the Ovambo returned with his spoils:





So a big thanks to Niall Perrins who pointed out the areas in the park each species frequent.

Garden Bird List

My garden bird list is now at 63 including fly overs (fo) - which is pretty impressive considering my garden is tiny (although I do consider the spruit at the bottom of the road my "garden" too). Hopefully i'll be adding a few species as the season changes. I also notice that there are a few on the list I have not managed to photograph or blog about ... so thats also something to do over the next few weeks.

Garden Bird List:
--------------------
Honeyguid, Lesser
Wryneck, Red-throated
Wagtail, Grey
Coucal, Burchell's
Bee-eater, European (fo)
Weaver, Southern Masked
Weaver, Think-Billed
Starling, Cape Glossy
Starling, Red-wing
Myna, Indian
Boubou, Southern
Bulbul, Dark-Capped
Barbet, Black-collared
Barbet, Crested
Sparrowhawk, Black (fo)
Sparrowhawk, Ovambo (fo)
Sparrowhawk, Little
Hawk, African Harrier (fo)
Sparrow, Cape
Sparrow, Southern Grey-Headed
Sparrow, House
Prinia, Tawney-Flanked
Loerie, Gray
Lovebird, Rosy-Faced
Eagle-Owl, Spotted
Kite, Yellow-billed (fo)
Thrush, Olive
Robin, Cape
Mousebird, Speckled
Mousebird, Red-faced
White-Eye, Cape
Shrike, Fiscal
Flycatcher, Paradise
Flycatcher, Fiscal
Flycatcher, Spotted
Thick-Knee, Spotted (Dikkop)
Heron, Grey
Heron, Green-backed
Sunbird, Amethyst
Sunbird, White-bellied
Ibis, Hadida
Ibis, Sacred
Parakeet, Rose-Ringed
Pigeon, African Green
Pigeon, Rameron
Pigeon, Feral
Pigeon, Rock
Dove, Turtle
Dove, Laughing
Guineafowl, Helmeted
Egret, Little (fo)
Plover, Blacksmith
Plover, Crowned
Goose, Egyptian (fo)
Crow, Pied
Bishop, Red
Hoopoe, African
Hoopoe, Wood
Kingfisher, Giant
Kingfisher, Brownhooded
Kingfisher, Woodland
Hornbill, Grey
Swallow, Greater Stripped

Spring is around the corner :-)

Things have definately warmed up over the last week or two, but a sure sign spring is around the corner is when the weavers start building their nests - like this guy across the road!

Feeding

I've started offering the birds in my garden half apples. They seem to really appreciate this in winter and it has resulted in some lovely sitings. I've also added a bird bath, and am hoping this will attract some new species.

Some Black-Collared Barbets at the feeder:



Cape Sparrow's have also become regular visitors:



Lots of other feathered friends too:

Winter Oddity - Tawny-Flanked Prinia

Winter has many drawbacks, but one of the nice things about this time of year is the odd species it occasionally throws up in the garden. For instance as the spruit at the bottom of the road dries out the Prinia's start foraging further afield, and sometimes even make it as far as my garden. I originally thought this was a warbler of some description, however as a reader correctly pointed out is is actually a Prinia:

Wordless Wednesday - Sink Sun Tanning

Melville Koppies Nature Reserve

We went for a walk on the Melville Koppies Nature Reserve a few weekends ago. The weather was crisp and clear, and the koppies offered a panoramic view over Johannesburg. A highlight was the few splashes of colour juxtaposed against the harsh winter veld:



Especially the Aloes:



This nature reserve is really a gem in the heart of Johannesburg and well worth a visit. Another highlight for me was the large numbers of black sunbirds congregating around the stands of wild dagga, unfortunately I did not bring my 300mm lens along so could not get a decent shot of them. The reserve has am impressive bird list with 185 species recorded!

Spotted Eagle Owl - Take 2

I have blogged about the pair of Spotted Eagle Owl's that have been hanging around our place a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have seen them almost every day - including one afternoon when some heavy rain flushed them out in the middle of the day! Unfortunately for various reasons I have not been able to get a decent shot - in fact with winter here and the light gone by the time I get home from work I had pretty much given up much hope of getting a decent shot unless I managed to locate their roost. However as I arrived home today, with the sun already gone and light fading fast I spotted an owl flying onto our roof. I rushed in to grab my camera and managed this shot before the light was gone:



Its a little grainy and taken through some obstructing branches, but I was still super exceited to have finally got a shot of one of my favourite birds. Next step locate the roost ... which must be very close by :-)

Injisuthi - Part 3 (Jackal Buzzard)

I was slightly disappointed at not seeing many raptors at Injisuthi. One the first afternoon we had a brief glimpse of what looked like a Crowned Eagle circling in the mist - but the weather closed in and it was gone. The only other sighting we had was this Jackal Buzzard at Junction Pool as we were leaving:



Although common in mountainous areas Jackal Buzzards and striking and one of my favourite raptors - this one brought back many fond memory's of growing up in the Natal midlands were they were a common site perched on boulders and telephone poles. Unfortunately he did not stick around to long for photographs.

Injisuthi - Part 2 (Campsite Birds)

We had a wide variety of birds around the camp site, some of the ones i managed to get snaps of were the Cape Robin, Common Waxbill, Cape Rock Thrush, African Rock Chat, and the spectacular Red-Collared Widowbird:

Injisuthi - Part 1 (Sunbirds)

This is not exactly Johannesburg, but i thought I'd writeup a short post on a recent camping trip to Injisuthi in the northern KZN Drakensburg. This area forms part of the Ukhahlamba Drakensberg National Park and is one of my favourite regions in South Africa. The birdlife is fantastic - in fact I will need several posts to cover all the wonderful sightings. We were lucky enough to have a large stand of wild dagga plants growing around our campsite with an attendant mail Malachite Sunbird in residence perch on a prominent:



Although he was really beautiful and a pleasure to have around, he was unfortunately really aggressive towards the other sunbirds in the area. I was particularly keen to get a pic of the stunnning Double-Collared sunbird - but Mr Malachite would chase him off the second he landed which made for tricky photograpy. However after much perseverance I managed this picture:



There was also this beautiful bird which at first i thought was another color phase of the Malachite ... but judging by the long tail might actually be a Sugar Bird? Perhaps Gurney's Sugar Bird?: