Southern African Forum (1 Viewer)

Peter Allison said:

Dave - just a quick not about your gorged birds - when the floods creep in the waters do flush insects, but just as often (and offering more meat) what the birds are nabbing are rodents that abandon their burrows.

There are equally as impressive gatherings of birds when the foods recede that safari guides know as fish traps. Small lagoons get isolated from the main channels and as the water level drops the fish within them are easy pickings. Usually you'd see this around September, but the Delta is a variable place (after years living there I still couldn't pick when anything would happen...)

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Thanks for your observations, Peter, and I am sure that your comment about rodents is correct. Another interesting circumstance is a bush fire, when birds and other predators wait at the fire front to capture the rodents, insects, lizards etc. which are fleeing from the flames. I have seen lilac-breasted rollers in such a situation swallowing mice whole.
If you look at Post# 499, the fourth photo shows just such a fish trap as you describe. Here a gang of yellow-billed storks is exploiting just such a situation in the Delta.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

December in Botswana - Delta and Selinda/Linyanti....Postscript

I realise that this is a bird forum, but I always feel that a bush visit should be a total experience, of which the birds are but one aspect, albeit a vital one, of the whole.

So just to round the whole thing off, here are five more photos illustrating the diversity of the region.
The first two photos show a couple of little hitch-hikers, found clinging to the bull-bars of the vehicle when we stopped. The first is Hyperolius nasutus, the long reed frog, part of the Delta's amphibian chorus. The second hitcher is a jumping spider, as indicated by its paired, forward-looking eyes. While not an arachnphobe, I am by no means an arachnophile, but I confess to a sneaking affection for jumping spiders. They will turn and look at you. There is an intimacy in this eye contact which is totally lacking in most insects and spiders, and somehow I feel I can relate to them. The only insect that does this is a praying mantis, and I feel the same connection with them.

Photo three shows the beautiful Water Gentian Nymphoides indica. This pretty little water plant, with its filamentous petals, is a highlight of any mokoro trip.

It seems that all too often visitors to the bush are obsessed with death - lion kills, leopard kills, vultures, hyenas and so on. Fascinating, certainly, but the true miracle is life, and here in Photo four is the start of life for a common Delta tree Croton megalobotrys, the large fever-berry.

Sometimes birding or game-viewing is difficult on any given day, so one of the things I try to do while in the bush is build up a photo-collection of spoor, droppings and signs which tell you who has been here before you. It's fun, fascinating, and adds hugely to any bush experience to know what creatures may be about. Photo five shows elephant tracks. The front foot of an elephant is considerably larger than the rear, since it must support the considerable weight of head, shoulders and tusks. In an elephant's normal, rather laid-back stride, the hind foot just overlaps the rear of the forefoot. In this track the hind foot just clips the front of the forefoot, indicating the the ellie was, if not exactly sprinting, at least hurrying along.
And for anybody interested, the circumference of the forefoot, multiplied by 2.5, will give you a fair estimate of the height of the animal at the shoulder.

Happy elephant tracking!
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

Thanks Dave. The water gentian is very pretty, I have not seen them before. Both times I was in Botswana were in the winter so I guess that's why! Interesting pic of the germinating Croton megalobotrys.

Peter Allison said:

There are equally as impressive gatherings of birds when the foods recede that safari guides know as fish traps. Small lagoons get isolated from the main channels and as the water level drops the fish within them are easy pickings. Usually you'd see this around September, but the Delta is a variable place (after years living there I still couldn't pick when anything would happen...)

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Peter hi,
I've just finished reading your book (Don't run whatever you do) which my wife gave me for Christmas. I enjoyed every page - and so did my wife. I am very jealous of the fabulous experiences you have had - thanks for sharing with us. If I'd known about being a game ranger about 30 years ago my life may well have taken a completely path.

I really recommend this book to all forumites, especially as the love of birds grew on him whilst he was in the bush, particularly appropriate to this forum.

Dave, I thoroughly agree with your comments about the bush being a complete experience. We spend a lot of time watching and appreciating anything and everything. My youngest son is an avid tracker and spends most of his time looking at the ground! I remember one time we were stopped watching dung beetles in the Kruger. Other people stopped and asked what we were looking at, and gave us very strange looks when we said dung beetles and drove off immediately. We just thought that by only concentrating on the large mammals they were missing out on at least 95% of what the Kruger (and other places of course) have to offer. Their loss. I think that I will put a sign in the back of the car "We stop for ANYTHING"

Allan
ps Dave - like you I am fascinated by the jumping spiders (in the UK we have a small version known as the wolf or zebra spider), but the bigger ones I like to appreciate from a distance.

Hi Allan,

I'm glad that you enjoyed the book. And to back Dave up, the bush should be an experience that encompasses all the forms of life. The point is reinforced by the rarely mentioned fact that birders see the most wildlife. They tend to drive slower and are looking for the smallest of movement or slightest variation in colour - and by doing so will be the first to spot the slow flap of an elephant's ear or the light twitch of a leopard's tale.

Now, just for novelty value, a photo of the largest thing I have ever seen a fish eagle take (and I promise you this has not been photoshopped).

Peter Allison said:

The point is reinforced by the rarely mentioned fact that birders see the most wildlife. They tend to drive slower and are looking for the smallest of movement or slightest variation in colour - and by doing so will be the first to spot the slow flap of an elephant's ear or the light twitch of a leopard's tale.

Now, just for novelty value, a photo of the largest thing I have ever seen a fish eagle take (and I promise you this has not been photoshopped).

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So true Peter. I have sat watching birds in Kruger and seen a leopard that everyone else drove past.

Your photo is quite something. Wonder what the Fish Eagle thought it was doing.

I went birding in Queen Elizabeth Park this morning. Three years or so ago this very nice little park had half the land taken away for the development of an upmarket estate. Unfortunately the land is owned by the Municipality and leased to Ezemvelo for what I understand is a very low rental. I guess the Municipality wanted more money and voila! Ezemvelo did manage to negotiate the handing over to their control a small area of nearby land which is one of the few places where the Hilton Daisy (Gerbera aurantiaca) can be found, in return. So QE Park does not look so good in places and quite a bit of the mature vergetaion has gone, nevertheless it was good morning.

The first interesting bird was a Brown-backed Honeybird which is a lifer for me. It was sitting in a fairly exposed piece of vegetation and obesrvation soon revealed that it was still a juvenile. Pretty soon along came a Neddicky and fed it an enormous moth which the honeybird had some difficulty in swallowing. So I think its safe to say the the Neddicky was its host bird. Overhead Palm Swifts and Black Saw-wing Swallows wheeled, and later we saw Lesser Striped Swallows and White-rumped Swiftstoo. There were Fork-tailed Drongos and Black Flycatchers, Yellow-fronted Canaries and Thick-billed Weavers in abundance and everything seemed to be feeding young. The Dusky and Black Flycatchers were noticeable in this respect and seemed happy to feed their young where we could see them. Whilst we were watching these, we had another rather nice sighting of a Starred Robin. Further on we came across Cape Robin-Chats, Village and Masked Weavers, Dark-capped Bulbuls and masses of Cape White-eyes and spent some time looking for Terrestrial Brownbulswhich we could hear but not see, only to find them not on or near the ground but right up in a fairly tall tree. Then another special bird - a Chorister Robin-Chat. We saw this very clearly and were then lucky enough to see another on in a tall bare tree that seemed to have some astonishing attraction for birds. Into the same tree flew African Emerald Cuckoo, Klaas's Cuckoo, Black-backed Puffback, Brimstone Canary, Amethyst Sunbird, Dark-backed Weaver, Lesser Honeyguide, Olive Thrush and Golden-tailed Woodpecker. Each time we were about to leave something else flew in!

Other birds seen were Bar-throated Apalis, Cape Batis, Golden-breasted Bunting, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Streaky-headed Seedeater, Dusky Indigobird, Black-headed Heron, African Sacred Ibis, Black-collared Barbet, Collared and SouthernDouble-collared Sunbird, Hadeda, African Firefinch, and Yellow-billed Kite.

So for me, one lifer and a boost to my reluctantly started Yearlist! I was sorry that I didn't take my camera because the Brownbacked Honeybird was pretty close and very clear!

Peter Allison said:

Hi Allan,

Now, just for novelty value, a photo of the largest thing I have ever seen a fish eagle take (and I promise you this has not been photoshopped).

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Hi, Peter,

I have been thinking about your fish eagle, which seems to have had ideas above his station, but confess bafflement. Some birds like Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, Cattle Egrets etc., operate in proximity to large ungulates, larger birds, or even safari vehicles because they disturb insects which the bird can capture. Birds can also display remarkable courage when a large creature threatens a nest site/young. I have seen a Water Thick-knee in Kruger turn aside an elephant. For the life of me, however, I can’t fit a fish eagle and a buffalo into that kind of scenario. Nor can I see a fish eagle trying to catch an oxpecker, which would be opportunism of a most unexpected kind. I guess we have all met people who might be described as a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Perhaps this description might apply to your precocious, and highly optimistic, fish eagle!

Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

Sal said:

I went birding in Queen Elizabeth Park this morning.

So for me, one lifer and a boost to my reluctantly started Yearlist! I was sorry that I didn't take my camera because the Brownbacked Honeybird was pretty close and very clear!

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Hello, Sal,

Your local park seems to be a fantastic birding area. I confess I had to reach for my Sasol to find out what a Brown-backed Honeybird used to be – these new names will be the death of me – but having done so, I can report that I most certainly have never seen one, so well done. My Roberts (6th Edition) records the Neddicky as one of the hosts for this bird.

It was just last year, down in Sedgefield in the Cape, that I saw my first, and so far only, Emerald Cuckoo, so well done there too. The two robins – Chorister and Starred – are also great sightings. The gang in the tree sounds like a classic bird-party, when you can find the most astonishing variety of species all foraging together. You don’t see them all that often, but a good bird party will sometimes contain the most unexpected species.

Best wishes,
Dave

Dave Kennedy said:

Hi, Peter,

I have been thinking about your fish eagle, which seems to have had ideas above his station, but confess bafflement. Some birds like Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, Cattle Egrets etc., operate in proximity to large ungulates, larger birds, or even safari vehicles because they disturb insects which the bird can capture. Birds can also display remarkable courage when a large creature threatens a nest site/young. I have seen a Water Thick-knee in Kruger turn aside an elephant. For the life of me, however, I can’t fit a fish eagle and a buffalo into that kind of scenario. Nor can I see a fish eagle trying to catch an oxpecker, which would be opportunism of a most unexpected kind. I guess we have all met people who might be described as a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic. Perhaps this description might apply to your precocious, and highly optimistic, fish eagle!

Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

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Aftre the initial amusement of this sighting I also pondered what caused the eagle to land there. I doubt it was choosing a mobile roost or place to scan for prey, as FEs usually choose a high perch for this. My best guess is that it may have had a shot at prey (despite the name I have seen FEs feeding on francolins, monitor lizards, a small mammal too torn up to ID etc), missed its mark and swopped onto the nearest spot, which happened to be a buffalo. It stayed there for at least a minute before flying off, but I have no idea how long it had been there before I arrived.

so, don't keep me in suspense, what is the brown backed honeybird?

While we're on the topic of birds using animals as mobile perches, here's one that I'm really worried about:

http://bigal-sa.smugmug.com/photos/454048317_QtFcs-O.jpg

Taken in Rietvlei NR just outside (soon to be in) Pretoria.

alan carr said:

so, don't keep me in suspense, what is the brown backed honeybird?

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Sharpbilled Honeyguide! I also had to look it up before writing about the sighting so it looks like its a new name to at least three of us!

alan carr said:

While we're on the topic of birds using animals as mobile perches, here's one that I'm really worried about:

http://bigal-sa.smugmug.com/photos/454048317_QtFcs-O.jpg

Taken in Rietvlei NR just outside (soon to be in) Pretoria.

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Lovely pic in that grassy field studded with flowers and the mouthful! Is it the fact that the Indian Mynah - er sorry Common Mynah - is there or that the Zebra is there?? I didn't realise that the Mynahs were so well-distributed. There is a big difference in the distribution maps of Newmans 1983 and Sasol 2005.

Eurasian Wyrneck in South Africa?

Hello all

Have any of you South African birdforumers seen this?

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=131895

Would be very interested to see what you thought.

James

JWN Andrewes said:

Hello all

Have any of you South African birdforumers seen this?

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=131895

Would be very interested to see what you thought.

James

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Hello, James, and welcome to the Southern African Forum.

Yes, I have seen this, and responded to it in Information Wanted/Europe & Rest of the World/South Africa. It has also been posted in Information Wanted.

The problem is, that while the bird does not look like Southern Africa's Red-throated Wryneck, few of us have seen a juvenile RTW, and most South Africans are even less familiar with the European Wryneck. I have been unable to find a decent illustration of a juvenile RTW. What would help is for someone familiar with the European Wryneck to categorically confirm or deny the identity of this bird. So far, it remains undetermined.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

Cheers Dave

from a European perspective, having seen maybe a couple of dozen Eurasian Wrynecks (a species sufficiently uncommon an charismatic to get a good grilling when the opportunity arises) I would say that this bird, on views of this quality, would be happily accepted as a Eurasian Wryneck without raising any suspicion at all. I can see nothing on it that doesn't fit. The one thing that does occur to me is that if juv Red-throated offers real confusion with adult Eurasian, wouldn't the confusion have come to light already in the form of a series of misidentifications and false starts?

Hope this gets resolved!

James

JWN Andrewes said:

Cheers Dave

The one thing that does occur to me is that if juv Red-throated offers real confusion with adult Eurasian, wouldn't the confusion have come to light already in the form of a series of misidentifications and false starts?

Hope this gets resolved!

James

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Fair point, James, and thank you for bringing it up. Thank you also for your opinion that it is indeed a Eurasian Wryneck. That should certainly add impetus to any rarities claim involving this bird. I also hope that this thing gets resolved. It could represent a really notable sighting.
Best wishes,
Dave

Several times in the forum I have come across Roberts as a definitive guide. I looked into this yesterday but in the UK it costs £110 (about R1500), twice the price quoted in SA. I've been thinking that maybe I ought to invest in this, possibly on our next trip, but I also saw that there was a multimedia edition. That may make more sense for me, as I could quite happily cart a couple of disks to and from the UK, but from what I understand the book would take all of my luggage allowance!

Does anyone have the multimedia edition, and what is the opinion? Any thoughts?

Thanks
Allan

Allan Hobbs said:

Several times in the forum I have come across Roberts as a definitive guide. I looked into this yesterday but in the UK it costs £110 (about R1500), twice the price quoted in SA. I've been thinking that maybe I ought to invest in this, possibly on our next trip, but I also saw that there was a multimedia edition. That may make more sense for me, as I could quite happily cart a couple of disks to and from the UK, but from what I understand the book would take all of my luggage allowance!

Does anyone have the multimedia edition, and what is the opinion? Any thoughts?

Thanks
Allan

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I had the CD-Rom years ago and it was good fun, but won't be of much use in the field I would imagine. I was using it to teach safari guides, and found the calls anf photos very useful so it may be handy bfore your trip - then stick to one of the portable guides...