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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Cape Town birding for a couple days (1 Viewer)

After registering can you still use the temporary pass to enter if you cannot receive the mailed pass?

You can still use after registering ...but only up to the expiry date of the temporary pass (so would still be valid if you register early, but don't think you could extend beyond the 30 days on grounds that you hadn't recieved the card).

But I am only a frequent visitor to South Africa (and will be there same time as you), so perhaps better information will follow from a local on possibilities to extend the temporary permit.

I guess you already have seen it, but you are aware that you can get a family wild card too, yes? This works out even better value than individual wild cards.
 
Heya folks, already putting all the advice to good use.

Birded Korsman Bird Sanctuary during my layover in Jo erg, Crested Barbet was a stunner! Then this morning at Stranfontein I stumbled on an African Crakes twitch, and watched the thing in the middle of the road at 11AM! Then Rooi-els this afternoon and found the Rockjumper and Siskin easily but no Warbler or Woodpecker...

Also wishing I had my camera lens (arriving Thurs) as some buzzards at Strandfontein were confusing. I am about 98% certain one was Common Buzzard on tail length, tail color, wing shape, less yellow visible on the cere, and a broken pale band across the middle of an otherwise rufous brown chest. I thought a second individual looked good for Common, though seen more briefly. But eBird flags a count over one as rare and I am far from an experienced observer here :) At least I will have a lens on Thurs.
 
Heya folks, already putting all the advice to good use.

Birded Korsman Bird Sanctuary during my layover in Jo erg, Crested Barbet was a stunner! Then this morning at Stranfontein I stumbled on an African Crakes twitch, and watched the thing in the middle of the road at 11AM! Then Rooi-els this afternoon and found the Rockjumper and Siskin easily but no Warbler or Woodpecker...

Also wishing I had my camera lens (arriving Thurs) as some buzzards at Strandfontein were confusing. I am about 98% certain one was Common Buzzard on tail length, tail color, wing shape, less yellow visible on the cere, and a broken pale band across the middle of an otherwise rufous brown chest. I thought a second individual looked good for Common, though seen more briefly. But eBird flags a count over one as rare and I am far from an experienced observer here :) At least I will have a lens on Thurs.

Excellent news! I actually just dropped you a PM earlier about the Crake. Glad to see you came across it. I was there from around 1pm for the Crake. Great bird for the province (estimated less than 5 sightings).

Good news about the Rock Jumper too then! Very nice. The Victorin's is always a bit of a nightmare ;)

It is almost guaranteed that what you saw over Strandfontein was an African Marsh Harrier, they are plentiful there (Common Buzzards will mostly be back in Summer). The African Marsh Harrier has a broken white band across the chest too.

It could have been a young Jackal Buzzard, but if you saw more than 1, it is almost definitely the African Marsh Harrier, which was apparently showing well in the morning, catching prey near the Crake.
 
Unless old world Circus are Buteo shaped and fly with flat wings, have bulging secondaries, tails without strong dark bands that they fan frequently, are stocky with large heads, etc, I am certain the birds I saw were Buteos and not Circus :) Anything is possible but I cannot fathom having mistaken between Circus and Buteo. I ultimately saw three Buteo. One seen briefly in the Eucs before the sewage works entrance that looked like probably a juvenile Jackal Buzzard, sort of honey brown everywhere but not seen terribly well. Then two interacting (not aggressively) at the W end of the road between P1&P2. The one I saw better sure looked a common buzzard with a longer tail, less secondary bulge, tail brown above with no hint of rufous and off white below with a not too strong terminal band. Chest brown with a broken white horizontal band of sorts just below the neck. Underwing coverts brown, remiges off white from below. Second bird was identical in structure and color from below but was not seen as well. Saw a bunch of Jackal Buzzards today which confirms my impression of the difference in structure between what I assumed were Common Buzzards and the adult Jackal Buzzards seen today... Which has me confused. How common are the breeding / resident Common/Cape/Elgin's Buzzards?
 
Unless old world Circus are Buteo shaped and fly with flat wings, have bulging secondaries, tails without strong dark bands that they fan frequently, are stocky with large heads, etc, I am certain the birds I saw were Buteos and not Circus :) Anything is possible but I cannot fathom having mistaken between Circus and Buteo. I ultimately saw three Buteo. One seen briefly in the Eucs before the sewage works entrance that looked like probably a juvenile Jackal Buzzard, sort of honey brown everywhere but not seen terribly well. Then two interacting (not aggressively) at the W end of the road between P1&P2. The one I saw better sure looked a common buzzard with a longer tail, less secondary bulge, tail brown above with no hint of rufous and off white below with a not too strong terminal band. Chest brown with a broken white horizontal band of sorts just below the neck. Underwing coverts brown, remiges off white from below. Second bird was identical in structure and color from below but was not seen as well. Saw a bunch of Jackal Buzzards today which confirms my impression of the difference in structure between what I assumed were Common Buzzards and the adult Jackal Buzzards seen today... Which has me confused. How common are the breeding / resident Common/Cape/Elgin's Buzzards?

To be honest, if it was a single bird I'd have said it could have been an unusually late Steppe Buzzard, but the fact that there were two make it extremely unlikely.

The Cape Buzzards and Elgin Buzzards I know quite well since I was monitoring a pair near where I stay and was involved in helping Jessie Walton and Rob Martin on their research on the birds. Documenting breeding, locality etc. I wrote a basic article on some of the documented individuals along with photos: http://bryndekocks.com/birding/mystery-buzzards/

The Cape Buzzards, as they have become known -- haven't ever been seen anywhere near Strandfontein to my knowledge. They tend to breed in pines and are mostly somewhat restricted to forest habitat. I have seen them outside of the usual range, but it's not common. One couldn't rule it out of course, but just unlikely.

Juvenile Jackal Buzzard would be my go-to if it was certainly not one of the Marsh Harriers. As they do nest in the area and can be extremely similar, as with the case of this individual I photographed
 

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Heya Bryn,

Thanks for more info on those birds. I will assume my birds were juv Jackal Buzzards then, must have been the case. Similar to your photos, color wise, though more uniformly brown underwing coverts and vent, and a bit less white on the upper chest...

Spent the day near Malgas and Potberg. I have seen most everything I have looked for so far except Ground Woodpecker (plenty of chances left) and Cape Clapper Lark, though not sure I will have another crack at the Agulhas form. The Flufftails and Buttonquail are not for this trip.... Just not realistic given the time I have available. Still though it has been years since I have seen so many new birds so quickly and easily, I feel like a kid in a candy shop!
 
Feeling your excitement Josh :t:. We found Cape Clapper Lark to be a total nightmare when they're not displaying, so best of luck with that one. In the southwest we somehow managed to see R-c Flufftail and H Buttonquail, but missed the lark at several sites where it's apparently common.
 
Clapper Lark are definitely tough. My provincial list is at 320 and I have yet to come across a Clapper Lark myself. Though I do know of someone who got one near De Hoop last week, so just a matter of chance.

I asked some other locals about the Buttonquail and apparently things have been very quiet the past couple years, with only a few sightings. Even at Rooi Sand area the reporting rates are extremely low.

Glad to hear you're getting your targets otherwise though!
 
Hello folks,

Sorry I haven't made any updates here. We have had a fantastic time thus far and I have done pretty well just birding opportunistically, though I have missed or heard only some specialties, and in the end I have not even tried for Flufftails or the Buttonquail, though I believe I heard RC Flufftail today at Langevlei in Wilderness. I appreciate again all the tips and help.

A few random thoughts:

With the droughts and being winter the Karoo was hard going, did not do very well with Larks!

Mt Zebra NP is wonderfully scenic and the birding is top notch, I preferred it to Addo despite better mammals at Addo.

I found Nature's Valley more scenic and had better luck with birds there, getting an excellent mixed flock off the bat.

Have had a couple moderately out of range / at the edge of their range / out of season birds including a Long-Crested Eagle in Nature's Valley, and a Common Scimitarbill and a pair of Greater Striped Swallows at Mt Zebra NP...

Have a few days of relaxing ahead then headed to Etosha in a bit over a week.

Cheers,
Josh
 
Are you 100% on the Common Scimitarbill? That would be very out of range, and a very strange sighting.

Was it perhaps not a Green Wood Hoopoe? Which has very similar appearance, but is known to occur widely in those parts? It wouldn't be the first time one had been incorrectly ID'd as the other.

If you find yourself up in Zululands, Kwazulu Natal at some point. There is a Malagasy Pond Heron up there, not a cheap venture with needing to pay for a game drive to get access. But it is a difficult bird to see, anywhere in the world. And South Africa's first confirmed record. Beautiful thing it is...
 
Bryn, I do not pretend to be above error but I am reasonably certain. I saw it flyby and it looked small, all violet, and lacked the red bill of an adult Wood-Hoopoe. It had flown some distance and I didn't have a speaker, just my cel phone, but I played Scimitarbill and it came popping back from 30m away or so and perched up for close looks. It certainly appeared much smaller with a thinner and obviously more decurved bill. It did not call back but I was able to watch it for 15-20 seconds at close range before it continued past me, presumably looking for the source of the call it heard...

I wish I had pictures of this bird and the buzzards at the sewage works but c'est la vie...
 
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