Southern African Forum (2 Viewers)

Sal · Oct 11, 2013

Bananafishbones said:
more SA blog updates here http://bfbsoutdoorramblings.blogspot.co.uk/

Thanks Bfb, am enjoying your photographic safari. I know all three camps that you have stayed in so far which makes it even more interesting. Lovely Cheetah sighting.

Martin Hobbs · Oct 11, 2013

Sal said:
That Red-headed Weaver is stunning and so is the Shikra. How nice to see the Crowned Hornbills. We have seen them at the Hippo Pools in that big tree at the topof the road.

Thanks Sal,
No wonder I now see the Crowned Hornbill in MP if you regularly see them near Hippo Pools. Thanks for the heads up.

Martin

Sal · Oct 12, 2013

A Dark-fronted Bulbul flew down onto the lawn and pecked off a short-stemmed yellow dandelion head, which it then held by the stem and proceeded to swallow. It looked very funny with a beak full of fluffy yellow flower. It then hopped about and picked another one which received the same treatment. I got up to fetch my camera but by the time I came back it had gone . . . . Is this normal food for Bulbuls? Never seen them go for a flower before.

Martin Hobbs · Oct 12, 2013

Sal said:
A Dark-fronted Bulbul flew down onto the lawn and pecked off a short-stemmed yellow dandelion head, which it then held by the stem and proceeded to swallow. It looked very funny with a beak full of fluffy yellow flower. It then hopped about and picked another one which received the same treatment. I got up to fetch my camera but by the time I came back it had gone . . . . Is this normal food for Bulbuls? Never seen them go for a flower before.

Hi Sal,
According to Roberts Multimedia they do eat flower petals as food. They also eat the petals of Bitter Aloe (Aloe ferox).
I have never seen them eat flowers before though.
Don't cut your lawn yet, they maybe back for more:-O

Martin

Bananafishbones · Oct 12, 2013

Sal said:
Thanks Bfb, am enjoying your photographic safari. I know all three camps that you have stayed in so far which makes it even more interesting. Lovely Cheetah sighting.

Cheers Sal

BillN · Nov 3, 2013

Martin Hobbs said:
Bill,
Your mention of Montague pricked my memory of an interesting pass.
Not sure if you travelled up Montague's Pass before. I was looking for Cape Sugarbird and found them and a lot of other interesting sightings including Orange-breasted Sunbird. It is a really interesting days birding driving up there. Also saw one of the areas specials...Victorin's Warbler up there as well.
It is a dirt road that goes up the side of the Onteniqua Mountains. It is reached from a right turn off at the bottom of the road out of George towards Oudsthoorn. Just as the road starts to climb up the mountain. It is sign posted, but you have to look for it!!

Martin

Thanks Martin, that one of my planned trips to look at the old 'Ox trails/roads"

bobthebirder · Nov 16, 2013

If you have not already seen it, I wonder whether any of you local experts would be kind enough to give me a view on a female sunbird I have enquired about in this thread. http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=270822
It may well be that the prevailing view that it is a Malachite is correct, but I am still puzzled and would welcome any further ID pointers.

My wife and I have recently returned from a three-week trip to the Cape provinces. Although my birding was somewhat incidental I managed to see quite a lot and was very impressed. All run of the mill stuff, no doubt, but it was all new for me!

redeyedvideo · Nov 25, 2013

Back in the cold and miserable UK after 2 fabulous weeks in the Western Cape. Here are a few Cape specialities, only the sparrow I'd seen before. Cape Francolin, Sugarbird, Grassbird, Sparrow, Gull;

Dave Kennedy · Nov 26, 2013

redeyedvideo said:
Back in the cold and miserable UK after 2 fabulous weeks in the Western Cape. Here are a few Cape specialities, only the sparrow I'd seen before. Cape Francolin, Sugarbird, Grassbird, Sparrow, Gull;

2 weeks, you say........I have been birding in SA for over 40 years, and I have seen a Grassbird just three times.
Well done.
Dave

redeyedvideo · Nov 26, 2013

bobthebirder said:
My wife and I have recently returned from a three-week trip to the Cape provinces. Although my birding was somewhat incidental I managed to see quite a lot and was very impressed. All run of the mill stuff, no doubt, but it was all new for me!

Some great shots there Bob, and not that run of the mill.

Dave Kennedy said:
2 weeks, you say........I have been birding in SA for over 40 years, and I have seen a Grassbird just three times.
Well done.
Dave

Thanks Dave, I'd recommend Seascape Cottage to the east of Betty's Bay. The fynbos is recovering from a fire a few years ago and the habitat is very favourable for a number of species.

Sugarbirds were abundant as were Karoo Prinia. Cape Rock Thrush, Cape Grassbird & Victorin's Warbler were in the grounds and Cape Clawless Otter was seen by previous guests. It's a magical place & close to Harold Porter Botanical Gardens & Stony Point Penguin colony.

I can't believe the cost of living there, getting into the Penguin colony would be 10 times the price if it were in the UK and half again to park the car. And as for the price of wine..B

Dave Kennedy · Nov 27, 2013

redeyedvideo said:
Some great shots there Bob, and not that run of the mill.

I can't believe the cost of living there, getting into the Penguin colony would be 10 times the price if it were in the UK and half again to park the car. And as for the price of wine..B

You must remember that we are earning rands, and one rand is worth 15 times less than one pound. Take it from me, we don't find things very cheap......
Dave

redeyedvideo · Nov 27, 2013

Dave Kennedy said:
You must remember that we are earning rands, and one rand is worth 15 times less than one pound. Take it from me, we don't find things very cheap......
Dave

I suppose it's all relative but you won't find a decent bottle of wine in the UK for the equivalent of 30 or 40 rand & you have to pay to park just about everywhere.

And we don't get these in the UK.

(Sorry)

Dr_ADH · Dec 30, 2013

BOTSWANA TRIP ADVICE:
I'm doing a 2 week package tour(made it affordable for me solo) to Botswana mid feb, and wondered if anyone could advise me on birds to look out for in the places I am going, and some places to go to see certain birds if I can. Our route is Jo-burg to Khama Rhino sanctuary, then to Maun for 1 night before heading into the Okovango for 2 days. Then it's 3 nights at Moremi, another day and night at Maun, Makgadikgadi Pans 1 day, Chobe 2 days then finish at Vic Falls for a couple of days. I have names of places where we're staying if that would help.
I've read some great posts on here by searching the SA forum, but am trying to be as prepared as I can. The bird I would most like to see (as most people it appears!) is the Pel's Fishing Owl, so if there is any knowledge of recent sightings or advice that would be wonderful. Am gutted I won't get to see the Skimmers, and probably Prantincoles too, but there are clearly loads of amazing birds to see. I will confess to having a particular thing about Owls!
Thanks very much
Adam

Sal · Mar 3, 2014

Hmmn, I don't know what has happened to my fellow Saffies, I had to resurrect this thread from the depths of the BF Archives!!! Just wanted to boast a little because a couple of weeks ago I went birding at Gartmore Farm and amongst other species, we saw five Wattled Cranes and one Blue Crane!.
We also saw:
Cape Crow
Fiscal Shrike
Red-knobbed Coot
Reed Cormorant
White Stork
Barn Swallow
Levaillant's Cisticola
Yello0w-billed Duck
Fan-tailed Widowbird
Blacksmith Lapwing
Yellow-billed Kite
Rock Martin
African Hadeda
Black Crake
Red-billed Teal
Egyptian Goose
Spurwing Goose
Little Grebe
Grassbird
Pin-tailed Whydah
Diedrick's Cuckoo
Fork-tailed Drongo
Long-tailede Widowbird

and a couple more that I have not ID'd.

Allan Hobbs · Apr 6, 2014

Hi everyone,
well as you can see I am not dead yet.

I've been incredibly busy with the project I am working on, but it is scheduled to finish late July and we are looking forward to coming out SA and Marloth for a month for rest & recuperation and some sunshine - the winter in the UK has been awful.

I can't wait to sit on the roof terrace again and re-acquaint myself with all our wonderful garden birds and wildlife. Hopefully Martin & I can spend a day birding in the Kruger and try and find those Crowned Hornbill!

Regards to all
Allan

Dave Kennedy · Apr 9, 2014

Sal said:
Hmmn, I don't know what has happened to my fellow Saffies, I had to resurrect this thread from the depths of the BF Archives!!! Just wanted to boast a little because a couple of weeks ago I went birding at Gartmore Farm and amongst other species, we saw five Wattled Cranes and one Blue Crane!.

Still here, Sal, and wondering much as you have been about where everyone is. I've inadvertently, but willingly, got involved with some excitement arising from a casual photograph of a dragonfly, not taken by me, but sent to me by my son and subsequently sent to the Animal Demographic Unit in Cape Town Univesity, who sent the picture on to a dragonfly pundit who subsequently announced that it was a species which had only been recorded twice in South Africa. Sorry for the complicated sentence, but all of that led to much to-ing and fro-ing resulting - and this was just an amazing coincidence - in myself turning up at Singita, where the photograph had been taken, at the same time as the dragonfly expert and his team. So I have been, temporarily at least, hijacked by dragonflies, and am still trying to ID those I managed to photograph during the Singita visit.
On top of all that, we've had visitors from overseas, so far from enjoying my leisured retirement I have been running about like a blue-arsed fly trying to organise the accelerated pace of my life.
Just to round it all off my son, who is manager at Singita, has sent me some mushroom photos which I am trying to ID. But it all keeps me out of mischief, which can only be a GOOD THING.
With best wishes,
Dave

Allan Hobbs · Aug 23, 2014

I know it is winter but is everyone in hibernation?

Here I am, only 8 sleeps to go before I am finally back in SA, and no-one is talking.

Where are you all?

Allan

Sal · Aug 24, 2014

Allan Hobbs said:
I know it is winter but is everyone in hibernation?

Here I am, only 8 sleeps to go before I am finally back in SA, and no-one is talking.

Where are you all?

Allan

Oh yay!!!!Someone is here! When I returned from the UK in May, I had no emails from BirdForum (and many other places too)|,my service providers had experienced some kind of melt-down and their server had eaten most of my mail. So I didn't realise hat there had been any posts at all since I last posted. (Loss of mail didn't come to light for several weeks . . . ) So I didn't post my UK bird list, and I didn't say anything about my Kruger trip or any other birding I've been doing. Allan it is great to see you here; I'm guessing you have been in the UK - wherever it has been, hope you had a great time.

Will post a bit from my UK trip soon.

Sal · Aug 24, 2014

Dave Kennedy said:
Still here, Sal, and wondering much as you have been about where everyone is. I've inadvertently, but willingly, got involved with some excitement arising from a casual photograph of a dragonfly, not taken by me, but sent to me by my son and subsequently sent to the Animal Demographic Unit in Cape Town Univesity, who sent the picture on to a dragonfly pundit who subsequently announced that it was a species which had only been recorded twice in South Africa. Sorry for the complicated sentence, but all of that led to much to-ing and fro-ing resulting - and this was just an amazing coincidence - in myself turning up at Singita, where the photograph had been taken, at the same time as the dragonfly expert and his team. So I have been, temporarily at least, hijacked by dragonflies, and am still trying to ID those I managed to photograph during the Singita visit.
On top of all that, we've had visitors from overseas, so far from enjoying my leisured retirement I have been running about like a blue-arsed fly trying to organise the accelerated pace of my life.
Just to round it all off my son, who is manager at Singita, has sent me some mushroom photos which I am trying to ID. But it all keeps me out of mischief, which can only be a GOOD THING.
With best wishes,
Dave

Hey Dave! What a very exciting story about the rare dragonfly. Did the experts who visited Singita manage to find it again? Good to hear that you are having a fairly exciting retirement

; hope the birding is still great too.

Sal · Aug 24, 2014

OK, here is my UK bird list. Not nearly as good as last time because we didn't actually go birding at all in any reserves: however I did manage to add a few to my UK total and I have put those down in bold.

I had a wonderful trip, spent a week on the Devon coast at a little village called Wembury; a week in France; a week in Cambridge, a week in Berkshire, a week in Wiltshire and a few days in London. Most of the birds were seen in Wiltshire and Devon. I may have not got names correctly and I might have put down birds that shouldn't be there, so please correct me, if I've made a mistake - thanks!

Barn Swallow
Blackbird
Blackcap
Black-headed Gull
Blue Tit
Brent Goose
Canada Goose
Carrion Crow
Chaffinch
Chiff-chaff
Coal Tit
Common Buzzard
Coot
Dunnock
Eurasian Jay
European Greenfinch
Gadwall
Goldfinch
Great Cormorant
Great Crested Grebe
Great Spotted Woodpecker
Great Tit
Greater Black-backed Gull
Grey Heron
Herring Gull
House Sparrow
Jackdaw
Kestrel
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Little Grebe
Long-tailed Tit
Magpie
Mallard
Martin
Moorhen
Mute Swan
Northern Shoveller
Nuthatch
Oyster-catcher
Pheasant
Pied Wagtail
Red Kite
Red-legged Partridge
Ring-necked Dove
Robin
Rook
Skylark
Song Thrush
Starling
Stone Chat
Tree Creeper
Tufted Duck
Willow Tit
Wood Pigeon
Wren

I've attached a few pics; will post some more later.

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