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A Very Casual World List - part III: South Africa (1 Viewer)

nartreb

nartreb

Speak softly and carry a long lens
(Part II can be found here: https://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=383573 )

We didn't stop in Luanda long enough to see any birds -- on to Cape Town!

The flora here are quite exotic, even the trees are oddities like protea and aloidendron (plus imported pines and eucalyptus, but many of these are being removed). There are flowers of many kinds and colors wherever there's a bit of water, and many places where there's no water visible (and it hasn't rained in weeks).

Bird-wise, practically everything was a lifer:
malachite sunbird, hadada ibis, an unidentified plover, an unidentified gull,
egyptian goose, yellow bishop, a mystery bird, red-winged starlings,
speckled pigeon, ring-necked dove,
african penguins, black oystercatchers, white-breasted cormorants, plus a few I didn't manage to photograph, including a mousebird (speckled or white-backed), pied crows, and a cape robin-chat.

edit: saw a Jackal Buzzard this afternoon, of course when I didn't have my camera.
 
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Actually it's a Cape Bulbul.

I think the plover is a lesser sand-plover.
 
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South Africa part 2: more of the Cape Peninsula

South Africa was supposed to be a restful phase, with lots of days just sitting on the beach. Somehow I still haven't had time to keep up with sorting my photos, never mind confirming bird IDs and posting here. I'm posting photos in smaller batches, and I'll try to catch up here likewise.

So I'll be up to date "just now", a favorite phrase of South Africans, which means "in a minute" in the sense of "whenever I get to it". No problem, as the only real unit of time here is "soon", as in, "I'll be back soon with the car." How many minutes is that, exactly? "not long" :)

African proverb: Europeans wear watches, but Africa has time.

I was walking along a beach-side road when I was stopped by some kind of aerial display (or very loud insect-hunting?) by about three cape sugarbirds. I didn't manage a photo of their signature mid-air hover, but a couple of them were kind enough to perch where I could take their portraits.

Here's an unidentified bird.

From a moving boat (no good for photos), saw a smaller species of cormorant, distinct from the larger ones I'd previously photographed. Had a nifty way of diving: it leapt completely out of the water in order to plunge head-first.

We went back to Boulders Beach, where in addition to penguins (and hyrax babies!) we saw a cape wagtail, and what I think is a female sunbird (sipping from a Strelitzia).

I'll be back "soon" with lots of still-unidentified birds from a road trip...

Oh, and add to my list: I've got a pair of Grey-Headed Sparrows nesting under the roof here, with babies. They like to pose in perfect late-afternoon light - but only when my camera's out of reach.
 
South Africa part 3: Cederberg, day one

A short camping trip to the edge of the fynbos and the start of the karoo.

Our farewell committee on the Cape was a troop of ostrich.

On the trail below Wolfsberg Cracks, we met a very bold Cape rockjumper with a leg band.

Several birds of prey seen, including a Black (Verreaux's) Eagle, but not photographed. Also ibis, herons, and egyptian geese, but it wasn't much of a bird-watching trip. We were more entertained by the lizards. Blaukop were everywhere, and there were also skinks to be found.

Plenty of bok along the road, too.
 
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South Africa part 4: Cederberg, day two

Almost no new bird photos, just one awkward angle on a LBJ who was hanging around the campground, and (later, on the road back to Cape Town) a hasty snap of one of a flock of yellowish birds (canaries??).

Also watched a white-necked raven being harassed by a pied crow, while a striped mouse sniffed around my feet.
 
South Africa part 5: Scarborough Beach

Scarborough is a hippie / beach bum / millionaire's "conservation village" surrounded by Table Mountain Park land, with its own little beach, and the kind of save-the-whales ethos you'd expect in the kind of place whose only store (also a coffee shop, of course) sells bulk granola but not Cheerios. (Actually the store has a lot of what you really need, plus fresh bread, and ice cream by the scoop.)

Residents (nearly all white) are a bit wary of outsiders, especially the residents of (nearly all black) townships up the road, but the beach is a neutral zone, and the camaraderie of surfing (or wind- or kite-) conquers all (assuming you can afford a wetsuit, a board, and days off to spend at the beach).

The town has its own facebook page, which is how we learned of newly hatched plovers and oystercatchers on the beach. My photos of the oystercatcher hatchlings were pretty poor, but here are some better ones:

Here's a black (african) oystercatcher taking a turn on its eggs.

Here's an adult plover (white-fronted?)

And here's the "d'awww" pic: plover hatchling
 
South Africa part 6: Aquila Game Reserve

A low-effort way to see a bunch of those "charismatic megafauna", where the animals can be found at predictable feeding stations at predictable times. A bit sad, really, but if you're a photographer who hates getting up at 6 in the morning, at least you know that wonderful morning light won't be wasted.

Bird-wise, it was better than expected. Besides finally getting an almost-acceptable photo of a black-headed heron (with red-billed teal, but I couldn't get a decent photo of those), and of course more ostrich, there were many weavers and other birds attracted to the lodge. Feeding on the lawn were red bishop, yellow-crowned bishop, Cape Sparrow (male and juvenile), and common waxbill.

Back in capetown, stopping to try to photograph flamingoes (they were skittish), found a blacksmith lapwing.
 
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South Africa part 7: Cape of Good Hope

It's the, uh, southwesterly-most point in Africa. (Seriously, even the hill just across False Bay is further south.) Scenic but, during summer vacation, crowded.


One new bird, an unidentified sparrow-like bird
 
Sparrow-like bird in last post is Cape Bunting. In previous post, heron looks like Grey Heron, and the Yellow-crowned Bishop is actually a Southern Masked Weaver
 
Thanks again. Larry. Silly me, I don't know how I failed to notice that Grey Heron occurs here. Found an <i>Ardea</i> and stopped, I guess. And the weaver I should have known too, after all the nests I saw nearby.
 
South Africa part 8: Kirstenbosch Gardens

There were numbers of folks with comically large telephoto lenses hanging around on the lawn, pointing into the marshy areas near the restaurant, but my favorite bird findings were sudden close-ups among the narrow, twisty paths elsewhere in the garden.

A passerby kindly pointed out a sleeping eagle owl, near the cycads.

A sunbird was feasting on agapanthus near the rock garden. A couple of mousebirds briefly joined in.

Taking my place by the marshes, I spotted a yellowish bird I should probably be able to identify, an unidentified LBJ, some common waxbills, a possibly-different LBJ.

The last ten minutes of the visit were spent lying in spoor-covered grass taking close-ups of goslings.
 
South Africa part 9: Farewell

I'm finally done posting my South Africa photos, with two final galleries from the Deep South. No new species to report, but I got much better photos of some representative species:

fiscal shrike
cape bulbul
black oystercatcher
cape sugarbird
ostrich
snowy egret


Also mammals: buntebok and baboon; the latter is in front of Da Gama's cross.

And it will take me ages to catalog all the plant life, but I like this photo of "cape snow"

The trip continues with Madagascar and then Dubai...
 
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