Southern African Forum (1 Viewer)

[kevinexzim]

Giants Castle vulture hide

Hi all. Been absent for over a year, as no sooner had I got the hang of my son's Sony A350 than he went off with it. I don't have budget for a SLR & big lens, so just acquired a Fuji HS20 "bridge" camera, 16MP, 24-720 zoom. Went up to Giant's Castle vulture hide yesterday to give me and camera our first test. Attached a first sample; more later. Cheers. KevinExZim.

 

[Martin Hobbs]

Hi all. Been absent for over a year, as no sooner had I got the hang of my son's Sony A350 than he went off with it. I don't have budget for a SLR & big lens, so just acquired a Fuji HS20 "bridge" camera, 16MP, 24-720 zoom. Went up to Giant's Castle vulture hide yesterday to give me and camera our first test. Attached a first sample; more later. Cheers. KevinExZim.

Hi Kevin,
Welcome back!
A 24-720 zoom is a hell of a lens??!!
The second of your pictures..is it a Bearded Vulture?
Excellent sighting if it is...haven't seen one myself yet.

Martin

 

[Sal]

Hi all. Been absent for over a year, as no sooner had I got the hang of my son's Sony A350 than he went off with it. I don't have budget for a SLR & big lens, so just acquired a Fuji HS20 "bridge" camera, 16MP, 24-720 zoom. Went up to Giant's Castle vulture hide yesterday to give me and camera our first test. Attached a first sample; more later. Cheers. KevinExZim.

Hi Kevin, welcome back! I agree, that is some zoom you have there! Great pics and wonderful to see a Bearded Vulture, I'm really envious.

 

[xmesox]

Some very impressive images there Kevin, makes me wonder why I bother spending tens of thousands of rands on camera equipment when a R6000 camera can produce such results. Hope to see more.

 

[kevinexzim]

Hi Kevin,
Welcome back!
A 24-720 zoom is a hell of a lens??!!
The second of your pictures..is it a Bearded Vulture?
Excellent sighting if it is...haven't seen one myself yet.

Martin

Hi Martin. Yes the zoom is great! In order of appearance: Cape Vulture (glides over a lot but does not readily land for poses); Bearded Vulture (lands more readily for landing/take-off photos); Jackal Buzzard (swoops in unannounced at low level, poses quickly, then buzzes of again). Coincidentally, a black-backed jackal appeared when the buzzard was around. We debated whether we were hearing the jackal or the buzzard calling, and whether one attracted the other! Any one knowledgeable on that question? Cheers. Kevin.

 

[kevinexzim]

Some very impressive images there Kevin, makes me wonder why I bother spending tens of thousands of rands on camera equipment when a R6000 camera can produce such results. Hope to see more.

Thanks Bryn. I was with a few others from the Maritzburg photo club, who had some serious Canon equipment. No question their pics were substantially sharper than mine, and their cameras tracked the moving subjects much better with their "servo" mode. But value for money, the Fuji is handy. Will post a few more. Cheers. Kevin. :t:

 

[kevinexzim]

Hi Kevin, welcome back! I agree, that is some zoom you have there! Great pics and wonderful to see a Bearded Vulture, I'm really envious.

Thanks Sal. Nice to connect with you again. You probably know the people at Maritzburg photo club I went with: Leon Heyes, Carol and Derek. Cheers. Kevin.:t:

 

[kevinexzim]

Giants Castle vulture hide - more pics

A few more pics from the Giant's Castle hide...

 

[Sal]

A few more pics from the Giant's Castle hide...

Great pics, thanks Kevin

 

[Martin Hobbs]

A few more pics from the Giant's Castle hide...

Kevin,
Great pose on this Bearded Vulture picture.
I thought these were a rare sighting, but from your description of what goes on there they seem common visitors?

Martin

 

[njlarsen]

For a non-SA person, where is that spot, how far from the Kruger park?

thanks
Niels

 

[Martin Hobbs]

For a non-SA person, where is that spot, how far from the Kruger park?

thanks
Niels

Niels,
Kruger NP is around 600kms from Giants Castle in the Drakensburg (depending where you are in KNP).
There are many birds in the Drakensburg Mountains that you would not find in KNP so it may be worth the trip not only to try and see the Bearded Vulture (which only resides in the Drakensburg/Lesotho areas) but many other high altitude specials as well.
I stayed in the Drakensburgs last year for the first time and had many first sightings. The scenery is completely different there than in the Lowveld also, so to none birders the scenery would be of interest as well!

Let us know if you require more detailed information.

Martin

 

[njlarsen]

I am going to be near Phalaborwa on the east side of Kruger. I will probably only be able to do day excursions out of there (the company does include a one day outing to the nearest end of Drakensburg), but 600 km sounds like too far for a one day outing. If I am going from Phalaborwa, and have a single day available, what are good places to go?

Thanks
Niels

 

[kevinexzim]

Kevin,
Great pose on this Bearded Vulture picture.
I thought these were a rare sighting, but from your description of what goes on there they seem common visitors?

Martin

Martin.
Maybe we had a lucky day. A spectacular bird. I know the conservationists have an active concern for them. See http://www.krugerpark.co.za/krugerpark-times-5-4-raptor-conservationist-annual-conference-24893.html.
Kevin.

 

[Martin Hobbs]

I am going to be near Phalaborwa on the east side of Kruger. I will probably only be able to do day excursions out of there (the company does include a one day outing to the nearest end of Drakensburg), but 600 km sounds like too far for a one day outing. If I am going from Phalaborwa, and have a single day available, what are good places to go?

Thanks
Niels

Niels,
Phalaborwa is around 800kms from Giants Castle in the Drakensburg.
My advice would be to go into Kruger NP itself and head towards Letaba Camp (approx. 2hrs). Once in Letaba you can make a choice between going north towards Shingwedzi Camp (approx. 4hrs) or south towards Olifants Camp (approx. 1hr).
Letaba camp is on the Letaba River and is a good place to see many birds inside the camp itself. Being on the river it is a nice place to have breakfast maybe overlooking the river.
North towards Shingwedzi Camp is mostly Mopani savannah and although doesn’t have the diversity of birds does have some interesting specials.

South from Letaba towards Olifants also moves through Mopani woodland but the camp itself is perched on the side of a Koppie (hill) and has stunning views over the Olifants River that flows below.

I have included two links with more information on birds in the area below.

One thing to remember when travelling in South Africa…and Kruger NP particularly, distances are big and although Shingwedzi Camp is only +/- 100kms from Letaba it really will take you around 4hrs to drive….and then of course you have another 4hrs on the return trip to Letaba and another 2hr from Letaba to Phalaborwa. Your trip from Phalaborwa to Shingwedzi and back will take you over 12hrs.

I would drive to Letaba, then Olifants and back again. This will take you all day and will give you enough time to drive slow enough to spot all the birds along the way….oh and of course you will also see Elephant, Hippo, Impala, Waterbuck, Kudu, etc etc. as well!!

http://www.sanparks.org/groups/birders/krugerbirds.php#olifants
http://wiki.sabirding.co.za/Kruger.ashx

Martin

 

[Trevor Hardaker]

Neils,

If I was you, I would not go into the Kruger if you are looking for something different. The place you are staying at (Inyanga Safari Lodge) is going to offer you most of the same birds and mammals that you would see in the Kruger, so all you would be doing is seeing much of the same. Perhaps you are happy to do that and, in that case, go into the Kruger by all means. But the habitats in that area of the Lowveld are all fairly similar as is the make-up of birds. Granted, you may find a handful of additional species in the Kruger, but if you are really wanting to boost your list, you need to go somewhere else away from there.

I'm not sure if you will have access to a vehicle for your own use or whether you can arrange transport for a day trip, but in my opinion, your best bet for a day trip from there would be to head west towards the Magoebaskloof area just a little way past Tzaneen (probably about a 130-140km drive from where you are staying on good roads, so less than 2 hours drive time). This area gives you access to brilliant forest birding and higher altitude grassland birding as well, habitats you won't encounter where you are based and, therefore, will boost your bird list numbers substantially. If you consider this, it may be prudent to contact one of the local bird guides there to take you out. David Letsoalo is particularly good and can be contacted via Kurisa Moya Lodge in Magoebaskloof at [email protected]. A day out with David will not disappoint - think of things like Orange Ground Thrush, Green Twinspot, Bat Hawk on the nest, Forest Buzzard, Black-fronted Bush Shrike, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, etc. just to mention a few. Depending on how much time you have available, you could also ask him to take you into the grasslands and boost your list with another suite of birds.

This area of the country has a great diversity of habitats and, therefore, obviously many bird species as well. This is one of the core areas that the team that the holds the record for the most species seen in SA in a 24 hour period covers and, in an area that reaches from Polokwane to Magoebaskloof, they have consistently achieved over 300 species in the last few years on Big Days.

Anyway, just thought I would throw another option into the mix... Enjoy your trip!

Kind regards
Trevor

 

[xmesox]

Hey guys,

I've only recently started birding and as such I haven't taken my camera outside of the Western Cape, I'm planning to try get some different species on my list in KZN and Kruger Park this year.

Particularly, I'll be staying in Durban. I'm wondering what the best time of the year is to head up that way for birds. For Cape Town it's pretty blatant that the spring and summer months offer the best birding. But with Durban's rainfall being of tropical origin and existing more in summer, I can imagine this can cause some troubles when heading out in summer.

Winter on the other hand, rain is much rarer, though I'm wondering if the bird life will be active enough in those months. I'm thinking August may be a decent time to go, but input on when is best may change that.

Regards

 

[Dave Kennedy]

Neils,

I'm not sure if you will have access to a vehicle for your own use or whether you can arrange transport for a day trip, but in my opinion, your best bet for a day trip from there would be to head west towards the Magoebaskloof area just a little way past Tzaneen (probably about a 130-140km drive from where you are staying on good roads, so less than 2 hours drive time). This area gives you access to brilliant forest birding and higher altitude grassland birding as well, habitats you won't encounter where you are based and, therefore, will boost your bird list numbers substantially. If you consider this, it may be prudent to contact one of the local bird guides there to take you out. David Letsoalo is particularly good and can be contacted via Kurisa Moya Lodge in Magoebaskloof at [email protected]. A day out with David will not disappoint - think of things like Orange Ground Thrush, Green Twinspot, Bat Hawk on the nest, Forest Buzzard, Black-fronted Bush Shrike, Yellow-streaked Greenbul, etc. just to mention a few. Depending on how much time you have available, you could also ask him to take you into the grasslands and boost your list with another suite of birds.

Kind regards
Trevor

My wife and I have been out twice in the Magoebaskloof Forest with David Letsoalo, and could add, among others, Cape Parrot, Barratt's Warbler, Square-tailed Drongo and a calling Buff-spotted Flufftail to Trevor's list.
David is one of the best, and a fount of knowledge about the area's birds.
Best wishes,
Dave

 

[njlarsen]

Thank you all. Part of the package at Inyanga Safari Lodge is a day inside Kruger for mammals and possibly other things. I therefore think that if I can arrange something, it might be better to go west as Trevor says, and doing so with a local guide sounds like a good idea; thanks to both Trevor and Dave for the recommendation.

thanks
Niels

 

[Sal]

Hey guys,

I've only recently started birding and as such I haven't taken my camera outside of the Western Cape, I'm planning to try get some different species on my list in KZN and Kruger Park this year.

Particularly, I'll be staying in Durban. I'm wondering what the best time of the year is to head up that way for birds. For Cape Town it's pretty blatant that the spring and summer months offer the best birding. But with Durban's rainfall being of tropical origin and existing more in summer, I can imagine this can cause some troubles when heading out in summer.

Winter on the other hand, rain is much rarer, though I'm wondering if the bird life will be active enough in those months. I'm thinking August may be a decent time to go, but input on when is best may change that.

Regards

Summer's always better for numbers of species. Its also exceptionally hot and humid up here so if you don't like those conditions, make it another time of the year. There are plenty of birds about in winter too. August-October should be OK, it depends on whether the rains start later as they have been doing for the past few years. Do include Durban botanical garden in your itinerary. Lots of other good birding spots but in some better not to go alone. Check it out with the locals.