Southern African Forum (1 Viewer)

[Dave Kennedy]

The furniture van is coming

To Sal, Martin, Allan and all the Southern African contributors -

Tomorrow morning our home of the past 24 years gets packed away and taken into storage. During March we'll do a bit of carpeting, tiling etc. in the new house, and hopefully move in around the beginning of April. Since I operate from a desktop PC I will be more or less off the air during that time, unless I can persuade my daughters to give me a bit of air time now and then.
The whole thing has been such a drag that my wife and I have decided to give ourselves a treat, so we will be spending the first week in March at St Lucia / Cape Vidal, where we hope to find you some nice birds.
Best wishes,
Dave

 

[Allan Hobbs]

Best of luck with the move Dave, and have a great time in St Lucia.

Allan

 

[Allan Hobbs]

Hi Allan, welcome back!

Thanks Sal :hi:

Allan

 

[Allan Hobbs]

Hi everyone

This is the first time that I've posted on this forum. We holidayed in South Africa in July / Aug 2011 and I had Stierlings Wren Warbler at Marloth, along the fence walk next to Crocodile River. I hadn't realised that it was such a good bird!

Keep up the posts guys - it's great reading. I miss SA a lot and can;t wait to get back.

Cheers

John

Hi Johnnie and welcome.
Where did you stay in Marloth?
Allan

 

[Martin Hobbs]

Latest in Marloth Park

Hi All.
Just had another trip to Marloth Park.
Lots of juveniles around just to complicate identification!!
The park has had really good rains so far this season and so the veld looks healthy and the dam inside the park now has lots of water and so it is now full with water and wetland birds again.
I spent a very relaxing and interesting few hours around the dam, including being stalked (if that is the correct terminology) by a Crocodile. I was standing on the bank in among some bushes and staying still and waiting for the birds to return to the area when I noticed a Crocodile slowly but surely making its' way toward me:eek!: I thought .... you are joking aren't you... but evidently...it wasn't. It slowly lowered itself so only its' eyes were showing and kept slowly moving toward me! I decided to move:-O
For the rest of the time standing close to the waters edge trying to get better pictures and sightings I was nervous and not relaxed and truly happy!
Anyway I had a interesting few hours.
The pics of the Woodland Kingfisher feeding the juvenile was one I took the chance of spending time at the waters edge!!
The pics of the Purple-crested Turaco's was taken in my brother-in-laws 'garden' area, again feeding the Juvenile in the picture below.

 

[Martin Hobbs]

The whole thing has been such a drag that my wife and I have decided to give ourselves a treat, so we will be spending the first week in March at St Lucia / Cape Vidal, where we hope to find you some nice birds.
Best wishes,
Dave[/QUOTE]

Hi Dave,
Lovely place to take a break.
One of mine and my wife's favourite places to go as well. The drive from St. Lucia to Cape Vidal is one of my favourite places for birds and a pleasant day out as well.
Look forward to hearing and seeing what you found there.

Martin

 

[Sal]

Hi All.
Just had another trip to Marloth Park.
Lots of juveniles around just to complicate identification!!
The park has had really good rains so far this season and so the veld looks healthy and the dam inside the park now has lots of water and so it is now full with water and wetland birds again.
I spent a very relaxing and interesting few hours around the dam, including being stalked (if that is the correct terminology) by a Crocodile. I was standing on the bank in among some bushes and staying still and waiting for the birds to return to the area when I noticed a Crocodile slowly but surely making its' way toward me:eek!: I thought .... you are joking aren't you... but evidently...it wasn't. It slowly lowered itself so only its' eyes were showing and kept slowly moving toward me! I decided to move:-O
For the rest of the time standing close to the waters edge trying to get better pictures and sightings I was nervous and not relaxed and truly happy!
Anyway I had a interesting few hours.
The pics of the Woodland Kingfisher feeding the juvenile was one I took the chance of spending time at the waters edge!!
The pics of the Purple-crested Turaco's was taken in my brother-in-laws 'garden' area, again feeding the Juvenile in the picture below.

Lovely pic of the Kingfishers Martin - almost worth braving the crocodile for! :-O
Great for you to have spent time in Marloth again. Ah well, not too long before my next Kruger visit - another 93 sleeps . . . . So have you stopped listing birds in favour of photographing them?

 

[Sal]

To Sal, Martin, Allan and all the Southern African contributors -

Tomorrow morning our home of the past 24 years gets packed away and taken into storage. During March we'll do a bit of carpeting, tiling etc. in the new house, and hopefully move in around the beginning of April. Since I operate from a desktop PC I will be more or less off the air during that time, unless I can persuade my daughters to give me a bit of air time now and then.
The whole thing has been such a drag that my wife and I have decided to give ourselves a treat, so we will be spending the first week in March at St Lucia / Cape Vidal, where we hope to find you some nice birds.
Best wishes,
Dave

Stressful. I know . . . . Going away to Vidal and St Lucia sounds like perfect therapy and I hope you have a great break. Like Martin, I hope we'll get to hear about it some time when you are back on line.

 

[Sal]

Spent the morning with the bird club at Benvie in the Karkloof. It is a private estate but the owners are birders and allow birding groups in provided that they book in advance and treat the place with respect. It is a forest area with lots of streams and little dams but a lot of the trees are exotics. it is known for birds like the Cape Parrot, the Orange Ground Thrush, the Mountain Wagtail, the Bush Blackcap and so on. However, the last pair of Cape Parrots left in December and have not been back so the owners are very concerned that they may have lost them for good. There was a truly massive storm in December which smashed its way through the area, very heavy hail, and they wonder if all the nuts, fruits and so on which normally supply the parrots were wiped out.

On the way up we saw a field full of White Storks, and masses of Steppe Buzzards on the telephone poles.
It was a quiet morning once we got there and we didn't see a lot, but it was very pleasant walking through the forest .

Village Weaver
Speckled Mousebird
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Cape Turtle Dove
Olive Thrush
African Olive Pigeon
Red-eyed Dove
Dusky Flycatcher
Egyptian Goose
Hadeda Ibis
Southern Boubou
Black Flycatcher
Fork-tailed Drongo
Barn Swallow
Little Swift
White-rumped swift
Amethyst Sunbird
Cape White-eye
Sombre Bulbul
Olive Woodpecker
Forest Weaver
Mountain Wagtail

Unfortunately I dipped on a Grey Cuckooshrike. No pics as I didn't take my camera.

 

[Martin Hobbs]

Lovely pic of the Kingfishers Martin - almost worth braving the crocodile for! :-O
Great for you to have spent time in Marloth again. Ah well, not too long before my next Kruger visit - another 93 sleeps . . . . So have you stopped listing birds in favour of photographing them?

Hi Sal,
It wasn't a vacation trip...... I went up to do some more work on the house we have in Marloth.
When taking a break in between waiting for cement, plaster and paint to dry I went to the dam for a look.
You are correct though that I am focusing on my bird photography more and more. I not only enjoy being in the veld, following birds, butterflies and insects, but also enjoy the challenge of getting the best possible pictures as well.
I need the sort of equipment that that professional bird photographer I sent to you uses:-O

Marloth have posted warning boards at every dam now of Crocodiles and Hippos, as they have found that kids were swimming in the dams!!!!!
After seeing that Croc the last thing I would do is swim in any of these dams.....what are their parents thinking?????

Marloth Park is a nature conservation area with wild animals. It is no different to KNP...and would anybody consider swimming in any dam in KNP?

I am logging every bird sighting that I have in MP though...my intention is to list all of the birds in MP.....with pictures.

Martin

 

[Martin Hobbs]

Ah well, not too long before my next Kruger visit - another 93 sleeps . . . .

Hi Sal,
Where are you going in KNP this time?

Martin

 

[Martin Hobbs]

Spent the morning with the bird club at Benvie in the Karkloof. It is a private estate but the owners are birders and allow birding groups in provided that they book in advance and treat the place with respect. It is a forest area with lots of streams and little dams but a lot of the trees are exotics. it is known for birds like the Cape Parrot, the Orange Ground Thrush, the Mountain Wagtail, the Bush Blackcap and so on. However, the last pair of Cape Parrots left in December and have not been back so the owners are very concerned that they may have lost them for good. There was a truly massive storm in December which smashed its way through the area, very heavy hail, and they wonder if all the nuts, fruits and so on which normally supply the parrots were wiped out.
Unfortunately I dipped on a Grey Cuckooshrike. No pics as I didn't take my camera.

Hi Sal,
The Cape Parrot is in trouble with fewer than 1000 birds remaining. It is a real shame that you didn't get to see them as Karkloof is one of the places listed to see them. You are probably correct that they have flown to another location following the food. They are known for flying great distances in search of food.
The Bush Black Cap and the Grey Cuckooshrike would have been new sightings for me as well.
It is nice just to be out and about with the birds anytime, especially in a new location.

Martin

 

[ivan.dalglish]

Well Done

Superb Birding Forum, wish I knew about it when I lived there. Back home in Ireland now after 33 years, missing all the action in my garden.

 

[WobblyWilly]

Ah, but you have some great birds in your pubs...!B

 

[Allan Hobbs]

including being stalked (if that is the correct terminology) by a Crocodile. I was standing on the bank in among some bushes and staying still and waiting for the birds to return to the area when I noticed a Crocodile slowly but surely making its' way toward me:eek!: I thought .... you are joking aren't you... but evidently...it wasn't. It slowly lowered itself so only its' eyes were showing and kept slowly moving toward me! I decided to move:-O

So how big was this croc?

4, 5 even 6...............
centimetres :-O

Allan

 

[Allan Hobbs]

Hi all,
any offers on what the attached picture is, taken last June near Satara in KNP? Wahlberg's?

Sorry about the quality, dawn, cloudy and extreme range for the lens.

Thanks
Allan

 

[WobblyWilly]

I'm considering visiting Nylsvlei -

Does anyone have any info regarding the state of the area re: water?

 

[WobblyWilly]

Oh, and accommodation please?

 

[Sal]

Hi Sal,
It wasn't a vacation trip...... I went up to do some more work on the house we have in Marloth.
When taking a break in between waiting for cement, plaster and paint to dry I went to the dam for a look.
You are correct though that I am focusing on my bird photography more and more. I not only enjoy being in the veld, following birds, butterflies and insects, but also enjoy the challenge of getting the best possible pictures as well.
I need the sort of equipment that that professional bird photographer I sent to you uses:-O

Marloth have posted warning boards at every dam now of Crocodiles and Hippos, as they have found that kids were swimming in the dams!!!!!
After seeing that Croc the last thing I would do is swim in any of these dams.....what are their parents thinking?????

Marloth Park is a nature conservation area with wild animals. It is no different to KNP...and would anybody consider swimming in any dam in KNP?

I am logging every bird sighting that I have in MP though...my intention is to list all of the birds in MP.....with pictures.

Martin

I have the most frustrating Internet connection up here in the Midlands. It never seems to wake up first thing in the morning; requires constant booting of the antenna before it notices me; loses touch whenever it feels like it and all of this is compounded by an extremely unstable electricity supply from what I have gathered. Just telling you this so you all know why I don't reply for so long! I absolutely understand your movement towards pictures Martin and I'm sure you must be well on your way to having a great photographic bird file, to say nothing of the insect ones!

 

[Sal]

Ah well, not too long before my next Kruger visit - another 93 sleeps . . . .

Hi Sal,
Where are you going in KNP this time?

Martin

Hi Martin! Almost the same as last year, - Pretoriuskop,out of the Park via Palaborwa, to Mopani, then Satara and finally to Berg-en-Dal. the only difference is that we are not going to Biyamiti - it has become too expensive . . . .