21 May 2012

Forest Ringing in Gwala Gwala

I have always maintained that ringing in the forest is not easy with quality birds being caught and ringed, not quantity which we get in other locations. For those who joined in the quality birds certainly made an appearance.
the first bird out of the nets was a superb "Brown Scrub-Robin"
Brown Scrub-Robin



This is one of those birds that is not easily seen, so this was a real treat, however things soon took a step up when another Robin was caught, and this is the only true Robin in South Africa, the others are either Scrub-Robin's or Robin-Chat's. There are other true Robins within Southern Africa, but these are found out side of our borders. When the immature White-Stared Robin was caught attitudes changed as the realisation of my words sunk in. This robin is listed as an attitudinal migrant and visits us on the coast for winter.
immature White-Stared Robin


We then caught a few common birds like Greenbacked Cameroptera, Natal (Redcapped) Robin-Chat, Olive Sunbird and then a recapture of a male Collared Sunbird which I ringed here on 16th July 2005, not a bad record for a bird that weighs in at 7 grams.
Following these "common" birds more forest specials started to appear and we then caught 2 Lemon (cinnamon) Doves, this is another name that recently changed and why it was changed to Lemon Dove is a complete mystery as the prominent colour is a Cinnamon colour.

Lemon (Cinnamon) Dove


Then a Squaretailed Drongo was caught, this is a bird that is a forest special and is sought after by a lot of people. You can clearly see the stiff hairs on this photo.

Squaretailed Drongo

4 May 2012

Drakensberg Mountains Trip 20th to 27th April 2012

It was time to spend a week away and a trip to the mountains was long overdue, here are a few of the 600+ photos that I took during the week.

What a view!! Imagine waking up to this everyday?


the best form of rodent control you could wish to have. Spotted Eagle Owl. Why do people still use poisons?


Bird of the Year

African Fish Eagle. Just love this photo for its artistic value


Greater Double Collared Sunbird. The colours are just amazing


Although common the Egyptian Goose is still an attractive bird


Burchells Zebra. Two families would visit on a daily basis