praying mantid pseudocrebotra wahlberg

Whilst ringing in the garden I caught something that was not expected so I thought I would share a few pictures of what I have since found out is praying mantid pseudocrebotra wahlberg.

Ringing Umzumbe Floodplain 2nd October 2011

For once the forecast was fair and accurate, with nice cloud cover and no rain. With a total of 9 nets up a total of 66 birds were ringed mostly species that were to be expected in the area, and 1 recapture of a Cape Weaver from June last year. Interestingly the Cape Weaver seems to have pushed the Village Weaver out of the area to a great degree, up untill last year Cape Weavers were not recorded there but good numbers of Village Weaver were always caught. The first Diederck Cuckoo of the season was heard calling in the morning but never came near the nets, Lesser Striped Swallows were trying to repair their nests underneath the N2 bridge, they seem to battle with the high traffic flow above constantly causing movement on the bridge, every nest from last season had to be repaired.

Male Common Stonechat



Male Cape Weaver

male Redcollared Widow changing into breeding plumage



male Amethyst Sunbird - a stunning bird





Lesser Striped Swallow sitting under the bridge