Jump to content

Soukous

Recommended Posts

It just wouldn’t be right to go all the way to South Africa without spending some time at my own house, so after my week in KZN and Eswatini, I flew down to George and drove up to Witfontein.

 

For those of you that haven’t heard me mention it before, Witfontein is an old Cape Dutch farmhouse that we bought almost 20 years ago and renovated. It is now at the heart of a private 2000ha wildlife reserve which we share with 16 other homeowners.

 

I love this place and I really wish I could spend more time there.

It doesn't matter about the time of day, it looks wonderful in the early morning 

 

Early morning in our little piece of heaven. Swartberg, Klein Karoo.

 

It looks just as lovely in the afternoon

It looks just as lovely in the afternoon. Swartberg, Klein Karoo.

 

 

The reason we bought this house in the first place was because we had a friend who lived about a kilometre away. He’s no longer there, but his wife was a keen birder and she compiled a list of all the species she had sighted in the area.

 

Her original list was around 200 species. One of the things I did whilst I was there was to update her list, changing names to the new ones where necessary and adding the species which I’ve seen that were not included.

Our tally now stands at 220.

Swartberg-Birds-1200.jpg.e6f6a80b3cbe445af83b233c3072e44d.jpg

 

On this visit I got nowhere near that, managing a meagre 67 species, but I had great fun doing it.

So there's the challenge for you @Zim Girl :rolleyes:

 

Yellow Bishop

 

Yellow Bishop

 

African Stone Chat

African Stonechat

 

African Pipit

African Pipit

 

Yellow Fronted Canary

Yellow-fronted Canary

 

Red winged Starling

Red-winged Starling

 

Pied Starling

Pied Starling

 

Familiar Chat

Familiar Chat

 

Pearl Breasted Swallow

Pearl-breasted Swallow

 

White Throated Swallow

White-throated Swallow

 

White Breasted Cormorant

White-breasted Cormorant

 

Blue Crane

Blue Crane

 

Yellow Billed Ducks

Yellow-billed Ducks

 

Secretary Bird

Secretary Bird

 

Fiscal Flycatcher (or Flycatcher Fiscal, depending on which bird guide you use)

Fiscal Flycatcher

 

Crowned Lapwing

Crowned Lapwing

 

Malachite Sunbird

Malachite Sunbird (m)

 

Malachite Sunbird (m)

 

Malachite Sunbird (f)

Malachite Sunbird (f)

 

Greater Double Collared Sunbird

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

 

Cape Weaver

Cape Weaver

 

African Hoopoe

African Hoopoe

 

Cape Bulbul

Cape Bulbul

 

Cape Clapper Lark

Cape Clapper Lark

 

Cape Clapper Lark - clapping. 

Grey Heron

 

Speckled Mousebird

Speckled Mousebird

 

Karoo Scrub Robin

Karoo Scrub Robin

 

Karoo Prinia

Karoo Prinia

 

Grey Heron

Grey Heron

 

Common Waxbill

Common Waxbills

 

Southern Red Bishop

Southern Red Bishop

 

Southern Red Bishop

 

There are animals there as well

Giraffes

 

Gemsbok

 

Lechwe

 

Edited by Soukous
Link to comment
Share on other sites

56 minutes ago, Soukous said:

On this visit I got nowhere near that, managing a meagre 67 species, but I had great fun doing it.

So there's the challenge for you @Zim Girl :rolleyes:

 

 

And there is me just saying in my BY that I am mainly interested in the UK birds!!

I now have a list and pictures and I can't resist a challenge:D  So duly accepted @Soukous

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Soukous said:

On this visit I got nowhere near that, managing a meagre 67 species, but I had great fun doing it.

So there's the challenge for you @Zim Girl :rolleyes:

 

Now, if that's a challenge for one ST member, surely it's a challenge for the rest of us. When you can put us all up @Soukous? And can you loan me a top end camera and a 600 prime so I can play too?

 

Matt

Link to comment
Share on other sites

54 minutes ago, Game Warden said:

 

Now, if that's a challenge for one ST member, surely it's a challenge for the rest of us. When you can put us all up @Soukous? And can you loan me a top end camera and a 600 prime so I can play too?

 

Matt

 

Hmm, As long as not everyone turns up at the same time we should be able to manage something. I can even lend you a camera Matt, can't promise it will be top end but the photographer is more important than the equipment. A man of your talents should be able to get award winning pictures with a cell phone. :P

 

PS. That challenge was particularly for @Zim Girl as she is coming to stay there in November. Which, incidentally is exactly the time I took these photos and is a beautiful time to be there.

Edited by Soukous
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Peter Connan

Lovely shots from your home-away-from-home turf @Soukous

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The photograph of the Blue Crane is one that l could look at all day. Oh to be able to live there, l would never need to go on another ST.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, Soukous said:

PS. That challenge was particularly for @Zim Girl as she is coming to stay there in November. Which, incidentally is exactly the time I took these photos and is a beautiful time to be there.

 

Can't wait to be there - the pictures are all glorious!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Safaritalk uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By using Safaritalk you agree to our use of cookies. If you wish to refuse the setting of cookies you can change settings on your browser to clear and block cookies. However, by doing so, Safaritalk may not work properly and you may not be able to access all areas. If you are happy to accept cookies and haven't adjusted browser settings to refuse cookies, Safaritalk will issue cookies when you log on to our site. Please also take a moment to read the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy: Terms of Use l Privacy Policy