lmSA84 - Big Year 2017

[lmSA84]

@@michael-ibk - thanks. I got the impression from prior trip reports that they would be common but it wasn't the case.

 

We did however see Karoo Korhaan and the Southern Black Korhaan when we transferred from Clanwilliam through Calvinia and the Bushmanland. Sadly no photos.

[PeterHG]

@@PeterHG - Thanks! I hope you had an excellent KTP trip. Where in the park did you go? We spent our time in the Twee Rivieren and Mata Mata camps and had an excellent time. We meet some people though who had transferred over from the Nossob area on account of the poor game viewing - the heavy rains apparently dispersed the game up there but I would be interested to hear if you saw anything similar / different.

 

We stayed at Kalahari Tented Camp (2 nights), Mata Mata (2 nights), Nossob (2 nights), Kieliekrankie (1 night) and Twee Rivieren (2 nights. The going was slow at first, due to the rainfall before and during the first days of our stay. There was plenty of water everywhere, so the waterholes were hardly visited. In the end, though we still managed several lion and cheeta sightings. Birding was quite good, with lots of raptors. Our best lion and cheeta sightings were from Twee Rivieren on the Aub side. The Northern Black Koreans were plentiful along the southern dune crossing form Aub to Nossob side.

[lmSA84]

@@PeterHG - thanks for details. Sounds like a fantastic trip and I'm glad to hear that it ultimately proved so successful.

[lmSA84]

152. Kalahari Scrub Robin, Marrick (Kimberley), 07/02

 

 

[lmSA84]

153. Diederik Cuckoo, Marrick, 7/2

 

Adult

 

 

Juvenile - appeared to be calling for food from the Red-headed Finches

 

Edited March 8, 2017 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

154. Red-headed Finch, Marrick, 7/2

 

[lmSA84]

155. Brubru, Marrick, 7/2

 

[lmSA84]

156. Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Marrick, 7/2

 

[lmSA84]

157. African Hoopoe, Marrick, 7/2

 

[lmSA84]

158. Red-billed Firefinch, Marrick, 6/2

 

[lmSA84]

159. Chinspot Batis, Marrick, 8/2

 

This is the male

 

[lmSA84]

160. Shaft-tailed Whydah, Marrick, 8/2

 

This is the female. I unfortunately never saw the male.

 

[lmSA84]

161. Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, Marrick, 9/2

 

[lmSA84]

162. Spotted Flycatcher, Marrick, 6/2

 

[lmSA84]

163. Greater Stripped Swallow, Marrick, 7/2

 

[lmSA84]

164. Eurasian Hobby, Marrick, 7/2

 

These are awful photos taken on a night drive but I never saw these birds clearly in the day light. This is a juvenile.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2017 by lmSA84

[michael-ibk]

Great photo of the Batis!

[PeterHG]

You have already reached an imrpessive number for this year and with great variety!

[lmSA84]

@@michael-ibk - thanks, but I just realised that it's the wrong identification - that one is Pririt Batis

[lmSA84]

165. Double-banded Courser, Marrick, 6/2

 

[lmSA84]

166. Temminck's Courser, Mokala National Park, 10/2

 

Photo taken at a great distance

 

[lmSA84]

167. Orange River Francolin, Mokala National Park, 10/02

 

These difficult birds to photograph in a conventional 4x4. They move so fast and if you don't have the height of a game vehicle it's tough to follow them. This is the best I could do.

 

[lmSA84]

168. Greater Kestrel, Mokala National Park, 10/2

 

It's an awful photo but it's the only chance that I got to see this bird.

 

[lmSA84]

169. White-winged Tern, Mokala National Park, 9/2

 

More poor photography but again it was the only chance that I got to view this species. This is one of South Africa's few inland species of Tern.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by lmSA84

[lmSA84]

170. Lesser Kestrel, Mokala National Park, 9/2

 

This isn't a great idea photo but I'm confident in the ID. We saw a big group of 50 or so of these birds. They did a beautiful fly bye as we braai-ed at our chalet in Lilydale. The challenge was that they did it late in the evening and shot by very close leaving little chance for focusing.

 

Edited March 9, 2017 by lmSA84