Soukous, trying to do better in 2018

[Soukous]

#55 Secretary Bird (Saggitarius serperntarius)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#56 Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#57 Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

#58 Speckled Pigeon (Columba guinea)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

#59 Verreaux's (Black) Eagle (Aquila verreauxii)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

A disappointing shot. We spotted a pair of these eagles trying to grab a springbok lamb. Too slow to get a decent shot.

 

[Soukous]

#60 White Faced Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna viduata)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

#61 White Throated Swallow (Hirundo albigularis)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

#62 Yellow Billed Duck (Anas undulata)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

#63 Southern Black Flycatcher (Melaenornis pammelaina)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

 

[Peter Connan]

4 hours ago, Soukous said:

 

Of course @Peter Connan

The area where we have our house is Matjiesrivier, very close to the base of the Swartberg Pass.

It is a private game reserve of 2000 hectares with a few houses on it. Click here to take a look

Basically it is recovered farm land that is now used for wild animals, antelopes, zebra & giraffe. The number of bird species has been growing steadily and we now have quite a nice collection of resident species, including quite a few raptors: Martial Eagle, Verraux's Eagle, Jackal Buzzard, Common Buzzard, Forest Buzzard, Secretary Bird, Snake Eagle, Rock Kestrel. 

 

My grandparents retired to the town of Prins Albert, just the other side of the mountains, so I have loved that area for many years.

 

Fantastic collection of birds!

 

But now i have to ask: have you ever taken the train to get there?

[Soukous]

11 minutes ago, Peter Connan said:

 

My grandparents retired to the town of Prins Albert, just the other side of the mountains, so I have loved that area for many years.

 

Fantastic collection of birds!

 

But now i have to ask: have you ever taken the train to get there?

 

No, I've never taken the train Although I do see the tracks when I drive from Oudtshoorn to George I've never seen a train.

 

@Peter Connan If you ever want to bring your family down to spend a few days at our place you're most welcome. 

 

Yes, the birds seem to get better every year. There are at least 20 or so that I wasn't able to get pictures of this time around.  I spent hours trying to photograph a Paradise Flycatcher without any luck. The day I saw the Martial Eagle it was very overcast and raining and the bird was far away. 

I also spent a couple of mornings trying to see a Giant Kingfisher - again no luck. 

So lots of challenges for next time.

[TonyQ]

Racing along now with many fine additions. The Bishop is very striking!

[Peter Connan]

Thank you for that very kind offer @Soukous.

 

I will make sure to take you up on it!

[Soukous]

4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Thank you for that very kind offer @Soukous.

 

I will make sure to take you up on it!

 

[Soukous]

#64 Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo)

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2018

 

[Soukous]

Just back from a fantastic safari in India.

I have to agree with @Dave Williams that whilst it is fairly easy to see the birds, getting decent images is a real challenge. The forest is so dense and the canopy is so high that many of them just appear as black blobs against the sky. 

It took me a while to work out why it is so different from Africa. 

In much of Africa, especially southern Africa, elephants damage keeps the forest quite low. Most Mopane forest is only 3-4 metres high and you can easily see the birds. India is much more like Majete NP in Malawi where the forest is dense and high. 

 

Still, my count was, I think, respectable. 

In Corbett I managed to ID 127 species

In Central India I got 152 species

Ladakh came way behind with just 17 species.

Several species appear on both the Corbett and Central India lists

 

bird list india.pdf

[Soukous]

So here we go, with some of the birds I managed to capture in India. 

Best of all, so many of these species were ones I had never photographed before.

 

#65 Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassinus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#66 Lineated Barbet (Megalaima lineata)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#67 Yellow Footed Green Pigeon (Treron phoenicopterus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#68 Kalij Pheasant (Lophura leucomelanus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#69 Small Minivet (Pericrocotus cinnamomeus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#70 Golden Fronted Leaf Bird (Chloropsis aurifrons)

Corbett Tiger reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#71 Red Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus indicus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#72 Black Winged Kite / Black Shouldered Kite (Elanus caeruleus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. march 2018

 

 

[Soukous]

#73 Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus)

Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. March 2018