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Birding on 3 continents


xelas

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On the 3rd year of participating at Big Year, we will explore bird life on 3 different continents. We hope that birds will be cooperative, and that we all will enjoy in future days, weeks and months.

 

We have started on day 1 of New Year 2018, in southern part of South Africa; Hermanus, De Hoop, Wilderness, Karoo NP, Montague, Franschhoek and Cape Town were our main stops. I will post birds in the alphabetical order of their English names.

 

 

BY001 / SA001

Acacia Pied Barbet - Tricholaema leucomelas

 

5a6e4ace49619_AcaciaPiedBarbetAA.JPG.c86f5524b68e14968e00957bb635eeea.JPG

Karoo NP / 05.01.2018

 

juvenile

5a6e4c190bdd6_AcaciaPiedBarbetjuvFB.JPG.45f5d3cfb8ddb8acdd80dc08a9307a8e.JPG

Karoo NP / 06.01.2018

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BY002 / SA002

African Darter - Anhinga rufa

 

5a6e539a7ffe4_AfricanDarterCA.JPG.5f68e0a05b5280517adfa80b1f5df790.JPG

 

5a6e539853361_AfricanDarterBA.JPG.4ca1d59feddc1e4c50b5e51d4b77fc5f.JPG

Stanford - Kleinrivier / 01.01.2018

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Great start!

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There are a lot of birds with "African" in its names. Some are small (but deadly):

 

 

BY003 / SA003

African Dusky Flycatcher - Muscicapa adusta

 

5a6f82d6bb25f_AfricanDuskyFlycatcherXA.JPG.5828b790762b2064d88c3c37ea5a04c1.JPG

Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden / 13.01.2018

 

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There were not many eagles to be seen this time around. This one was taken from the boat. 

 

 

BY004 / SA004

African Fish Eagle - Haliaeetus vocifer

 

5a6f83a9d9f09_AfricanFishEagleAA.JPG.aa8218352935b856adf8fb109a975af1.JPG

 

5a6f83ac08cdf_AfricanFishEagleDA.JPG.2d83fbee5b7331da1588c0f3fa67e1c9.JPG

De Hoop / 02.01.2018

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Another bird of prey; it has eluded us on our first visit to Strandfontein but not on our second one.

 

 

BY005 / SA005

African Marsh Harrier - Circus ranivorus

 

5a6f847dbf93a_AfricanMarshHarrierAB.JPG.2cc79c742867576303bb82b8d034f51a.JPG

Strandfontein / 14.01.2018

 

Edited by xelas
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BY006 / SA006

African Olive Pigeon - Columba arquatrix

 

5a6f87b19356c_AfricanOlivePigeonBA.jpeg.1c9d5f01bedca9382ef2bf4316e3fe90.jpeg

Wilderness / 04.01.2018

Edited by xelas
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The most "different" bird of them all :P; but when young they do show some feathers.

 

 

BY007 / SA007

African Penguin - Spheniscus demersus

 

5a6f881b9ad10_AfricanPenguinBA.JPG.1c18f43022eb08fb5646cace776ae16d.JPG

 

juvenile

5a6f881f602e1_AfricanPenguinEA.JPG.624990ad0265511a8be3aa869e9a9f7a.JPG

Boulders Beach / 12.01.2018

Edited by xelas
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Back to proper birds; this one lives on ground and have adequate colours to blend naturally

 

 

BY008 / SA008

African Pipit - Anthus cinnamomeus

 

5a6f892dbc179_AfricanPipitAB.JPG.e1de79171efb8dd6b1a2f8c512ca36c6.JPG

Montagu / 08.01.2018

 

Edited by xelas
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This one does not blend in easily :D.

 

 

BY009 / SA009

African Red-eyed Bulbul - Pycnonotus nigricans

 

5a6f8996c953f_AfricanRed-eyedBulbulA.JPG.005a3c3719ff7770233b8d27779a713d.JPG

Karoo NP / 06.01.2018

 

Edited by xelas
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Warblers are, like Cisticolas, really difficult to ID. Luckily there are only 2 warblers in this area so hopefully I have properly ID them.

 

BY010 / SA010

African Reed Warbler - Acrocephalus baeticatus

 

5a6f97b26862b_AfricanReedWarblerx1A.JPG.558506796fc71f05fabb4b535936a30f.JPG

Strandfontein / 11.01.2018

Edited by xelas
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BY011 / SA011

African Snipe - Gallinago nigripennis

 

5a6f980609279_AfricanSnipeFA.JPG.dd2f8c0b7a02a407762fa426c521964e.JPG

De Hoop / 02.01.2018

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One more water bird, this one from the hide.

 

BY012 - SA012

African Spoonbill - Platalea alba

 

5a6f985c4c05d_AfricanSpoonbillAA.JPG.d19ae9e5d4f4fe054dc69d5af4706d2d.JPG

 

5a6f985e5805e_AfricanSpoonbillCA.JPG.f84146cf8c571121a5a070f01d18ac98.JPG

Wilderness / 04.01.2018

Edited by xelas
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By using side, gravel roads we have had many opportunities to stop for birds, as traffic was slow there.

 

 

BY013 / SA013

African Stonechat - Saxicola torquatus

 

male

5a6f9b19a1b36_AfricanStonechat9A.jpeg.414515db7b57868790228bb3e626c6da.jpeg

 

female

5a6f9b1bcafa3_AfricanStonechatA9A.jpeg.336624084dd331c136a98380bce54e60.jpeg

Rooisand / 10.01.2018

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And last  African (in name) bird.

 

 

BY014 - SA014

African Swamphen - Porphyrio madagascariensis

 

5a6f9c1cf2de6_AfricanSwamphenBA.JPG.60175cffe063a10c2fb234120e89c4f5.JPG

Stanford - Kleinrivier / 01.01.2018

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@xelas, really like that Spoonbill, Zvezdas photography (and your PP) really highlight the detail, interesting that their bills come in a range of colours around the world.

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Fish eagle! You lucky fish! Great shot of the takeoff.

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5 hours ago, elefromoz said:

@xelas, really like that Spoonbill, Zvezdas photography (and your PP) really highlight the detail, interesting that their bills come in a range of colours around the world.

 

Thank you, @elefromoz! This year you will see many birds "up close and personal" as such is how Zvezda likes them, and I am only following her directions when cropping (if cropping is needed).

The Red-eyed Bulbul is no crop at all. African Marsh Harrier is both severe crop and 2 stops of overxposing. But what I am surprised is how good the quality came out at HighISO when the subject fills the frame; African Dusky Flycatcher was only minor crop but it surely does not show its ISO12800! I have left exif data intact.

Edited by xelas
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4 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Fish eagle! You lucky fish! Great shot of the takeoff.

 

There is another photo at immediate take-off moment, which I will include in our Trip Report, specially for you, Peter :D. Zvezda has worked hard to do as many BIF as possible. Slight change in settings helped her getting more keepers, but D7200 is no D500 with Group AF :mellow::(.

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Ending with "African" but continuing with letter A.

 

 

BY015 / SA015

Agulhas Long-billed Lark - Certhilauda brevirostris

 

 

5a70b4964e734_AgulhasLong-billedLarkCB.JPG.3851ce4afea7b995ef312accf1d6b9f0.JPG

De Hoop / 01.01.2018

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Not the best photo; I know people that could do much better PP on this tough to nail exposure bird.

 

 

BY016 / SA016

Amethyst Sunbird - Chalcomitra amethystina

 

5a70b574e0f12_AmethystSunbirdBA.JPG.7367546c2f3adfd9efe771590e800ceb.JPG

De Hoop / 02.01.2018

 

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This one will ruffle some feathers in the birders community; it should never flew that south. However, and not alone on this one, the facial signs are undoubtedly pointed in this direction:

 

 

BY017 / SA017

Ashy Flycatcher - Muscicapa caerulescens

 

5a70b68dad4b0_AshyFlycatcherAA.JPG.8a5662c29b332baea555a611000fe1be.JPG

Kirstenbosch / 13.01.2018

 

Edited by xelas
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Moving on to letter B. There are two "B"s on this photo:

 

 

BY018 / SA018

Bar-throated Apalis - Apalis thoracica

 

5a70bfd8395cf_Bar-throatedApalisBA.JPG.499d4d58dff96d22e96066576603d071.JPG

De Hoop / 02.01.2018

 

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And also on this one:

 

 

BY019 / SA019

Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica

 

5a70c0922c77f_BarnSwallowEA.JPG.39bae9ab1a2778aa3ee14cb01378229e.JPG

Strandfontein / 11.01.2018

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