PeterHG's fifth attempt

[PeterHG]

196 (SA 184). Cinnamon-breasted Bunting. Dinokeng, February.

 

[PeterHG]

197 (SA 185). Speckled Pigeon. Dinokeng, February.

 

 

[PeterHG]

198 (SA 186). Hamerkop. Dinokeng, February

 

[PeterHG]

199 (187). Red-chested Cuckoo. Dinokeng, February. A rather frustrating bird. Heard many times, but seen only this once and then only briefly.

 

[PeterHG]

My sister and brother-in-law wanted to do some shopping on their last day in SA. This is not our greatest hobby, so we dropped them off at a large mall and decided to spend a few hours in the Pretoria Botanical Gardens. As it is surrounded by some busy roads you do not want to venture to close to the edges of the gardens but in the centre part it was quiet and there were also a few birds.

 

200 (SA 188). Crowned Lapwing. Pretoria, February. My ageing back does not allow me many low angle shots , but with the help of the flipped out lcd screen I managed to get the result I wanted.

 

[TonyQ]

@PeterHG Well done on reaching 200. Excellent photos throughout,and a real pleasure to see your South Africa additions.

[Tdgraves]

Congrats on 200! Our only ever sighting of a great spotted cuckoo was also at the sable hide!

[Soukous]

Well done on reaching 200.

For some reason I always get excited about seeing cuckoos. They were always a bird I heard a lot but rarely saw. So many of them are really beautiful.

[xelas]

Splendid Lapwing photo for a splendid #200, @PeterHG!

[xelas]

30 minutes ago, Soukous said:

For some reason I always get excited about seeing cuckoos

 

Then don't miss my next posts !

 

Please excuse me for using your thread for such blatant self-marketing, @PeterHG . It won't happen again .

[Galana]

Congratulations on the 200. Some excellent photos to get there too.

[Peter Connan]

Lovely shot for the double century. Well done!

[michael-ibk]

3 hours ago, PeterHG said:

A rather frustrating bird. (RC-Cuckoo)

 Indeed it is - just out there to torment us photographers!

 

Congratulations on #200 Peter, so many high quality shots, really impressive! Crowned Lapwing is an unusual choice for a century but really a good one - a gorgeous photo.

 

 

[Dave Williams]

Nice one on 200! Not many will make that the way things are going!!! 

Again, some excellent images too.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ, @Tdgraves, @Soukous, @xelas, @Galana, @Peter Connan, @michael-ibk, @Dave Williams.

 

A few last one from the trip then.

201 (SA 189). Thick-billed Weaver. Pretoria, February.

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

202 (SA 190) Blacksmith Lapwing. Pretoria, February. Seen in many places.

 

[PeterHG]

203 (SA 191). Cape Wagtail. Pretoria, February

 

[PeterHG]

204 (SA 192). Karoo Thrush. Pretoria, February

 

[PeterHG]

205 (SA 193). Dark-capped Bulbul. Pretoria, February. For all the bulbul lovers among us

 

[PeterHG]

206 (SA 194) Southern Boubou. Pretoria, February. This ends the SA collection (unless I come across a stray one later on). I do feel privileged that at least we got to make this trip before the world got locked down by the virus. We saw a total of 238 species and had many other exciting wildlife sightings. Doing this with brother, sister and in-laws made it a special trip, too. As interests may differ, of course there were some compromises, but we all love seeing wildlife and the shared thrill of the 'hunt' and the joint meals and guitar sessions added to the experience. 

 

[Soukous]

I'm very happy that you made your trip too, so that you could share so many beautiful pictures with us. 

[Kitsafari]

what a fabulous collection from SA! congrats on the 200th - and a brilliant shot as well.  

[xelas]

1 hour ago, PeterHG said:

For all the bulbul lovers among us

 

Thank you very much !

[xelas]

1 hour ago, PeterHG said:

we all love seeing wildlife and the shared thrill of the 'hunt' and the joint meals and guitar sessions added to the experience. 

 

I have no doubts you have all enjoyed this trip immensely. I know who was playing the guitar, but who was singing ?

Edited April 26, 2020 by xelas

[michael-ibk]

Thanks for sharing your SA birds Peter, beautiful collection. And now you´ve got that done I´m sure we can look forward to your European ones as well, yes?