Faulty starter motor, but I'll get it fixed . Soukous BY 2020

[Soukous]

#39 - Cape Canary - Serinus canicollis (FTP#13)

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#40 - Long-crested Eagle - Lophaetus occipitalis

Sani Valley, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

This was far and away the most common Eagle we saw. 

 

[TonyQ]

Great additions and excellent photos 

[Soukous]

#41 - Yellow Bishop - Euplectes capensis

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

We did see this species on Sani Pass as well, but none in breeding colours. In fact it seemed that the breeding season was done & dusted by mid Feb and in most cases the young had already left the nests. Several species were noticeable by their absence everywhere we went.

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#42 - Bokmakierie - Telophorus zeylonus

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

This species was also seen on Sani Pass, but i couldn't get any photos.

 

 

 

 

I had a very odd experience whilst photographing this bird. I took a bunch of photos, then it moved and I took some more. When I look at the first bunch they were all horribly overexposed. Somehow the camera had reset the ISO to 13000. With my aperture & shutter speed set manually the camera had no choice but to overexpose. 

The weird thing is, I shot the Yellow Bishop, and then both sequences of Bokmakierie photos without changing any settings. The Bishop and second set of Bokmakierie were absolutely fine. 

I still have no idea what happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again. 

[Soukous]

#43 - Levaillant's Cisticola - Cisticola tinniens

Sani Valley, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#44 - Reed Cormorant - Microcarbo africanus

Sani Valley, South Africa. feb 2020

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#45 - Amethyst Sunbird - Chalcomitra amethystina (FTP #14)

Sani Valley, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2020 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#46 - Malachite Sunbird - Nectarinia famosa

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#47 - Bush Blackcap - Lioptilus nigricapillus (FTP #15)

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

an elusive little endemic

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#48 - Grey Crowned Crane (no hyphens ) - Balearica regulorum

Sani Valley, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#49 - Red-chested Cuckoo - Cuculus solitarius (FTP #16)

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

This fine bird gave us a real runaround. Calling from the deep inside the foliage and then as soon as we got close and pointed a camera it would fly off into the heart of another tree. This went on for some time and in the end I settled for a less than ideal shot.

 

 

 

[Soukous]

To celebrate the half century here is one of the iconic Sani Pass species.

Once again they were far scarcer than I had expected and we only saw 2 on the whole trip. These were the only 2 shots I got.

 

#50 - Drakensberg Rockjumper - Chaetops aurantius (FTP #17)

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Some truly lovely shots Martin! And some pretty special birds too!

 

That is indeed a weird malfunction. I hope it only happens the once.

 

@xelas, Sani is not a 4wd challenge at all. Last time I did the whole thing in 2wd, until I needed to stop on the steepest part, after which I needed low range to pull away again.

 

IF there's snow or ice, it's a different matter though!

[Galana]

More excellent photos. Sorry about the malfunction.

Next time I am forced to post an EBC I have another excuse to draw on.

[xelas]

4 hours ago, Soukous said:

I still have no idea what happened. I just hope it doesn't happen again. 

 It happened several times during our last trip that camera jumped to 64000 ISO; my moving the lens and body it has resetted itself, so my thought was the contacts were not clean.

[TonyQ]

The Malachite Sunbird is stunning, and your photos beautiful 

[shazdwn]

Those Malachite Sunbird shots are fantastic

[Soukous]

20 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Sani is not a 4wd challenge at all. Last time I did the whole thing in 2wd, until I needed to stop on the steepest part, after which I needed low range to pull away again.

 

Heavy rain can also make a mess of the track. We certainly benefited from 4wd as we ploughed uphill though mud.

Even with 2wd, you'd need great ground clearance than most sedans offer.

[Soukous]

18 hours ago, xelas said:

 It happened several times during our last trip that camera jumped to 64000 ISO; my moving the lens and body it has resetted itself, so my thought was the contacts were not clean.

 

I was lucky. I don't check my photos as I take them, I trust my equipment to do what I told it to do. In fact it was only when I got back to UK that I even noticed that batch of images whited out. If the fault had not rectified itself I could have had around 1000 wasted shots. It doesn't bear thinking about. 

When I have a month with no trips planned I will send the body and lens to Nikon for a check and clean up. It's probably long overdue.

[Soukous]

#51 - Fairy Flycatcher - Stenostira scita (FTP #18)

Sani Pass, Lesotho. Feb 2020

 

This wee fellow gave us quite a chase as he/she flitted from bush to bush

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#52 - Hadeda Ibis - Bostrychia hagedash

Sani Valley, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

We also saw quite a few Southern Bald Ibis, but nowhere nearly the number that one would usually expect to find and they were all too distant for decent photos.

 

[Soukous]

#53 - Karoo Prinia - Prinia maculosa (FTP #19)

Sani Pass, lesotho. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

 

2 images removed as i believe they are Drakensberg prinia, not Karoo prinia - see post #91

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#54 - Large-billed Lark - Galerida magnirostris (FTP #20)

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#55 - African Olive Pigeon - Columba arquatrix (FTP #21)

Sani Pass, South Africa. Feb 2020