Kalaharikind merel(y) lark(ing) about in 2021

[Soukous]

EBC

[Galana]

Epic.

With pictures of that high quality your place on the committee of the EBC club is assured.

[PeterHG]

Every Bulbul Counts, indeed! And you are making good progress with the numbers.

[Galana]

Just now, PeterHG said:

Every Bulbul Counts,

Indeed. Last time I birded with @xelas(a year ago this month) he was on at least 100 per day.

[Kalaharikind]

4 hours ago, Galana said:

Epic.

With pictures of that high quality your place on the committee of the EBC club is assured.

I'll take that as a compliment, then? Thank you.

[TonyQ]

Excellent additions and a great start 

[Kitsafari]

an excellent EBC - you show much promise!

 

Great additions. 

[Kalaharikind]

Thanks all  

 

We're still on the Helderstroom road.

 

38) Black crow          Swartkraai          Corvus capensis

 

 

 

39) Cattle egret          Vee-reier          Bubulcus ibis

 

You can have the one without the other, but somehow something is lacking.

 

 

Breeding plumage

 

 

40) Darter          Slanghalsvoel          Anhinga melanogaster

 

[pedro maia]

A belated wellcome to the BY @Kalaharikind, it will be a pleasure to see more pictures from your beautiful country.

[Kalaharikind]

Thank you, @pedro maia. I'm enjoying my stay here!

[elefromoz]

motoring along there, what a pretty bird the Cape Robin is

[Kalaharikind]

 

Forgot about this one from the Van der Stel pass trip:

 

41) Cape canary          Kaapse kanarie          Serinus canicollis

 

 

 

Looks like a juvenile to me, but I could be completely wrong, of course....

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

We were sitting outside this afternoon, chatting about this, that and the other, when I saw these Sacred ibises circling overhead, slowly moving towards us. I ran inside, grabbed the Dinkytoy and got one shot. Massive crap, of course.

 

42) African sacred ibis          Skoorsteenveer          Treskiornis aethiopicus

 

Garden

 

At the same time, a Jackal buzzard came into view, so I took a chance. First 'image' below as is, second one cropped.

 

43) Jackal buzzard          Rooiborsjakkalsvoel          Buteo rufofuscus

 

 

Garden 

And in other news: we are off to the hottest, hippest and most happening place in South Africa at the moment . We have extra diesel, enough water to sit out an emergency, and enough food (read meat) to feed an army. Am I excited? What a question!!

 

So, shall we play Guess the destination? I'll think up a prize for the first correct answer. The usual rules, regulations, T&Cs will not apply.

[Galana]

56 minutes ago, Kalaharikind said:

we are off to the hottest, hippest and most happening place in South Africa at the moment

Well if 'hottest' refers to daytime temperatures as well as wildlife action then my guess would be Kgalagadi.

Have a good one wherever.

[Dave Williams]

16 hours ago, Kalaharikind said:

We were sitting outside this afternoon, chatting about this, that and the other, when I saw these Sacred ibises circling overhead, slowly moving towards us. I ran inside, grabbed the Dinkytoy and got one shot. Massive crap, of course.

 

42) African sacred ibis          Skoorsteenveer          Treskiornis aethiopicus

 

Garden

 

I think they are pretty good!

[Peter Connan]

Augrabies of Kuruman area?

[Kalaharikind]

And we're back!

 

@Galanayes, Kgalagadi was involved, and @Peter Connanas was Augrabies and indirectly, Kuruman. A sort of a trip report to follow, soonish. Lovely time, amazing sights, some that I will probably never see again but will always cherish. 

 

@Dave Williamsthanks for the compliment - albeit one that resulted from a typo. It should have read 'massive crop'

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

We came to see the Gariep River tumbling in full flood over the Augrabies Falls, but I did get in a couple of bird photographs. 

 

44) Gariep white-eye          Gariep-glasogie         Zosterops pallidus

 

 

The Gariep white-eyes were not as abundant as I had hoped - I saw them only twice: once next to our campsite, and once in a tree at the Reception area. As busy as usual, though. A lifer for me.

 

45) African red-eyed bulbul          Rooioogtiptol          Pycnonotus nigricans

 

 

A restcamp regular; this one was kind enough to pose prettily. 

 

46) Southern red bishop          Rooivink          Euplectes orix

 

 

The restcamp hide was relatively productive (mainly with birds I'm still struggling to ID). This Southern red bishop was busy working on his nest, but I wasn't able to get a good photo of him doing so. 

[Kalaharikind]

47) Scimitar-billed wood hoopoe          Swartbekkakelaar          Rhinopomastus cyanomelas

 

 

He seems to echo our topsy-turvy, upside-down times...

 

[Kalaharikind]

48) Pale-winged starling          Bleekvlerkspreeu          Onychognathus morio

 

Bird ballet, bird yoga, or just grabbing a bite to eat?

 

 

In 'normal' years at Augrabies, they can be photographed from above as they fly below the walkways. This year, I didn't see ony near the Falls.

 

[Kalaharikind]

Weather update: the good news is that we must have had 40mm of rain since last night - and our rainy season traditionally only starts over Easter. The bad news is that the wind seems not to know from which direction it wants to blow. Today has been rain with no wind, then wind with no rain but a dustpan's worth of leaves blown into the house. Outside doors get closed, leaves get swept up, the wind dies down, the rain starts and so the cycle continues. Not complaining about the rain at all, though... 

 

The next one is a lifer for me: I've convinced myself that it's an African marsh warbler, but I could be so, so wrong...

 

49) African marsh warbler          Kleinrietsanger          Acrocephalus beaticatus

 

 

[Galana]

1 hour ago, Kalaharikind said:

but I could be so, so wrong...

Well, yes and no. It's an African Reed Warbler (sometimes known as African Marsh Warbler in SA.)   and that is the baeticatus you quote anyway.                                                                                  

[Kalaharikind]

23 hours ago, Galana said:

Well, yes and no. It's an African Reed Warbler (sometimes known as African Marsh Warbler in SA.)   and that is the baeticatus you quote anyway.                                                                                  

 

Yip, reed and marsh seem to be interchangeable; the Afrikaans is reed and my Latin is waaaaaay to rusty for the rest.

[Kalaharikind]

This one landed on a twig at the Augrabies Falls hide, sat still for just this one photo, and then flew off again.

 

50) Malachite kingfisher          Kuifkopvisvanger          Alcedo cristata

 

 

 

[Galana]

That is VERY nice indeed.