BY 2022 - Soukous (even if there are no birds, you can still enjoy the music)

[Soukous]

Slim pickings recently, due to high winds and torrential rain, but I did manage better shots of the Fieldfare at some point

 

 

I watched this one hopping around in the branches, hoping for a clear shot, and I thought I'd finally got one, but when processing I noticed the wee twig at the end of the bill. Curses

 

[Soukous]

After a long absence it is time to join the fray again.

A window of opportunity presented itself and I took it. I endured 14 hours of mask wearing to return to South Africa for the first time since March 2020.

It wasn't really a planned trip but after 2 years I thought i needed to go and take a look at the state of our house in Klein Karoo. No doubr there would be a long list of repairs and maintenance to deal with.

 

I won't waste time on the flight, it was horrible.

 

The price of car hire has doubled since I was last in SA, so even the crummy little box I hired was expensive. My friends had been telling me about the high fuel prices, but compared with the UK & Europe they were pretty reasonable - about £1 per litre.

 

I don't know quite how it happened but about 10 minutes after I left the airport and turned onto the N2, I realised that somehow I had joined the wrong carriageway adn was heading into Cape Town instead of away from it. Doh.

Not seeing anywhere easy to turn around I decided to travel up onthe N1 instead. It doesn't make a lot of difference to the travel time; it's just a bit more boring.

 

One bonus about travelloing this route though was that I would have to drive over the Swartberg Pass to get to my destination. Since i had planned to drive the pass anyway, this woudl save me making the trip on another day.

Swartberg Pass is spectacular, but my reason for driving it is that there is a place where i am almost guaranteed to see Cape Sugarbirds.

 

So, my first posting from Africa for 2 years is

 

#53 - Cape Sugarbird - Promerops cafer

Klein Karoo, South Africa. feb 2022

 

 

 

 

I did actually photograph 1 other bird in Swartberg Pass, but I have not identified it yet, so I'll have to post it later.

On my way down the other side of the pass I discovered another cluster of Proteas and lots more Sugarbirds. That now gives me 3 locations where I can almost guarantee Sugarbird sightings. Neat.

Edited March 14, 2022 by Soukous

[Soukous]

The next 3 posts are all regulars around the house.

 

#54 - Cape Wagtail - Motacilla capensis

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2022

 

 

#55 - Familiat Chat - Emarginata familiaris

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2022

 

 

 

 

#56 - Greater-striped Swallow - Cecropis cucullata

Klein Karoo, South Africa. Feb 2022

 

 

 

[Soukous]

This was not really a birding trip, I was supposed to be doing house repairs, so I was only able to grab a limited amount of time for the hunt. That meant not straying too far from the house.

The first thing I noticed was that although I was only a couple of weeks later than our usual visiting time, it made a big difference to the species in residence. As the breeding season was well and truly finished a lot of birds had departed, and others had lost their colourful breeding plumage meaning I did not see several species that I had expected to see.

But there were still a few species hanging close to the house

 

#57 - African Pipit - Anthus cinnamomeus

Klein Karoo, South Africa. March 2022

 

 

 

#58 - Egyptian Goose - Alopochen aegyptiaca

Klein Karoo, South Africa. March 2022

A family of 7 had taken up residence by our little pond.

 

 

[Soukous]

#59 - Cape Robin-Chat - Cossypha caffra

Klein Karoo, South Africa. March 2022

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

A remote corner of the farm has an are of plentiful Proteas. This is a sure-fire spot for Cape Sugarbirds and a few other species are usually hanging around.

 

#60 - African Stonechat - Saxicola torquatus

Klein Karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

[Soukous]

With the breeding season finished, it is not surprising that there are quite a few immature birds around to make identification more challenging. Add to that a variety of little birds that I only managed to get rather poor shots of and I have a few to add here where the ID is far from certain. I will not be at all upset if anyone feels the need to correct my ID.

 

#61 - Levaillant's Cisticola - Cisticola tinniens

Klein Karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

[Soukous]

#62 - Wailing Cisticola - Cisticola lais

Klein karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

as above. If anyone feels my ID is incorrect, just shout out.

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Soukous

[Soukous]

#63 - Speckled Mousebird - Colius striatus

Klein Karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

Last year I managed to find 3 species of Mousebird in the area. This year, just one.

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#64 - Yellow-billed Duck - Anas undulata

Klein karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

#65 - Blacksmith Lapwing - Vanellus armatus

Klein Karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

#66 - Common Fiscal (which is apparently now called a Southern Fiscal in these parts) - Lanius collaris

Klein Karoo, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Soukous

[Soukous]

After a couple of days of painting and cleaning I needed a change of scene so I arranged to visit a freind in Knysna; about 2 hours away.

 

On the way I stopped in at one of my favourite places on the Garden Route, the Ebb & Flow campsite just outside Wilderness. This is usually a great place to find Kynsna Turaco. Not this time though.

 

It wasn't a wasted diversion though.

 

#67 - Reed Cormorant - Microcarbo africanus

Wilderness, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

#68 - Cape Bulbul - Pycnonotus capensis

Wilderness, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#69 - White-throated Swallow - Hirundo albigularis

Wilderness, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

I didn't manage to find the Knysna Turaco - nor did I even hear one - but I did find something just as lovely.

 

#70 - African Black-headed Oriole - Oriolus larvatus

Wilderness, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

After a really nice reunion in Knysna, I still had a few hours of daylight remaining so I thought I may as well make the short trip along the coast to Robberg Nature reserve, at Plettenberg Bay. On may last visit this had been a great place to see Orange-breasted Sunbirds.

 

My first sighting was a different Sunbird though. I only saw this single female.

 

#71 - Amethyst Sunbird - Chalcomitra amethystina

Robberg Nature Reserve, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

I also found another species of sunbird that I had missed last time.

 

#72 - Southern Double-collared Sunbird - Cinnyris chalybeus

Robberg Nature reserve, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

It took me a few moments to identify this one as it looks very similar the the Greater Double-collared Sunbird; except the the Greater-collared does not have an eclipse plumage.

 

I did manage to find the bird I had come to see,but once again I only saw a single bird and it only posed in awkward light.

 

#73 - Orange-breasted Sunbird - Anthobaphes violacea

Robberg Nature reserve, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

 

[Soukous]

#74 - Kelp Gull - Larus dominicanus

Robberg Nature Reserve. SA.Mar 2022

 

 

#75 - Red-winged Starling - Onychognathus morio

Robberg Nature reserve, SA. Mar 2022

 

 

I did also see and photograph Pied Starlings but the photos were too crappy to post.

 

#76 - Red-necked Spurfowl - Pternistis afer

Robberg Nature Reserve, SA. Mar 2022

 

I was buying a coffee when this fella strolled out of the bush into the parking area.

 

 

[Soukous]

#77 - Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk (juvenile) - Melierax canorus

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

 

 

#78 - Pearl-breasted Swallow - Hirundo dimidiata

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

#79 - Fiscal Flycatcher - Melaenornis silens

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

#80 - Southern Tchagra - Tchagra tchagra

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

 

#81 - Hadeda Ibis - Bostrychia hagedash

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

[Soukous]

Although, because we do not spend nearly enough time here, we do not have a garden to speak of, someof our neighbours have put a lot of effort into theirs. Where we just have bare grass, they have trees and shrubs that attract a wonderful variety of birds so I always make a point of spending a couple of hours birding in their gardens.

 

One in particular has proved very fruitful over the years so I thought I would make a visit.

 

There are only 5 species of Sunbird that you are likely to see in our part of Western Cape and this garden is where I hope to add the 2 that are missing from my tally.

I was lucky. I got a quick sighting of one of them. It then disappeared and did not show itself again.

 

I did have a moment of doubt about the ID of this one as apparently the Southern and the Greater tend to stay away from each other; so if you find one you are unlikely to find the other. But this garden, it seems, has both.

 

#82 - Greater Double-collared Sunbird - Cinnyris afer

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

the other one took quite a bit longer to show himself, but then he did linger a bit longer. Only eclipse plumage but that's what I get at this time of year.

 

#83 - Malachite Sunbird - Nectarinia famosa

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

The lack of familiar plumage makes some birds tough to ID ( for me anyway)

 

I'm reasonably certain about this one, but will accept correction

 

#84 - Yellow Bishop - Euplectes capensis

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

This next one is a species I have not seen here before. Indeed my book shows this as being outside its habitat. The Longclaws around here should be Cape Longclaw, but this does not look like one of those.

 

#85 - Bokmakierie - Telophorus zeylonus

Klein Karoo, SA. March 2022

 

 

Edited March 15, 2022 by Soukous

[xelas]

What a beautiful set of SA birds! Do you need a caretaker for your house ?!

[Tdgraves]

@Soukous the book was indeed correct - your bird is a bokmakierie not a longclaw!

[TonyQ]

Wonderful birds from your trip to South Africa 

It looks like you didn’t have to spend too long doing repairs 

[michael-ibk]

Great you made it to Africa again - love the Sunbirds. And hey, you‘ve been to Lake Constance, that’s part of my (very extended) hunting grounds.

[lmSA84]

Great to see RSA birds again and some excellent photos 

[Soukous]

14 hours ago, xelas said:

What a beautiful set of SA birds! Do you need a caretaker for your house ?!

 

YES! - when do you want to go?

[Soukous]

13 hours ago, Tdgraves said:

@Soukous the book was indeed correct - your bird is a bokmakierie not a longclaw!

 

Thank you Tracey. There were Bokmakieries all over the place so I feel a bit embarrassed not to have recognised that one. 

[Kitsafari]

So nice to see SA birds - and quite a few i've never seen before. I'm sure you had a great break from the UK and its climate, despite all the painting and the works around the house!