Kalaharikind: the quest continues

[Kalaharikind]

I ended up with a grand  total of 173 birds for BY 2021 - 33 of them lifers. The goal for this year is 200 birds -  if Chobe and the Zambezi region are on the itinerary, it should be possible. If not, then probably not...

 

Anyway, the year is still young and fresh and anything is possible. 

 

The man with the white beard who dresses in red and falls down chimneys did not bring me a new toy [perhaps you should have tried asking, Kalharikind], so the quest will be undertaken with the Dinkytoy (Nikon's D3200), Her Preciousness (Sigma's 150-600mm) and my trusty steed, the nominally white RAV. It's dusty and muddy more often than not, the way it was made to look.

 

A trip to the Bossieveld on NY's afternoon kept the RAV in its dusty and muddy condition.

 

1) Levaillant's Cisticola          Vleitinktinkie          Cisticola tinniens

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2022 by Kalaharikind

[Kalaharikind]

2) Blue Crane          Bloukraanvoel          Grus paradisea

 

 

 

 

The male was trying to impress the female, but it seemed that his heart wasn't really in it. They were too far away for decents shots, so I left after a few minutes to give them some privacy...

[Kalaharikind]

3) Pied Crow          Witborskraai          Corvus albus

 

 

4) White-necked Raven          Withalskraai          Corvus albicollis

 

 

There seemed to be some sort of aerial combat going on between the crows and the raven, with lots of squawking and dive-bombing and general raucousness above the Blue Cranes - no wonder our Romeo was out of sorts...

[Kalaharikind]

Spur-winged Geese and Yelow-billed Ducks in flight and on Terra Firma

 

5) Spur-winged Goose          Wilde Makou          Plectropterus gambensis

6) Yellow-billed Duck          Geelbekeend          Anas undulata

 

 

[Kalaharikind]

While I was at the dam where the spurwing/duck pics were taken, a farmer drove up - his wife saw the car, thought I might have a mechanical problem and sent him to have look and give a hand. He promptly invited me home, and I was able to add a few more birds that I would've been unable to do from the road.

 

7) Crowned Lapwing          Kroonkiewiet          Vanellus coronatus

 

 

8) Greater Striped Swallow          Grootstreepswael          Cecropis cucullata

 

 

 

No match for the gusting winds:

9) Cape Wagtail          Gewone Kwikkie          Motacilla capensis

 

 

10) Southern Red Bishop          Rooivink          Euplectes orix

 

 

I was also treated to these

 

 

and this

 

[Kalaharikind]

11) Karoo Scrub Robin          Slangverklikker          Cercotrichas coryphoeus

 

 

 

12) Southern Fiscal          Fiskaallaksman          Lanius collaris 

Female

[Kalaharikind]

13) Egyptian Geese          Kolganse          Alopochen aegyptiaca

 

 

 

And I haven't lost my EBC skills: here's a collection of ABC: Yellow-Billed Ducks, Red-billed Teal, either Hottentot Teal or Maccao Duck, Cape Shoveller, Blacksmith Lapwings, Red-knobbed Coot. You're welcome to add to the list 

 

 

Nota bad result for a short drive - I think I covered about 4 'birding kilometres'. The one bird that I was sure I would find and that's always willing to pose for as long as necessary, the African Stonechat, was in no mood to play model and flew off as soon as I stopped. Oh well, next time.

 

And yes, I did spot the dreaded African Pipit on an open field, but it was too much of an EBS - even I baulked at posting it. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Kalaharikind

[shazdwn]

Off to a flying start

[michael-ibk]

Great start! That looks like a really beautiful area.

[Peter Connan]

Very nice start!

[Galana]

Dare I say it? A flying start!

[Kitsafari]

great start to staking a claim in 2022!

[Kalaharikind]

A flying start like this, @Galana?

 

 

But, yes, I've probably already exceeded my 2021 BIF count. Getting the numbers is easy early in the competition year - every bird is a possibility. And it's summer...

 

Thanks, @shazdwn, @Kitsafari@michael-ibk and @Peter Connan! Early days yet, in more sense than one... Excited about what the year will bring, bird-wise 

 

And @michael-ibkI'm really privileged to live in a beautiful part of the country.

[elefromoz]

nice start to the Year, good luck on the 200 goal.

[TonyQ]

A great start towards your 200!

[Kalaharikind]

Thank you @TonyQand @elefromoz- I may well need luck to get to 200: it seems our Namibia trip may be confined to southern Namibia. Birding there is much less productive than in the northern parts. Oh well, I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. It is just a game, no?

 

Last one from the Bossieveld: 

14) Red-billed Teal          Rooibekeend          Anas erythrorhyncha

 

 

January has been a good month - because summer - for birding from home:

 

15) African Harrier Hawk/Gymnogene          Kaalwangvalk          Polyboroides typus

 

 

 

And in the EBIFC section: 

16) African Fish Eagle          Visarend          Haliaeetus vocifer

 

 

17) Southern Masked Weaver          Swartkeelgeelvink          Ploceus velatus

 

 

18) Southern Double-collared Sunbird          Kleinrooibandsuikerbekkie          Cinnyris chalybeus 

 

 

and Junior: 

 

 

19) Fiscal Flycatcher          Fiskaalvlieevanger          Melaenornis silens 

 

 

We've had a bumper crops of chicks this year. Here are the twins. (Fugly pipe courtesy of a fibre company.)

 

 

20) Southern Boubou          Suidelike Waterfiskaal          Laniarius ferrugineus

 

[Dave Williams]

I'll be using your BY to brush up on some of the species I hope to see when I visit SA in August although I guess I'm choosing the worst time of year to visit bird wise?

[Kalaharikind]

@Dave WilliamsHope you had a lovely trip, with lots of birds! I guess you've answered your own question? Must go and have a look to see what you'd been up to here.

 

The images below were all taken in January(!!!) this year, in the garden.

 

Not sure about this one at all: 

21) Horus Swift          Horuswindswael          Apus horus

 

 

 

22) Jackal Buzzard          Rooiborsjakkalsvoël          Buteo rufofuscus

 

 

(The Blue Crane you've seen before, displaying in the Bossieveld.)

 

A big question marks hovers over this one, too:

23) Lanner Falcon          Edelvalk          Falco biarmicus

 

 

24) Hadeda Ibis          Hadeda          Bostrychia hagedash
 

 

25) Malachite Sunbird          Jangroentjie          Nectarinia famosa
 

 

Here's the male, in all his breeding finery, taken in the Bossieveld in July:

 

[Kalaharikind]

Thanks for popping in @PeterHG, @Thursday's Child, @Tdgravesand @Galana.

 

It's still January, and we're still in the garden...

 

26) Red-eyed Dove          Grootringduif          Streptopelia semitorquata
 

 

27) Cape Bulbul          Kaapse Tiptol          Pycnonotus capensis

 

 

 

28) Speckled Mousebird          Gevlekte Muisvoël          Colius striatus

 

(Pity I missed most of the tail)

 

29) Olive Thrush          Olyflyster          Turdus olivaceus

 

 

and an immature:

 

 

30) African Hoopoe          Hoephoep          Upupa africana
 

 

We'll go slightly further afield in the next episode.

[michael-ibk]

Good to see you continue, always lovely to have a Hoopoe in a thread. :-)

[xelas]

So nice you are continuing with adding to this BY! 

[Kalaharikind]

@michael-ibk The hoopoes are becoming scarcer in the garden, sadly. But it's lovely to hear them call early in the morning.

 

@xelasYes, it's been a long absence - and I still have to catch up with what everybody has been posting. 

 

The Swart River road makes for a nice outing - not too long a drive from home, and it's generally pretty productive. These pictures are from a trip there on 29 January this year. There was a heavy fog - I drove at a snail's pace from telephone pole to telephone pole, with everything that could flash and blink and light up on - and I was worried that it would spoil my day. So, to give the fog time to lift, I stopped at a farm stall, got something to eat and by the time I was on the dirt road, the sun was out. Happy days!

 

First sighting for the day was a nice one:

31) Black-headed Heron    Swartkopreier    Ardea melanocephala

 

 

Not too sure about this one:

 

32) Rock Kestrel          Kransvalk          Falco rupicolus
 

 

33) Forest Canary          Gestreepte Kanarie          Crithagra scotops
 

 

And staying with the canaries:

34) Cape Canary          Kaapse Kanarie          Serinus canicollis

 

 

Long-billed birds queing up:

35) African Sacred Ibis          Skoorsteenveër          Threskiornis aethiopicus
 

 

36) Yellow-billed Kite          Geelbekwou          Milvus aegyptius
 

 

I really battled to get a good shot of them last year, so quite pleased with this one. Here's a juvenile:

 

 

Seeing that the C-thing dominated our lives back then, here's a Corona-image:

 

[Kalaharikind]

Right, let's continue on this dirt road daytrip!

 

37) African Stonechat          Gewone Bontrokkie          Saxicola torquatus
 

 

The Stonechats are generally common in this area, but this time I had to search hard for them. The wind had started picking up, which also complicated matters. At least I managed to get a male and female, albeit in different spots.

Mr Stonechat:

 

 

38) Helmeted Guineafowl          Gewone Tarentaal          Numida meleagris
running away, as always

 

At long last: an ST BY lifer (but still waiting for a proper lifer...) 

39) White-faced Whistling Duck          Nonnetjie-eend          Dendrocygna viduata
 

 

The dirt road turned tar and I was on my way to Vermont, a seaside village (actually, more on a salt pan with a lagoon). 

 

40) Black-winged Stilt          Rooipootelsie          Himantopus himantopus
 

 

41) Sandwich Tern          Grootsterretjie          Thalasseus sandvicensis
Thanks goodness for the yellow tip to the bill: at least one tern I can identify with a degree of confidence. 

 

42) Common Tern          Gewone Sterretjie          Sterna hirundo
 

 

43) White-fronted Plover          Vaalstrandkiewiet          Charadrius marginatus
 

 

44) Common Sandpiper          Gewone Ruiter          Actitis hypoleucos
 

 

It's Friday evening here, the fire was lit some time ago and Johan is busy braaing. Until later!   

 

 

[Kitsafari]

14 hours ago, Kalaharikind said:

 

It's Friday evening here, the fire was lit some time ago and Johan is busy braaing. Until later!   

 

 

 

 

sounds delightful. happy weekend!

[Galana]

I hope you enjoy a Lekker Braie.

Great birds.