PeterHG's seventh Big Year

[Galana]

Great start with some decent shots by my standards. Like the Spectacled Weaver despite the perch. Lots of that stuff in RSA.

[Peter Connan]

Lovely stuff already Peter!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Dave Williams@Galana@Peter Connan.

 

Our first restcamp was Berg-en Dal, where we shared a family unit with the four of us. Sorely in need of some maintenance, but the camp was nice and relaxed. Some birds from in and around the camp:

 

243 /SA 22. Magpie Shrike. Berg-en-Dal, October. Common throughout Kruger.

 

244 /SA 23. Burchell's Starling. Berg-en-Dal, October. Also very common.

 

245 /SA 24. Fork-tailed Drongo. Berg-en-Dal, October. I may have spotted the square-tailed, too, but for me they're pretty hard to tell apart. I'll search my photos for one.

 

246 /SA 25. Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill. Berg-en-Dal, October. Perhaps the most common of the hornbills and often quite confiding.

 

247 /SA 26. Ring-necked Dove (Cape Turtle Dove)Berg-en-Dal, October. Their sound accompanies you all through the park . I did remind myself to take a photo early on, enabling me to forget about them after that.

 

248 /SA 27. Sabota Lark. Berg-en-Dal, October. I did not see many other larks (only one, I think), but perhaps I did not look close enough...

 

 

249 /SA 28. Southern Red-billed Hornbill. Berg-en-Dal, October. Almost as common as its yellow-billed cousin.

 

250 /SA 29. Grey Go-away Bird. Berg-en-Dal, October. 

 

251 /SA 30. Cape Starling. Berg-en-Dal, October. It takes a lot of patience and photographic skills to take a photo of this shy and uncommon bird.....

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by PeterHG

[PeterHG]

Perhaps a could also trouble you with some mammal shots of the Berg-en-Dal area:

 

 

 

This Hyena suddenly appeared when we had all left the car to visit the Gardenia hide....

 

 

One of two leopard sightings, but by far the best.

[TonyQ]

Some great mammal sightings in addition to your bird additions!

[Galana]

And the lovely Wild dog does not even get a mention.

I love the aloof gaze of your leopard.

[Zim Girl]

Lovely leopard and wild dog, @PeterHG.  Did you just see the one dog or was there a pack?

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ@Galana@Zim Girl

23 hours ago, Galana said:

Wild dog does not even get a mention

 

1 hour ago, Zim Girl said:

Did you just see the one dog or was there a pack?

We saw one on this occasion, but at the end of our Kruger trip, we even saw a pack of some 15 dogs. Both very special sightings!

[lmSA84]

Lovely sighting of the Leopard and Wild Dogs. Great to see that it was such a productive trip 

[Kitsafari]

that;s a good looking very blonde wild dog, and a lazy gaze from the spotted cat. love them though (plus the other mammals and birds)

[michael-ibk]

Very cool sightings Peter - and photos!

[xelas]

Sometimes cats do come close! Beautiful photos, Peter!

[Towlersonsafari]

lovely photos @PeterHG-can I ask what lenses you were using? I got into all kinds of confusion trying to work out whether to use the 300 f4, or the 40-150 2.8 and in the end used the later mostly w.th a 1x4 converter

[PeterHG]

4 hours ago, Towlersonsafari said:

lovely photos @PeterHG-can I ask what lenses you were using? I got into all kinds of confusion trying to work out whether to use the 300 f4, or the 40-150 2.8 and in the end used the later mostly w.th a 1x4 converter

To avoid having to change lenses I only took the Olympus 100-400. It performed well, but in the rather grey conditions we had I could have used the wider aperture of the 300 or 40-150. Still, no regrets, the zoom was very useful, of course.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @lmSA84 @Kitsafari @michael-ibk @xelas @Towlersonsafari!

 

252 /SA 252. Red-breasted Swallow, Berg-en-Dal, October. Seen a few times but never close.

 

 

253 ./SA32. Dark Chanting Goshawk. Berg-en-Dal, October. We were fortunate enough to see both an adult and an immature bird on the same day.

 

 

 

254 /SA 33. Kurrichane Thrush. Berg-en-Dal, October. Seen on several occasions.

 

255 /SA 34. Lilac-breasted Roller. Berg-en-Dal, October. A trip to SA is not complete without a photo of this abundant roller. Her the sun came oput, which helped a loy.

 

256 /SA 35. Red-billed Oxpecker. Berg-en-Dal, October. Much more common than its yellow-billed cousin. Perhaps not always wanted by the host, but this impala appears to have special feelings for the bird.

 

257 /SA 36. Greater Blue-eared Starling. Berg-en-Dal, October. Another shiny example of the starling family.

 

259 /SA 37. White-throated Robin-chat. Berg-en-Dal. Berg-en-Dal, October. Seen on a walk around the camp itself. A lifer for me!

 

[Galana]

Congratulations. A Lifer is always good to have.

[Towlersonsafari]

thank you @PeterHGI was trying to justify buying that very lens before the holiday-and talked myself out of it-i can see that I was very wrong indeed!

[TonyQ]

And a beautiful photo of your lifer!

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Galana @Towlersonsafari @TonyQ

 

A few more from the game drives aroud Berg-en Dal restcamp:

 

259 /SA 38. Natal Spurfowl. Berg-en-Dal, October.

 

269 /SA 39. Crested Francolin. Berg-en-Dal, October.

 

261 /SA 40. Fiscal Flycatcher. Berg-en-Dal, October.

 

262 /SA 41. African Fish Eagle. Berg-en-Dal, October. Quite common, but we never tired of seeing (or hearing) this magnificent eagle.

 

263 /SA 42. Pale Flycatcher. Berg-en-Dal, October. Another lifer and only seen once.

 

264 / SA 43. White-fronted Bee-eater. Berg-en-Dal, October. Almost the default bee-eater on this Kruger trip. We did see European and Little, but only a few times.

 

265 /SA 44. Southern White-crowned Shrike. Berg-en-Dal, October

 

266 /SA 45. Martial Eagle. Berg-en-Dal, October. Another impresive eagle, which we saw on several occasions. This bird was sitting quite close to the road, allowing for a portrait shot.

 

267 /SA 46. Hooded Vulture. Berg-en-Dal, October. Some six or seven of these vultures were present near a large pride of lions (22), resting in the shade. Of course quite a few cars were there, too. One of these was a safari vehicle, in which a ranger was explaining about the vultures to the unsuspecting guests. He told them these were two different kind of vultures: the one with the red head was a lappet-faced vulture and the one withe the white head was a white backed vulture. Wrong on both counts, but I didn't want to challenge his authority....;)

 

 

 

 

 

[xelas]

5 hours ago, PeterHG said:

Wrong on both counts, but I didn't want to challenge his authority....;)

But he surely got a nice tip :))

 

More of excellent photos from South Africa!

Edited December 8, 2022 by xelas

[Peter Connan]

I would have laughed out loud!

Some really nice shots from the Kruger!

[Galana]

10 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

I would have laughed out loud!

I don't think I could have resisted asking what Field Guide he was using.

[pedro maia]

Catching up here Peter, my special mention goes to the wild dog, I´m yet to see one.

 

And always some very nice pictures, of course.

[michael-ibk]

So there´s hope for me becoming a guide yet - if that guy can do it all of us can.

 

Beautiful photos Peter, love the Martial Eagle especially!

[PeterHG]

Thank you, @xelas @Peter Connan @Galana @pedro maia @michael-ibk

 

268 /SA 47. Tawny-flanked Prinia. Skukuza, October.

 

 

269 /SA 48. Green-backed Camaroptera. Skukuza, October. Well, it did show its green back...

 

 

270 /SA 49. Lizard Buzzard. Skukuza, October. Only seen once.

 

 

271 /SA 50. Little Bee-eater. Skukuza, October

 

 

272 /SA 51. Bateleur. Skukuza, October. Seen almost every day. One of my favourites, so you'll have to put up with me here....;)