PeterHG's seventh Big Year

[pedro maia]

Congrats on #300 Peter!!

[PeterHG]

Thank you all for the kind words! 

 

301 /SA 80. Marico Flycatcher. Satara, October

 

 

302 /SA 81. Yellow-billed Oxpecker. Satara, October. Far less common than its red-billed cousin, but stll seen a number of times, especially further north in the park.

 

303 / SA 82. Red-crested Korhaan. Satara, October.

 

 

304 / SA 83. Saddle-billed Stork. Satara, October. Threatened, but fortunately we sam them on several occasions.

 

 

305 / SA 84. African Hoopoe. Satara, October.

 

 

 

306 / SA 85. Chinspot Batis. Satara, October.

 

 

307 / SA 86. Brown-crowned Tchagra. Satara, October

 

 

308 / SA 87. Lauging Dove. Satara, October. Literally everywhere...

 

And just to prove that Satara is called the 'cat camp' for a reason:

 

Happy Christmas everybody and may the new year be a big year for many reasons !

 

[Peter Connan]

Merry Christmas Peter!

[PeterHG]

 

18 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Merry Christmas Peter!

Thank you, Peter and the same to you!

[Peter Connan]

Thank you Peter!

[PeterHG]

Since we had our Christmas dinner last night and it's just the two of us today, I might as well make some progress with the SA birds. We moved from Satara to Letaba, to spend another three nights there. I must say it was the least productive area for us. We did see some new birds, though.

 

309 /SA 88. White-crested Helmetshrike. Letaba, October. We saw a little group that was constantly moving, so it was not easy to get a shot. With the yellow eye-ring it must be one of the easiest bird to indentify.

 

 

 

We also met its black cousin, albeit only once.

310 / SA 89. Retz's Helmetshrike. Letaba., October.

 

 

 

311 / SA 90. Rattling Cisticola. Letaba, October. As not all four of us were equally into birding, it didn't do to stop for every LBJ to try in identify it by its song. Well, if they were singing at all, that is. So the total score on cisticolas is only one, I'm afraid. I don't really mind.

 

 

312 / SA 91. African Pipit. Letaba, October. I was allowed to briefly stop for this one...;)

 

 

313 / SA 92. Black-backed Puffback. Letaba, October. Seen (and especially heard) quite a few times. Not hard to guess why it's called puffback (and not puffbird as kindly noted by @Galana...).

 

 

314 / SA 93. White-headed Vulture. Letava, October. Seen only once and not really well.

 

 

315 / SA 94. Red-winged Starling. Letaba, October.

 

 

316 / SA 95. Bearded Wloodpecker. Letaba, October.

 

 

317 / SA 96. Little Swift. Letaba, October. Widespread and seen many times.

Edited December 26, 2022 by PeterHG

[Galana]

Well you managed to get two lbjs into your growing collection so not all bad news. Puffbird or Puffback? It's all the same to us.

[PeterHG]

4 hours ago, Galana said:

Puffbird or Puffback

Ah, my mistake, but thank you for accepting it anyway ;)!

[PeterHG]

318 / SA 97. Willow Warbler. Mopani, November. I had not photograped it at home, so it was nice to get another opportunity here. It was even singing for a few seconds to convince us the ID was correct 

 

 

319 / SA 98. African Hawk Eagle. Mopani, November. The only definite sighting. It was already getting dark, but still light enough for a quick photo.

 

 

320 / SA 99. Crowned Lapwing, Mopani, November.

 

 

321 / SA 100. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-lark, Mopani, November.

 

 

322 / SA 101. Kittlitz's Plover, Mopani, November

 

 

323 / SA 102. Tawny Eagle. Mopani, November. Another one of those dark rainy days.... The farther north we got in the Kruger Park, the more Tawny Eagles we saw.

 

 

324 / SA 103. African Darter. Mopani, November

 

 

325 / SA 104. African Paradise Flycatcher. Mopani, November. We got regular visits from this beautiful bird near our cottage.

 

 

326 / SA 105. Southern Masked Weaver. Mopani. November.

 

 

327 / SA 106. Mocking Cliff Chat. Mopani, November.

 

 

328 / SA 107. Giant Kingfisher. Mopani, November. It wouldn't move and give us an unobstructed view...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

329 / SA 108. Kurrichane Thrush. Mopani, November.

 

 

330 / SA 109. Banded Martin. Mopani, November.

 

 

331 / SA 110. African Spoonbill. Mopani, November.

 

 

332 / SA 111. Black Crake. Mopani, November.

 

 

333 / SA 112. Striated Heron. Mopani, November.

 

 

334 / SA 113. Kori Bustard, Mopani, November.

 

 

335 / SA 114. Black-bellied Bustard. Mopani, November. Only seen once.

 

 

336 / SA 115. Green Woodhoopoe, Mopani, November. Noisy, but beautiful.

 

 

337 / SA 116. Lesser Striped Swallow. Mopani, November.

 

 

 

[TonyQ]

Beautiful additions from SA. And racing past 100 from that trip 

[PeterHG]

Thank you @TonyQ!

 

338 / SA 117. Blacksmith Lapwing. Mopani, November. Very common throughout the park.

 

 

339 / SA 118. Marabou Stork. Mopani.

 

 

340 / SA 119. Burchell's Coucal. Mopani, November.

 

 

341 / SA 120. Eastern (long-tailed) Paradise Whydah. Mopani, November. 

 

 

342 / SA 121. Secretary Bird. Mopani, November. Only seen twice. It's always special to see these graceful birds. We saw them at the Grootvlei Dam, on our way to Shingwedzi restcamp.

 

We also got a lifer at the dam. Not a bird, but a very special sighting. Apparently there are only 90 or so in the whole Kruger park: Roan antelope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterHG]

343 / SA 122. White-bellied Sunbird. Shingwedzi, November.

 

 

344 / SA 123. White-browed Sparrow-weaver. Shingwedzi, November.

 

345 / SA 124. Grey-rumped Swallow. Shingwedzi, November. Taken from the bridge across the Shingwedzi river, which had all but dried up. There were a vfew of them among the many little swifts.

 

 

346 / SA 125. African Grey Hornbill. Shingwedzi, November. We were always alerted to their presence by the characteristic sound they produce.

 

 

347 / SA 126. African Openbill. Shingwedzi, November. 

 

348 / SA 127. White-browed Robin Chat. Shingwedzi, November. Only seen once.

 

 

349 / SA 128. Woolly-necked Stork. Shingwedzi, November.

 

 

350 / 129. Square-tailed Nightjar. Shingwedzi, November. Seen while doing an eveing drive from Shingwedzi restcamp. A lifer for me.

 

I know they can be a nuisance, but who could resist them...?

 

[Galana]

A great sighting of the Roans to be envied.

[PeterHG]

Thank you @Galana, we were quite thrilled to discover them on the other side of the dam and it's definitely one of the highlights of the trip!

 

351 / SA 130. Southern Ground Hornbill. Shingwedzi, November. We saw these impressive birds perhaps 5 or 6 times, which was better than we could have hoped for.

 

 

 

352 / SA 131. Brown-hooded Kingfisher. Shingwedzi, November

 

 

353 / SA 132. Orange-breasted Bushshrike. Shingwedzi.

 

On the same trip we encountered a juvenile Martial Eagle and we spent some 20 minutes close to it, before it finally flew off. Already counted.

 

 

354 / SA 133. Namaqua Dove. Shingwedzi, November. We saw quite a few, but they were pretty hard to get a shot of. This was at a considerable distance.

 

We then moved to our last camp in the park: Punda Maria. I hadn't been there before, but we quite liked the camp and especially the waterhole near the campsite. The family cottage we rented was due for some maintenance, but that was the case with quite a few of the previous accommodations.

 

355 / SA 134. Southern Black Flycatcher. Punda Maria, November.

 

 

356 / SA 135. Southern Grey-headed Sparrow. Punda Maria, November. Of course we'd seen it before, but I hadn't bothered to photograph it.

 

 

357 / SA 136. Emerald Spotted Wood-dove. Punda Maria, November.

 

 

358 / SA 137. Cardinal Woodpecker. Punda Maria, November.

[Dave Williams]

You took some cracking images Peter, very enviable sightings too. 

I did see a single Roan Antelope on our trip in October 2019 up near Sirheni but Sable has still eluded me. Maybe next time!

[Peter Connan]

Excellent stuff Peter!

[PeterHG]

1 hour ago, Dave Williams said:

Sable has still eluded me

Me too, Dave. Maybe next time...

[PeterHG]

19 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Excellent stuff Peter!

Thank you, Peter! I would have contacted you if it had just been Jeannette and me to see if we could do some birding together again, but with two non-birders in our company, it wasn't to be. We did try to do a quick visit to Rietvlei on our last day, but unfortunately it was closed on account of the heavy rains. Well, I think we'll be back...

 

359 / SA 138. Yellow-bellied Bulbul. Punda Maria, November.

 

360 / SA 139. Woodland Kingfisher. Punda Maria, November. We had been listening for its call since we started, but apparently it was still a little early for them. This was the only one we saw, near the end of our trip.

 

 

361 / SA 140. Brown Snake Eagle. Punda Maria, November.

 

 

362 / SA 141. Common Myna. Punda Maria, November.

 

 

363 / SA 142. Red-Chested Cuckoo. Punda Maria, November. We had already heard its distinctive 'piet-me-vrou' call many times, but never got even a glimpse of it. Then suddenly one sounded very close to our cottage in the camp and despite the many trees and branches, it showed very well.

 

 

 

364 / SA 143. Knob-billed Duck. Punda Maria, November. Seen from the hide in the camp.

 

 

365 / SA 144. Lanner Falcon. Punda Maria, November. When we were watching the knob-billed ducks and some elephants at the waterhole, a falcan suddenly flew by. Far off, but I managed a few shots.

 

 

366 / SA 145. Mosque Swallow. Punda Maria, November. Another lifer for me.

 

The drives from Punda Maria were quite productive. When we hit the tar road soem 6 kms from camp, we suddenly encountered a group of 15 wild dogs, with quite a few juveniles among them. The first 15 minutes we were the only car there and we slowly followed them at a distance when they were following the road, running, playing and drinking form the pools in the road. Breathtaking moments! I apologize in advance for the overload...;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the Klopperfontein waterhole we noticed three impala's, that were staring intently towards some bushes far to the right. I decided to turn the car and try to see what they were looking at. After some moments two cheetahs appeared. They slowly walked to a tree, marked their territory and off they went. Again we were the only car there and we were delighted to get this special sighting!

 

 

 

 

367 / SA 146. Red-headed Weaver. Punda Maria, November. Wen we exited the camp via Punda Maria Gate I noticed some weaver nests. Although it was still raining, I grabbed the camera from the car and took a few shots. It was the only time we saw them.

 

 

368 / SA 147. Karoo Thrush. Pretoria, November. In the garden of our hotel. I'll have to check, but I think this concludes our additions from South Africa. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by PeterHG

[Galana]

Wow is overused so I won't use it but I am thinking it.

I was admiring your Woodland Kingfisher and juv Martial Eagle when you hit the dogs and the W word slipped out. Then came the Cheetahs to egg the cake.

Excellent views and compositions.

There is no doubt that Kruger can provide some excellent sightings.

Getting in sight of the next Century so hope you have some more stored away.

[Towlersonsafari]

splendid photo's @PeterHGit was great fun to see your sightings

[Kitsafari]

super cool to see the dogs, and then the spotted cat!

[Zim Girl]

Excellent SA birds, love the close up of the ground hornbill.

What a great sighting of the wild dogs and cheetah!

[xelas]

A wonderful South to North drive through Kruger! Great birds and excellent mammals sightings.

[PeterHG]

Thanks, @Galana @Towlersonsafari @Kitsafari @Zim Girl @xelas! 

 

After we came back I returned to the local patches. The berries there attracted some mogrants.

 

369 / NL 132. Fieldfare. Arkemheen, December.

 

 

370 / NL 133. Redwing. Arkemheen, December.

 

 

Some I had not posted yet from previous months:

371 / NL 134. Great Tit. Arkemheen, February.

 

372 / NL 135. Blue Tit. Amersfoort, May.