tdgraves big year 2022 - here's hoping it's (all) better!

[Tdgraves]

 

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 800, f7.1, 1/4000

 

7T4A4147a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

14) Red-billed teal

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 500, f5.6, 1/2000

 

J19A1294 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

15) Hottentot teal (courtesy of the OH - my BIF shots were rubbish!)

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 7D mark II, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 640, f7.1, 1/1250

 

7T4A4166a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

16) Black crake

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 640, f7.1, 1/2500

 

7T4A4164a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

17) White-winged tern

Edited February 19, 2022 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

Unfortunately, we then rather lost the light (as you can see with the clouds in the background of the last shot)

 

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/4000

 

7T4A4171a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

18) Yellow-billed duck

Edited February 19, 2022 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/2000, EV + 1 2/3

 

7T4A4170a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/800, EV + 1/3 - juvenile

 

7T4A4397a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

19) African stonechat

Edited February 19, 2022 by Tdgraves
extra photo

[xelas]

Excellent start to SA birding, @Tdgraves!

 

Are all photos un-cropped?

Edited February 19, 2022 by xelas

[Tdgraves]

7 minutes ago, xelas said:

Excellent start to SA birding, @Tdgraves!

 

Are all photos un-cropped?

Alex, no, all except the coot have I guess approx 20-25% cropped off 

[PeterHG]

Good to see your Marievale collection! You are months ahead of us with the Barn Swallow…

[TonyQ]

Great to see the start of your SA collection 

[shazdwn]

Sounds like a great start to the trip with some good birds 

[Tdgraves]

Thanks @PeterHG @TonyQ @shazdwn and @xelas still a few to come from Marievale, but I had to get to the gym last night before it closed!

[Galana]

A good start and even a venture into the world of EBC on occasions. Great stuff.

[Dave Williams]

Bring them on! looking forward to hearing all about this trip!

[Kitsafari]

great start to the SA collection - a sharp crisp shot making the coot look lovelier than it usually does! 

[Soukous]

so good to see you out and about again with some birds from our favourite continent

[Tdgraves]

Thanks @Galana @Soukous @Kitsafari and @Dave Williams

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f7.1, 1/2500

 

7T4A4179a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

20) Red-eyed dove

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f7.1, 1/2500

 

7T4A4176a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

21) Levaillant's cisticola

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/800, EV +1

 

7T4A4353a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

22) Southern red bishop

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/2500, EV +1

 

7T4A4376a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

23) Black heron 

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/800

 

7T4A4369a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

24) Black-headed heron

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f5.6, 1/1600

 

7T4A4380a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

25) Pin-tailed whydah

[Tdgraves]

Marievale bird sanctuary, South Africa, 15/1/22 

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/2500, EV + 1 1/3

 

7T4A4293a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/2000, EV + 1 1/3

 

7T4A4286a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Canon 5D mark IV, 100-400 mark ii, ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/2500, EV + 1 1/3

 

7T4A4305a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

26) Black-winged kite

[Tdgraves]

And that's it for Marievale. We saw 40 species in total, but the conditions were against us and several of the photos above were the only sighting of that species. There had been heavy rain 1-2 weeks prior so the place was very flooded with long grass. One of the main trails away from the water was closed and the other looked so muddy that we didn't dare use it. The water levels were extremely high and the first hide that usually overlooks a small pond, was in front of a lake - this meant that the water birds could disperse widely. Still, a nice morning out.