2023 for better or worse _ Soukous

[Soukous]

So here we are in 2023. It is 16 January and I have not picked up a camera yet. This is partly due to the appalling weather and partly due to goings on at home. So no birds to post yet.

 

I thought this year's travel plans were pretty well set up, but they are gradually getting dismantled and re-imagined; what fun 

 

 

[TonyQ]

I look forward to when you can start posting!

[Galana]

 I wondered where you had gone.

So what plans are now afoot?

[xelas]

5 hours ago, Soukous said:

they are gradually getting dismantled and re-imagined

 Like playing with Lego ; each new construction is better than the dismantled one. 

[Soukous]

On 1/16/2023 at 3:36 PM, xelas said:

 Like playing with Lego ; each new construction is better than the dismantled one. 

 

each new construction should be better but it doesn't always work out that way when the changes are enforced rather than voluntary

[Kitsafari]

It's only 22 days into the new year. Still 343 days to go - plenty of time to work up the list!

[shazdwn]

Hope your travel plans work out - you may end up with a wonderful surprise location that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.  Look forward to your first bird. 

[Soukous]

I find it a bit strange that my BY 2023 should start with birds from South Africa, but I did not manage to get out and shoot a single shot in the UK in January.

Even in SA, with glorious sunshine (most of the time) I was far more occupied by catching up with friends than with birding.

So my tally is meagre; far fewer than on previous visits.

 

This trip was a bit different to previous ones. Before setting off for Cape Town, I made the decision to leave my Nikon gear at home. This was partly because I knew I would only be doing occasional birding and could not see the point in lugging around 15kg of camera gear, but also because I wanted to see how much I would miss it.

Instead I travelled with my Sony RX10 iv, an outstandingly good bridge camera. Although I have used it extensively, I have only once relied on it as my only camera and that was on a trip with few photo opportunities.

 

The maximum focal length is 600mm, so I would be forfeiting 150mm of reach. I was curious to see how much difference that made and whether I would ‘lose’ any shots because of it.

 

The day before we were due to fly we got reports of a fire on the Swartberg Mountains. It was some distance away from our place and reportedly under control, but we couldn’t help thinking back to the devastating fire of 2017 and hoped this would not be a repeat.
In 2017 the firefighters used our house as a base and we had helicopters on the lawn.

 

 

 

After a truly awful flight on Virgin Atlantic – seats designed by Satan for maximum discomfort and food that was inedible. Why is it that there is so much more legroom on short haul flights than on long haul? And when did airlines stop serving meals and hand out stale rolls or micro-waved bits of pastry? - – we picked up our hire car and were on the road.

 

As we turned off the R62 just after Calitzdorp we could see smoke rising above the mountains. The closer we got to our house the more it looked as though the smoke was right there.

 

 

Not quite, but very close; too close for comfort. With the wind swirling one way and then the other, it was not possible to predict how events would unfold so we just watched.

 

 

 

It certainly looked dramatic

 

We were lucky; just as the light was fading it began to rain. Next morning, the fires close to us had been extinguished. Further along, by the Swartberg Pass the hillside was still ablaze, but it looked as though, for us at least, the threat had passed. Now we could relax.

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

The first bird I photographed is probably the same species I photograph first every time. They make their nests under our stoep so we see them all the time.

 

#1 - Greater Striped Swallow - Hirundo cucullata

 

 

 

 

 

the next one also spends a lot of time on our lawn

 

#2 - Cape Wagtail - Motacilla capensis

 

 

 

the third one we don't see as often, but it came strolling by on a few occasions

 

# 3 - Secretary Bird - Sagittarius serpentarius

 

 

 

our little pond had got a bit overgrown with reeds, but that has not stopped the animals coming to visit and this family of geese seem to have taken up residence - unfortunately, as they try to chase away other water fowl.

 

# 4 - Egyptian Goose - Alopochen aegyptiacus

 

 

 

 

Just about the only other bird the geese will share with is this one

 

#5 - Hadeda Ibis - Bostrychia hagedash

 

 

The geese are less successful at keeping the mammals away.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Soukous

[TonyQ]

Lucky with the rain!

Some beautiful birds to start us off, and your substitute camera appears to be doing well.

[xelas]

What a beautiful place you have, Martin! Filled with birds and mammals (hopefully not with snakes) and so close to majestic mountains. I am also very curious to see how the bridge camera fulfilled your needs. It surely is more comfortable to lug around the world.

[Kitsafari]

I use the Sony RX10 mkIII which makes me break out in swear words once in a while because the focussing is so darn slow and i've heard mkIV is so much faster. Other than the focus time, surely the other features should be the same and yet your photos are of such high-quality and far more stunning than what I can produce. The conclusion must be: it's the user that matters ultimately!

 

I'm envious too of the views from your lawn! the lawn seems never-ending, reaching into the mountains! 

[Soukous]

2 hours ago, Kitsafari said:

I use the Sony RX10 mkIII which makes me break out in swear words once in a while because the focussing is so darn slow and I've heard mkIV is so much faster.

 

The focus is not bad, but can be very frustrating. I am sure new cameras have much better viewfinders but I still struggle with the electronic display on the RX10 iv, it is not always easy to see clearly what is behind the focussing point and getting quick shots of small birds is difficult, as is trying to pick out a bird from foliage simply because the focussing point is not small enough. 

If you lose a bird in flight it is not easy to find it again and get it into focus.

 

Despite all that, it is a terrific camera and so much more comfortable to carry than 2 DSLR bodies and 3 lenses. 

[Soukous]

Klein Karoo has aloes in abundance and they provide favourite perches for many birds. On in particular likes to use the aloes not just as a perch but also for food storage.

The Southern (Common) Fiscal swoops down from its perch to grab a tasty morsel and then impales it on an aloe spike, which it returns to feed on later.

 

#6 - Southern (Common) Fiscal - Lanius collaris

 

 

 

 

 

another bird that loves the aloes is one of our most vocal

 

# 7 - Bokmakierie - Telophorus zeylonus

 

 

 

 

Passing animals provide a regular distraction 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course I could not spend all my time just gazing out towards the mountains and went in search of other birds that are usually present. This proved to be a lot tougher than usual, with several species seemingly absent.

There are a couple of spots where I can almost always find a variety of sunbirds, but not this year. It may have had something to do with the fire as the proteas they love were decimated by the fire.

Sugarbirds were still abundant though, and the proteas made wonderfully colourful perches.

 

# 8 - Cape Sugarbird - Promerops cafer

 

 

 

 

I did eventually find some Sunbirds, but only females, the males were very elusive. I think all these are the same species but I'd love to be corrected.

 

#9 - Greater Double-collared Sunbird - Cinnyris afra

 

 

 

 

Acacia thicket is the favourite spot for Nyala 

 

 

and also this species. Some days there seem to be lots of them and on other days I couldn't find a single one

 

#10 - African Paradise Flycatcher - Tersiphone viridis

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

Master of Sony RX10, @Soukous! lovely shots. 

[Dave Williams]

Your house is in a spectacular spot Martin but it does look rather remote. Is there a minder in situ? 

The fire would have had me worried sick! Anyway, all turned out well which is good to hear. 

When we were on holiday in November the lady half of a couple of new to birding/photographing enthusiasts I'd met fell over when a wave caught her unawares and soaked her camera which was a Canon 7000D which she had picked up on eBay to trial her new hobby. Being day 2 of a 14 day holiday she was a bit sick to say the least but she had also realised the limitations of her new kit. She asked me for recommendations but the one she went for was one a friend of mine passed on, the RX101V. She picked one up , again on eBay for just over £700 which is what she got for the Canon body and the lens attached( which was more than she paid too!). She is very happy with the portability of the camera and if she gets shots as good as yours she will most certainly be delighted. They are superb, especially for that kind of outlay.

[Peter Connan]

Lovely shots indeed Martin!

[TonyQ]

Beautiful photos @Soukous

[Soukous]

In recent weeks the Klein Karoo had a lot of heavy rain which was very welcome after a few years of drought. We also noticed that the municipal reservoirs by most town we passed were at good levels. Whilst the locals welcome the rain, it was not what we go to Africa for so we were happy that there were only a couple of wet days during our stay.

Most days were glorious

 

 

 

with some super sunsets

 

and the animals just kept on coming

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Soukous

[Soukous]

But this is supposed to be about birds so I'd better drop in a few more of those. Not that I have many to post.

 

# 11 -  Neddicky (I hope) - Cisticola fulvicapillus

 

 

# 12 - Rock Kestrel - Falco (tinnunculus) rupicolis

 

 

#13 - Brimstone Canary - Serinus sulphuratus

 

 

# 14 - Yellow Bishop - Euplectes capensis

 

This proved to be a surprisingly elusive bird. I could not find one in breeding plumage out in the open and had to settle for this one skulking on the ground.

 

 

 

 

# 15 - Cape Robin-Chat - Cossypha caffra

 

a much more accommodating bird

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Peter Connan]

Lovely scenic shots @Soukous.

[Soukous]

13 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Lovely scenic shots @Soukous.

 

aren't cellphones wonderful 

[Soukous]

the last few from my meagre South Africa haul

 

#16 - Red-eyed Dove - Streptopelia semitorquata

 

just 'cos it was there

 

# 17 - Yellow-billed Duck - Anas undulata

 

 

 

# 18 - Fiscal Flycatcher - Melaeornis silens

 

 

 

and friend

 

 

# 19 - Common (European) Starling - Sturnis vulgaris

 

 

# 20 - Cape Weaver - Ploceus capensis

 

 

 

 

We have very few trees around our house, but friends have a wonderfully lush garden which can be a birding destination in its own right. Not this time, but it did have a new resident.

 

# 21 - Pin-tailed Whydah - Vidua macroura

 

 

 

 

and lastly, my favourite shot from the trip. They are beautiful birds and I just love the light

 

# 22 - Black-winged (Black-shouldered) Kite - Elanus caeruleus

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

So, when the dust has settled, what do I think of the Sony RX10 iv?

It was an absolute pleasure to travel with and I cannot fault the quality of the photos it churns out. It seems pretty sturdy too, I managed to knock it off a table onto a tiled floor and it still works. Phew.

 

I still do not like electronic viewfinders but I can live with it as a reasonable trade off for the portability.
My biggest grip is the focussing; it is fast enough and accurate enough but I find the focus point, even at its smallest size, too intrusive in the viewfinder and not small enough to pick out small birds amid foliage.

 

Most importantly I do not think I 'missed' any shots because I was using it instead of my DSLR. Sure it takes a couple of seconds to power up and to extend the zoom lens, compared to the DSLR being instantly ready for action, but I can manage that with a bit of forethought.

 

The other bugbear - and this one is shared by almost all Sony RX10 users - is the very poor battery life. The battery can lose a fair portion of its charge just being in the camera and it really cannot handle very many shots before it runs down. Knowing this in advance I had 5 batteries with me and did not have a problem. 

 

I will be taking this as my only camera to India next month for a more extensive trial. It's a bit of a gamble as birds are high on my target list but I want to find out whether it can be a viable choice when I am travelling and need to keep the weight down.

[Dave Williams]

Interesting comments Martin, thanks for the insight. I think the problem of picking out small birds in a bush is the problem many mirrorless users have be they bridge or full body like my Canon R5. 

Battery life can be a huge problem too but I have learnt how to conserve power by switching off GPS,WiFi, the LED screen and a feature called continuous autofocus which has the lens working hard all the time even when it's slung over tour shoulder! I also use an electronic rather than the mechanical shutter feature. I have learnt by having these features disabled I can leave the viewfinder screen to see everything I want in terms of settings but also lengthen the time before it shuts down so I get a much faster response time. 

The RX10 may or may not have some of those features that you could disable but I imagine just extending the lens is pretty power hungry.

From a weight and portability angle I haven't used my big 500mm f4 lens since my trip to South Africa in July when I only occasionally used it from a car or hide window and I haven't used my Gitzo tripod since last June.

The Canon R5 plus the RF 100-500 is very manageable even for someone in their 70's. I could do with a back up camera though and not sure if this would make a relatively inexpensive option.