Mozambique Birding | Birding and Tour News | Features | Listing Clubs | Enquire
Birding South Africa | Birding Johannesburg/Pretoria | About us | Contact us | HOME
|
Day Trips | Weekend Birding Events | Scheduled Tours | Customised Tours | Birding Courses Mozambique Birding | Birding and Tour News | Features | Listing Clubs | Enquire Birding South Africa | Birding Johannesburg/Pretoria | About us | Contact us | HOME Indicator Birding ccErectile Dysfunction | |
A day of birding in 4 Provinces ex Pretoria!30 September 2006 A dawn to dusk day of birding along one of my favourite birding routes from Vlaklaagte to Kgomo-kgomo yesterday with Johan van Vuuren and Mark Harrington covered four provinces and produced over 180 species, including a host of cracking birds. Spring action is mixed depending on where you are, but the highveld areas are picking up slowly with a number of low-flying displays by Eastern Clapper and Melodious Larks, and a number of spectacular aerial song-shows by Red-capped Lark and Capped Wheatear - the latter heard mimicking African Wattled Lapwing. Cloud Cisticolas and Desert Cisticola are by far the most active of the short-tailed Cisticolas, the former with several "off-key" junior learner males in evidence. In the bushveld a Sabota Lark also did a medley of mimickry including a very convincing snatch of Yellow-throated Petronia. A calling Plain-backed Pipit allowed our first "in the field" use of Faansie's Pipit Guide which confirmed this book's immense value (the book also has a special two page feature on separating Plain-backed and Buffy Pipits) Perhaps the highlight of the day was a joint aerial show by a foursome of two Cuckoo-hawks and two African Hawk-Eagles! Cuckoo Hawk seems to have become more common in the Pretoria region over the last few years with reports from a wide variety of localities over the last few months, including the Seringveld, near Rust de Winter, near Verena, Vlaklaagte, Trichardtspoort and the de Tweedespruit Conservancy. Previous reports that I am aware of include the Schurveberge (west of the City), around Hartebeestpoort dam and one at Smuts Koppie. If anyone has other reports of Cuckoo Hawks in the Pretoria region I would love to hear about them. Other nice birds seen included Tinkling Cisticola, "Screen-filling" scope views of a beautiful male Quail Finch, Southern Pied Babbler, Secretarybird, Brown-backed Honeybird, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Purple Roller, Marsh Owl, Temminck's Courser, Verreaux's Eagle, Wahlberg's Eagle (on the nest), Yellow-billed Stork, Banded Martin, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Cape Crow, Purple Heron, Yellow-billed Egret, Comb Duck, Fulvous Duck, White-backed Duck, Fawn-coloured Lark, Kalahari Scrub-Robin, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-lark, and several Marico sunbirds which joined a mobbing party for an unseen (by us) threat in the long grass. Also seen were Burchell's Glossy Starling, Violet-eared Waxbill, Black-cheeked Waxbill, and large flocks of both Wattled Starling and Yellow-crowned Bishop (the latter at Kgomo-kgomo). Trip List for the day's Birding - S = Seen, H = Heard 4 Crested Francolin S 14 Swainson's Spurfowl S 20 Helmeted Guineafowl S 21 Fulvous Duck S 22 White-faced Duck S 23 White-backed Duck S 25 Egyptian Goose S 27 Spur-winged Goose S 28 Comb Duck S 33 Yellow-billed Duck S 36 Red-billed Teal S 39 Hottentot Teal S 40 Southern Pochard S 49 Brown-backed Honeybird S 65 Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird S 69 Crested Barbet S 71 Red-billed Hornbill S 73 Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill S 76 African Grey Hornbill S 80 African Hoopoe S 86 Lilac-breasted Roller S 88 Purple Roller S 100 White-fronted Bee-eater S 111 Red-faced Mousebird S 131 Burchell's Coucal S 144 African Palm-Swift S 151 Little Swift S 153 White-rumped Swift S 159 Grey Go-away-bird S 171 Marsh Owl S 179 Rock Dove S 180 Speckled Pigeon S 185 Laughing Dove S 187 Cape Turtle-Dove S 188 Red-eyed Dove S 192 Namaqua Dove S 199 Northern Black Korhaan S 217 Black Crake S 224 Common Moorhen S 232 African Snipe S 240 Marsh Sandpiper S 241 Common Greenshank S 245 Wood Sandpiper S 247 Common Sandpiper S 263 Ruff S 268 African Jacana S 275 Black-winged Stilt S 282 Kittlitz's Plover S 283 Three-banded Plover S 291 Blacksmith Lapwing S 294 African Wattled Lapwing S 297 Crowned Lapwing S 303 Temminck's Courser S 316 Grey-headed Gull S 345 African Cuckoo Hawk S 348 Black-shouldered Kite S 389 Verreauxs' Eagle S 390 African Hawk-Eagle S 393 Wahlberg's Eagle S 397 Secretarybird S 400 Rock Kestrel S 401 Greater Kestrel S 411 Lanner Falcon S 414 Little Grebe S 425 Reed Cormorant S 432 Little Egret S 434 Yellow-billed Egret S 438 Grey Heron S 439 Black-headed Heron S 441 Purple Heron S 442 Cattle Egret S 446 Green-backed Heron S 452 Hamerkop S 455 Glossy Ibis S 456 Hadeda Ibis S 458 African Sacred Ibis S 459 African Spoonbill S 462 Yellow-billed Stork S 537 Black-headed Oriole S 539 Fork-tailed Drongo S 557 Grey-headed Bush-Shrike S 570 Cape Crow S 571 Pied Crow S 576 Common Fiscal S 577 Magpie Shrike S 594 Banded Martin S 599 White-throated Swallow S 603 Greater Striped Swallow S 604 Lesser Striped Swallow S 605 Red-breasted Swallow S 608 South African Cliff-Swallow S 609 Rock Martin S 614 Dark-capped Bulbul S 637 Burnt-necked Eremomela S 660 Southern Pied Babbler S 665 Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler S 670 Cape White-eye S 675 Rattling Cisticola S 676 Tinkling Cisticola S 684 Neddicky S 687 Desert Cisticola S 688 Cloud Cisticola S 692 Black-chested Prinia S 710 Melodious Lark S 711 Rufous-naped Lark S 713 Eastern Clapper Lark S 716 Sabota Lark S 717 Fawn-coloured Lark S 727 Eastern Long-billed Lark S 732 Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark S 734 Red-capped Lark S 747 Groundscraper Thrush S 754 Marico Flycatcher S 756 Fiscal Flycatcher S 776 Kalahari Scrub-Robin S 782 Buff-streaked Chat S 783 Mountain Wheatear S 786 Capped Wheatear S 791 Familiar Chat S 792 Ant-eating Chat S 799 Cape Glossy Starling S 803 Burchell's Starling S 806 Pied Starling S 807 Wattled Starling S 809 Common Myna S 817 Amethyst Sunbird S 827 White-bellied Sunbird S 831 Marico Sunbird S 836 Scaly-feathered Finch S 841 Cape Weaver S 845 Southern Masked-Weaver S 846 Village Weaver S 854 Yellow-crowned Bishop S 856 Southern Red Bishop S 861 Red-collared Widowbird S 862 Long-tailed Widowbird S 863 Thick-billed Weaver S 865 Orange-breasted Waxbill S 866 African Quailfinch S 873 Black-faced Waxbill S 876 Common Waxbill S 878 Violet-eared Waxbill S 879 Blue Waxbill S 882 Green-winged Pytilia S 884 Red-billed Firefinch S 887 Jameson's Firefinch S 902 Cape Sparrow S 906 African Pied Wagtail S 907 Cape Wagtail S 914 Cape Longclaw S 919 African Pipit S 921 Plain-backed Pipit S 934 Yellow-fronted Canary S 942 Streaky-headed Seedeater S 3 Coqui Francolin H 12 Natal Spurfowl H 57 Cardinal Woodpecker H 68 Black-collared Barbet H 81 Green Wood-Hoopoe H 96 Brown-hooded Kingfisher H 189 Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove H 203 White-bellied Korhaan H 350 African Fish-Eagle H 542 Brubru H 543 Black-backed Puffback H 545 Black-crowned Tchagra H 550 Southern Boubou H 551 Crimson-breasted Shrike H 565 Chinspot Batis H 581 Black Cuckooshrike H 590 Ashy Tit H 628 Cape Grassbird H 633 Long-billed Crombec H 655 Willow Warbler H 678 Wailing Cisticola H 686 Zitting Cisticola H 691 Tawny-flanked Prinia H 699 Bar-throated Apalis H 705 Grey-backed Camaroptera H 724 Spike-heeled Lark H 767 White-throated Robin-Chat H 835 Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver H 837 White-browed Sparrow-Weaver H 917 Striped Pipit H 948 Cape Bunting H |
|