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Birding Travel

Agulhas Birding Weekend

We joined the Honorary Rangers of the Agulhas Reserve for a birding weekend. The weather was cold and very windy, as only the Agulhas Plains can be. It was not really conducive to much standing around in the open but we did do some good birding just sitting in the car.Even though this is a birding page, you must have a couple of nice travel shots.

Agulhas has probably the most bizarre and intriguing lighthouse. More like a Medieval castle converted to lighthouse duties. It makes for an interesting picture.

The other side is more ordinary, but still an impressive structure.

You can see from the next picture just how powerful the wind was. Those are female weavers clinging on for dear life while the wild wheat blows under them.

Here is a picture of some of the birders returning from a bracing walk in a minor gale.

Flowers – you gotta have flowers. Actually, those white things at the feet of the birders in the picture above are these flowers.

There is a bird in the next picture. Promise.

See? There is a bird. Only a bit small. An LBJ (Little Brown Job) and it is a Large Billed Lark – after much deliberation.

We saw some fish eagles in the far distance and photographed them for id purposes. Turns out we got some rather pleasant landscape pictures as well. There are two fish eagles in there, but check out the landscape. Lovely.

Silhouette of a kite playing the winds.

Weavers sheltering from the wind.

Down at the watering trough.

A kelp gull found an ideal sheltering place.

A white chested comorant takes the early morning sun.

Terns sheltering from the wind.

Waves in the wind.

Here’s looking at you. Cape Spur Fowl.

Steppe buzzard readying for flight.

Cape Robin Chat. We had, by this time migrated to Riviersonderend.