Tag: Birding

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Bird Phptography Uncategorized

Jackal Buzzard at Sunset

Just about sunset we were cruising the dirt roads around Riviersonderend and found this Juvenile Jackal Buzzard

A medium sized raptor perched on a fence pole. It has dark patterned wings and a pale chest. The overall colouring of the bird is a pale orange due to the sunset

He (or she) didn’t like our invasion of his privacy so took off in a flurry.

The raptor is taking off of the fence pole away from the camera. The wings are white underneath. The clawed feet are visible just leaving the pole
Categories
Bird Phptography

Black Crowned Night Heron

This is a juvenile Heron, photographed at Rondevlei. The water levels being fairly low, the birds are forced out into the open providing an ample opportunity for photography.

A tall upright bird with white underparts, black beack and grey back and wings. The eyes are amber and are circled with white feathers. THe bird is standing on the edge of a reed bed.

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Richards Rambles
Richards Rambles
@rambler

Expect travel, flowers, stars, hiking, flowers, poetry, stories and did I mention flowers?
And anything that takes my fancy.
The Header Photo is of a cloudy sunset in the Robertson Karoo.
The profile picture is of a pin cushion with a double collared sunbird on the left and a bee on the right.

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Categories
Bird Phptography

Rock Kestrel

While walking along a road that runs along a contour halfway up Table Mountain we came across this beauty.

A small raptor perching on a branch. Its talons clearly visible. It has a streaked chestnut breast, white underwings and large dark eyes. It has a grey head.
The same bird, the barring on the tail more visible and the chestnut chest more pronounced.
Categories
Bird Phptography

Pin-tailed Whydah

The handsome bird in the top photograph is the male of the Pin-tailed Whydah species. The Pin-tailed Whydah is a brood parasite – in other words the female lays its eggs in another species of bird’s nest and leaves the host birds to raise the chicks. In this case the host bird species is the Swee Waxbill which is shown in the second photograph.

A black and white bird with a red beak. it has a long tail, approximately twice the length of its body
A small bird with a grey head, green wings and white belly standing on the top of a branch. It has a red under beak and red on the rump.
Categories
Bird Phptography Birding Western Cape

Little Stint

A Little Stint works the salt marshes in the West Coast National Park, South Africa.

A small wading bird with a brown brown back and white belly., black legs and a long straight beak. green and yellow water weed are in the background. The foreground is pale brown.
Categories
Astro-photography Bird Phptography Birding Photography Uncategorized

Photographs marking the day

A silhouette of a leafless tree against a red evening sky with a bird perched on top of the tree also in silhouette.

A Sugarbird in the evening,

a bird perched on top of a tree It has a grey head and belly, green wings, red on the tail and the lower beak.

A waxbill in the morning

white flowers with yellow stamens

Flowers at midday

stars in a dark sky with clouds and light on the far horizon

And the stars at night. Light pollution on the horizon.

Categories
Birding Photography

The mystery of the floating head

I took a photograph of a Little Grebe on a water body in Vroliejkheid Nature Reserve. There was a bit of a swell, nothing much, a couple of cms maximum. I took the photo home and processed it and found that there was an unexpected head reflected in the water. How it got there is a bit of a puzzle

a small water bird with a black head and wings, red patch on the cheek and a white rump float on water with small waves. There is a reflection of the birds head where you would expect it, but on the next small wave is another reflection of the bird's head the right way up. Not mirrored as the other reflection is. There is even a spot of light in the eye of the bird.

Categories
Birding Photography

Bees like Grapes

Specifically hanepoot or mascadel grapes which if left long enough become incredibly sweet. We have an active bee hive and a hanepoot vine which has produced a nice crop of grapes this season so we ended up sharing our grapes with the birds and the bees.

The bees are cape honey bees indigenous to the Western Cape.

A cape honey bee explores a bunch of grapes.
the bee has found a grape with a hole pecked in it by a bird and is harvesting the sweet juce.

The birds that open the berries are Common or European Starlings

A black bird with white stippling sits on a concrete wall
Categories
Birding Photography

Brown Hooded Kingfisher

A beautiful bird that posed so nicely for us just outside McGregor in the Western Cape. The bird has a call similar to the Mouse Bird so when we are birding and hear the distinctive three note call, we are never quite certain which bird we are hearing. In this case the identification was positive. This species of kingfisher actually seems to prefer dry land rather than water. An image of a mouse bird is here.

A photo of a Kingfisher perched on the cross bar of a telephone pole. It has a red beak with a dark tip, a brown head, white collar and chest. Black wings with blue flight feathers. The background is blurred.
Categories
Birding Photography Reptile Western Cape

Jackie Hangman

This post is not really for the faint hearted. Impaled dead reptiles feature.

In South Africa we have a small bird of prey called the Southern Fiscal. Note the hooked beak.

The bird gets its colloquial name Jackie Hangman from its habit of hanging its captured prey on thorns. The following picture is of a small Common Slug Eater that has been hung out in a lemon tree by a Jackie Hanger.