THE BIRDS: February 2016

Wednesday 24 February 2016

MADWALA NATURE RESERVE AND SURROUNDS

Madwala nature reserve is an interesting place, more a large garden than a reserve, its in its infancy and as such a lot of clearing needs to be done, the invasive plant species are a real issue. It is accessed via the Chanteclair Hotel and seems to be an extension of the grounds on which it stands. There are also mutant ticks which will bite you and leave you itching for 3 weeks thereafter... A reasonable dam and large marshy wetland are main features however if you trek further into the reserve there are wooded hills in which we saw a few interesting species. This walk however forced me into buying new boots, very wet, muddy and hilly.

Indian Peafowl

Helmeted Guineafowl

Purple Heron

Bronze Mannakin

Blacksmith Lapwing

Thick-billed Weaver

Burchell’s Coucal

Southern Black Flycatcher

Little Rush Warbler

Collared Sunbird

Tawny-Flanked Prinia

Cape White-eye

Orange Breasted Bushshrike

Lazy Cisticola

Lesser Striped Swallow

Sombre Greenbul

Little Bittern

Kurricane Thrush

CAPE ROBIN CHAT, MARKWELL

INDIAN PEAFOWL, MARKWELL

KURRIKANE THRUSH, MARKWELL

SOUTHER RED BISHOP, MARKWELL

PURPLE HERON, MARKWELL

MADWALA RESERVE,MARKWELL

MADWALA RESERVE, MARKWELL

MADWALA RESERVE WITH SOUTHERN, SCALY-BACKED YETTI.

ORANGE BREASTED BUSH SHRIKE, PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN

Monday 22 February 2016

DERBY DOWNS AND SURROUNDS

Derby Downs is a large office park build around 2000 in the Westville area in KZN. The area is dotted with abandoned quarries which over the years have filled up with runoff and storm water to form large, deep dams. With the advent of the office park developments large indigenous gardens have been planted which provide a haven for wildlife. We have a great array of aquatic, semi aquatic and land dwelling birds. There are also a couple of large Water Monitor lizards who nest in the dam and appear on warm days.

VIRANUS NILOTICUS, MARKWELL

DERBY DOWNS, MARKWELL

VIRANUS NILOTICUS, MARKWELL

Fortunately my offices are here so im spoiled with a pretty amazing view.

species spotted here include:

Cape Rock-Thrush

Southern Masked Weaver

African Pied Wagtail

Cape Wagtail

Southern Red Bishop

Chinspot Batis

Mocking Cliff Chat

Reed Cormorant

White-breasted Cormorant

African Darter

Red-eyed Dove

African Fish Eagle

Egyptian Goose

Little Grebe

Green-backed Heron

Grey Heron

African Hoopoe

Giant Kingfisher

African Stonechat

Amethyst Sunbird

Little Swift

Southern Black Tit

Black Headed Night Heron

Green backed Heron, Markwell

LITTLE GREBE, MARKWELL

RED CAPPED ROBIN-CHAT, MARKWELL

WHITE BREASTED CORMORANT, MARKWELL

PIED WAGTAIL, MARKWELL

PURPLE CRESTED TURACO, MARKWELL

REED CORMORANT, MARKWELL

BLACK HEADED NIGHT HERON, MARKWELL

WHITE EARED BARBET, MARKWELL

AFRICAN DARTER, MARKWELL

Monday 15 February 2016

TALA NATURE RESERVE AND SURROUNDS

Tala Private Game Reserve is a wildlife sanctuary located in the hills of a peaceful farming community, close to the bustling city of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

This game reserve near Durban is home to more than 380 bird species, as well as big game like Rhino, Kudu, Hippo, Giraffe and the rare Sable antelope. Plant species found in this area include the Fiery Aloe, Euphorbia and fragrant Wild Sage.

The landscapes at this game reserve near Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, are characterized by a mix of acacia thornveld, open grassland and sensitive wetland, providing exceptional game and bird viewing opportunities. You can drive through the park in your own vehicle which allows for total freedom and the close up meetings with the resident Rhino are amazing.

Most of the area is grassland with pockets of dense bush and a lovely big dam. Unlike parks further inland this area experiences more rainfall allowing for a wide variety of birdlife.

African darter

Southern black tit

Southern red bishop

Spotted thick knee

Squacco heron

Striped pipit

Violet backed starling

White backed duck

White faced whistling duck

Yellow billed duck

African hoopoe

African quail finch

African pipit

Blacksmith lapwing

Blue crane

Booted eagle

Brown hooded kingfisher

Burchells coucal

Cape glossy starling

Cape shoveler

Common ostrich

Common starling

Common waxbill

Crested barbet

Croaking cisticola

Crowned lapwing

Diederik cuckoo

Egyptian goose

Fan tailed widowbird

Fiscal flycatcher

Lazy cisticola

Levaillants cisticola

Little rush warbler

Long billed pipit

Long tailed widowbird

Malachite kingfisher

Neddicky

Pied kingisher

Pin tailed whydah

Red-billed oxpecker

Red collared widowbird

Red-knobbed coot

Blue crane

African finfoot

Common moorhen

Common fiscal

Red-throated wryneck

Reed cormorant

Rufous naped lark

Secretary bird

South African shelduck

SPOTTED THICK-KNEE, MARKWELL

BUFF STREAKED CHAT, MARKWELL

CROWNED LAPWING, MARKWELL

OSTRICH, MARKWELL

AFRICAN STONE-CHAT, MARKWELL

RED-THROATED WRYNECK, MARKWELL

OSTRICH AND BLUE CRANE, MARKWELL

RED-BILLED OXPECKER, MARKWELL

AFRICAN PIPIT, MARKWELL

COMMON MOORHEN, MARKWELL

RED-KNOBBED COOT, MARKWELL

SQUACCO HERON, GOOGLE

Monday 8 February 2016

DURBAN AND SURROUNDS

Despite being the third largest city in the Country, Durban is blessed with an abundance of wildlife, this may be down to the coastline but is more likely down to the abundance of parks, gardens and D’moss areas which are little island sanctuaries amidst the concrete. There are even troops of monkeys terrorising the neighborhood in the city.

The beaches offer good birding and the parks and reserves equally so. This first entry was a visit on a Sunday afternoon for a quick walk and some lunch towards the South of Durban’s beaches. Its generally warm to hot and quite humid in this area, the bordering Indian Ocean effectively prevents winter from happening at all..

Archaeological evidence from the Drakensberg Mountains suggests that the Durban area has been inhabited by communities of hunter-gatherers since 100,000 BC. These people lived throughout the area of present-day KwaZulu-Natal until the expansion of Bantu farmers from the north saw their gradual displacement, incorporation or extermination.

Little is known of the history of the first residents, as there is no written history of the area until it was sighted by Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, who sailed parallel to the KwaZulu-Natal coast at Christmastide in 1497 while searching for a route from Europe to India. He named the area "Natal", or Christmas in Portuguese.

The modern city of Durban dates from 1824, when a party of 25 men under British Lieutenant F. G. Farewell arrived from the Cape Colony and established a settlement on the northern shore of the Bay of Natal, near today's Farewell Square. Accompanying Farewell was an adventurer named Henry Francis Fynn. Fynn was able to befriend the Zulu King Shaka by helping him to recover from a stab wound he suffered in battle. As a token of Shaka's gratitude, he granted Fynn a "30-mile [50 km] strip of coast a hundred miles [160 km] in depth."

During a meeting of 35 European residents in Fynn's territory on 23 June 1835, it was decided to build a capital town and name it "d'Urban" after Sir Benjamin d'Urban, then governor of the Cape Colony. And so that’s that…

Today, Durban is the busiest container port in Africa. The Golden Mile, developed as a welcoming tourist destination in the 1970s, as well as Durban at large, provide ample tourist attractions, particularly for people on holiday from Gauteng. The Golden Mile was redeveloped in late 2009 in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. It was resurfaced and widened between Ushaka Marine World and Moses Mabhida Stadium. Durban's most popular beaches are also located along the Golden Mile.

BLACK HEADED AND GREY HEADED GULLS, MARKWELL

AFRICAN SPOONBILL, MARKWELL

CASPIAN TERN, MARKWELL

GREY HEADED GULLS, MARKWELL

NOT TOO SURE ...

NOT TOO SURE

IPHITI NATURE RESERVE

IPHITHI NATURE RESERVE

After a short break it became necessary to get out again. This time we decided to stay closer to home and visited the iphithi nature reserve in Gillitts. This place is an amazing story as only a few years ago it was basically an abandoned piece of land overrun by blue gum trees and invasive weeds. A local resident took it upon himself to clear the land and turn it into a reserve. A dam was built and indigenous trees were planted. The result is an amazing example of local fauna and flora and one of the best maintained spaces i have seen. Not a nasty plant anywhere and lush, lawn walkways, you could actually do this barefoot. There are heavily wooded areas, a dam and large marsh areas which allow for great birding. Had we spent more time I suspect we would have seen a lot more, we will be back..

Among a good ones were a Forest Buzzard and a Natal Spurfowl, sadly both were seen in flight so i couldn't manage a good shot.... all the usual suspects were all in attendance and have been omitted to avoid too much repetition.

Bronze Mannikin

Chinspot Batis

Brown hooded Kingfisher

Black headed Oriole

Fork tailed Drongo

Hamerkop

Forest Buzzard

Yellow fronted Canary

Thick billed Weaver

Olive Sunbird

Scarlet chested Sunbird

Cape Whiteye