DARVIL
Darvil is a waste water treatment plant situated just outside of Pietermaritzburg. It is a large site consisting of 3 main dams as well as several sludge dams and ponds. Due to the nature of the place the odor can be a little challenging at first but it seems to disappear as you become accustomed. We left early in the morning and it was absolutely freezing with a very thick fog over the entire site, visibility was almost zero and photographs equally difficult. The first thing that does strike you is simply the mass of birdlife at this site, its actually quite intimidating at first and at least until you get your bearings.
There have been several rare bird sightings at this site and we were particularly interested in the Lesser Jacana which was recently spotted at one of the larger dams. I would imagine that in summer this site must be something else. We confirmed over 50 species and missed as many more, few new ticks too including:
Spur winged goose, zitting cisticola, red faced cisticola, lazy cisticola, yellow throated longclaw, common moorhen, streaky headed seed eater, common fiscal, black winged stilt, cape grassbird, dark capped yellow warbler, african snipe, african rail, fulvous whistling duck, souther pochard, african swamphen, tamborine dove, common waxbill, malachite kingfisher, pied kingfisher, cape teal, hottentot teal, red billed teal, yellow billed duck, blacksmith lapwing, three banded plover, african jacana, lesser honeyguide, yello throated longclaw, long crested eagle, red knobbed coot, black crake, crested barbet, hammerkop, fork tailed drongo, african fish eagle, burchells coucal, hadeda ibis, african stonechat, black headed heron, goliath heron, yellow fronted canary, egyptian goose, lesser jacana
Spur winged goose, zitting cisticola, red faced cisticola, lazy cisticola, yellow throated longclaw, common moorhen, streaky headed seed eater, common fiscal, black winged stilt, cape grassbird, dark capped yellow warbler, african snipe, african rail, fulvous whistling duck, souther pochard, african swamphen, tamborine dove, common waxbill, malachite kingfisher, pied kingfisher, cape teal, hottentot teal, red billed teal, yellow billed duck, blacksmith lapwing, three banded plover, african jacana, lesser honeyguide, yello throated longclaw, long crested eagle, red knobbed coot, black crake, crested barbet, hammerkop, fork tailed drongo, african fish eagle, burchells coucal, hadeda ibis, african stonechat, black headed heron, goliath heron, yellow fronted canary, egyptian goose, lesser jacana
I will also add that this was even more challenging in terms of photography than some of the deep forests we have investigated. If you have anything less than a decent 500mm telephoto lens this place will drive you mad. My 300mm was found to be seriously wanting. Nonetheless here come some shots.
DARVIL MARSHLAND, MARKWELL
SECOND DAM, MARKWELL
YELLOW THROATED LONGCLAW, MARKWELL
DARK CAPPED YELLOW WARBLER, MARKWELL
EURASIAN REED WARBLER ?? MARKWELL
COMMON WAXBILL, MARKWELL
KNOB BILLED COOT, COMMON MOORHEN, AFRICAN RAIL, MARKWELL
AFRICAN JACANA, MARKWELL
BLACK CRAKE, MARKWELL
AFRICAN SWAMPHEN, MARKWELL
THREE BANDED PLOVER, SACRED IBIS, SPUR WINGED GOOSE, AFRICAN JACANA, MARKWELL
BLACK WINGED STILT, HOTTENTOT TEAL, MARKWELL
CAPE TEAL, RED BILLED TEAL, MARKWELL
AFRICAN SNIPE, MARKWELL
PIED KINGFISHER, MARKWELL
WHITE FACED WHISTLING DUCK, MARKWELL
THE BIG ONE, LESSER JACANA, MARKWELL
RED BILLED TEAL AND SQUACCO HERON, MARKWELL
LESSER HONEYGUIDE, MARKWELL
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