Elena Russell – Page 2 – Birds are our Story

Umbogavango Sat 7 June 2014

Published on June 11, 2014 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

Report Back by Elena Russell

Photos curtesy of Declan Jordan, Rex Aspeling, John Bremner and Dave Rimmer.

Umbogavango in Winter came up trumps – it was a beautiful day and the birding was great as can be seen from the superb pics. There were 19 members & 1 visitor and we broke up into 2 groups – thanks to Ismail for leading the 2^nd group.

White-eared Barbets in abundance;

then we had the most lovely views of 6/7 Black Collared Barbets sitting in the top of a fever tree catching the sun (what a great pic!!).

Maybe not so many water birds as in Summer but Black Crake were seen a number of times as well as a very strange hybrid goose hanging out with a pair of Egyptian Geese and their chicks (any ideas on the lineage?).

Raptors: Black Sparrowhawk, Lanner Falcon, African Fish Eagle and then the piece de resistance a Palm-nut Vulture circling overhead and giving us the most fabulous display – I think we then decided it was a glorious day.

We had a brief glimpse of a Natal Spurfowl; Giant, Malachite & Brown-hooded Kingfishers, Cape, Pied & Mountain Wagtails, plenty of flycatchers and sunbirds and lots, lots more – our count was 74 but a few of us stayed on for another short walk and we had large flocks of Red-back Mannikins and a sole Blacksmith Lapwing flew into sight just as we were leaving making a total count of 76 – not too shabby for a Winter’s morning birding.

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird (Pogoniulus bilineatus)_D714357

The Tapinanthus (kraussianus(?) was flowering on lots of the trees much to the enjoyment of the sunbirds.

Mistletoe - Tapinanthus (kraussianus perhaps) — Mistletoe – Tapinanthus (kraussianus perhaps)

Cheers

Elena

Empisini Nature Reserve -25 May 2014

Published on May 26, 2014 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

Here is a short report on Empisini – courtesy of Elena Russell.

There were 13 of us and the morning started off a little chilly and cloudy and although there was lots of bird song not much to see – a Lemon Dove gave its soft hoo from the forest’s ferny floor, maybe one or two of us caught a brief glimpse as it took off.

The Scaly-throated Honeyguide called incessantly as well as the Lesser Honeyguide, Natal Robins flitted across our path as well as Tambourine Doves. We had a couple of good bird parties – lots of Grey Cuckooshrikes & Black Cuckooshrikes – the one male had the most beautiful yellow epaulettes.

When we returned for tea the birding had not been the greatest and for Empisini we all agreed was rather disappointing.

After tea we took another walk on a different path and the birding really took off – Narina Trogon, Green Malkoha, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatchers and eventually we saw the Honeyguides including the Greater Honeyguide plus lots, lots more!! It was then decided this was one of the best outings!! – the bird count was 54.

Pics are courtesy of Dave Rimmer, Penny de Vries and Paul Bartho– does anybody know if it is a spider’s nest and which one and if not what is it? Also the ID of the Giant Woodlander Kingfisher is very suspect! As always!

Narina Trogon – female. Terrible photo. Submitted to convince you we actually saw one.

Cheers

Elena

Saturday outing at Pigeon Valley 3 May 2014

Published on May 10, 2014 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

For the record we had a good turnout +25 members & visitors and the bird count was +53.

Crispin Hemson joined us a little later and at the end when we were having tea and only a couple of people had seen the Spotted Ground-thrush he went off and looked for it and eventually most of us had good views. Unfortunately no sign of the Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher.

Thanks to John Bremner and Dave Rimmer for the pics.

Cheers

Elena

Bluff NR – Sat. 5th April

Published on April 9, 2014 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

There were 18 of us and our bird count was 51 but after sitting at the picnic site having our coffee and a good chat (no pun intended) we managed to add olive sunbird and a yellow weaver which brought the total to 53! We have had much better birding at the Bluff in the past but the morning started off with a nasty cold wind and the pond aka dam was rather sterile – a few Reed and White-breasted Cormorants, a Darter, Moorhen and Little Grebe. Later on from the hide we had Malachite Kingfisher and superb close ups of a Lesser Swamp Warbler – hopefully John will post some pics. We had lots of good bird parties but mainly of Mannikins, Weavers, Prinias, Batis, Flycatchers etc the best bird of the day must have been the Lesser Honeyguide – but only seen by a few. We had a Purple Heron and Lanner Falcons fly over and of course heard the Sombre and Yellow-bellied Greenbuls calling from every thick and leafy tree but never to be seen!! The Bluff is a good spot for butterflies and other bugs and some lovely ones were seen – again hopefully some pics will be posted.

Cheers Elena Russell.

Shongweni – Saturday 1 February 2014

Published on February 5, 2014 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

We started off with 19 members and ended up with 27 (some late risers!!). Early in the morning the mist was lying over Shongweni but soon started to lift and turned into a lovely hot day’s birding. Our total bird count was 84. Thanks to Herman for leading the other group.

Shongweni Dam Wall with powerful overflow.

We had some great sightings and the bird of the day has to be the Osprey flying over the dam wall and down the river.

Western Osprey

Western Osprey

Western Osprey

No eagles! but we had Common Buzzards

African Harrier Hawks, YBK’s, White-necked Ravens and later on the Lanner Falcons appeared on the cliff face. We heard but did not see the Gorgeous and Orange-breasted Bush Shrikes. Rufous-napped Larks, Neddickys, Rattling Cisticolas, Twany-flanked Prinias called and displayed all morning. Some bird photos:

Black-headed Heron

African Black Ducks

African Pied Wagtail

Black-backed Puffback

Black-headed Heron

Black-headed Heron

Common Sandpiper

Lurking Lanner Falcon

Mocking Cliff-Chats

Rufous-naped Lark

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Tawny-flanked Prinia

Trumpeter Hornbill

Willow Warbler

Yellow-fronted Canary

White-breasted Cormorant,

As well as a number of Butterflies and another creature.

We had a Dideric Cuckoo begging to be fed by ‘Mama’ Village Weaver, the cuckoo fluttering and squawking and chasing after Ma demanding food whilst poor Ma was desperately hunting for ‘tidbits’ for her monster chick!

Didrick's Cuckoo - juvenile — Didrick’s Cuckoo – juvenile

Later on we walked to the ‘giant’ steps but the birding was not too successful.

We then walked to the bottom of the dam wall & weir and picked up some nice stuff there. There was a mystery fledgling on a concrete block, maybe it was an Egyptian Goose but as Liz remarked where were the parents, normally Egypo’s are very protective of their chicks.

Egyptian Goose

Egyptian Goose

As the day was getting too hot we parked off under the shade of some trees and did a little ‘armchair’ birding – checking out the cliff face.

Thanks to Penny de Vries, Dave Rimmer, Herman Bos, John Bremner & Paul Bartho for the pics.

Cheers
Elena

Bayhead Outing Saturday April 6th Feedback

Published on April 8, 2013 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

Bayhead Outing Saturday April 6th Feedback

Attended by 20 members + 2 non members.

A clear beautiful morning – so although the birding was not quite what we hoped for, the weather was perfect and the harbour, the city and the Queen Mary 2 all looked stunning.

There were lots of Grey headed gulls in and out of breeding plumage, Common Ringed Plovers also going into breeding plumage. Egyptian and Spur-winged Geese, a couple of Greenshank, Curlew Sandpipers, Goliath & Grey Herons, Little Egrets, Kelp Gulls, Blacksmiths, Caspian & Swift Terns and lots of Pink-backed Pelicans. Superb displays by the Fish Eagles and a Black Sparrowhawk went by at speed. Later on we walked down to the boardwalk and found the Black Spar’s nest. Some of us were lucky enough to see the Mangrove Kingfisher and Purple-banded Sunbird – total count for the morning 53.

After an update by Roy on BMCG – 9 of us retired to Buds for lunch and little liquid refreshment whereupon another great time was had by all!

Elena Russell

(PS: the butterfly is a White-barred Acraea – John Bremmer’s photos of the Fish Eagle the rest of the photos are Dave Rimmer’s)

Tala Game Reserve Feedback

Published on April 3, 2013 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

Jenny Norman and I (Elena Russell) visited Tala Game Reserve on Easter Sunday (last Sunday of the month & BLPN members get the discounted entrance fee! but remember you must contact them first don’t just rock up). The hordes did descend but we got there early so had the dam and picnic site to ourselves for the first few hours and got a good list going – we then set off to explore the rest of the reserve. Lots of cisticolas; Zitting, Lazy, Croaking, Levaillant’s and Neddickys but no Rattlers. We dipped on some of the more common birds, not one Euplectes species was seen all day but we twitched on a few summer visitors which we thought might have already flown i.e. Willow Warbler, Red Backed Shrike and Spotted Flycatcher.

The game is plentiful and a baby giraffe had us oohing and aahing as well as young Eland, Kudu and Wildebeest and we did see the Rhino. I joked about no oxpeckers whereupon we came upon a superb Kudu bull with a pair of Red-Billed Oxpeckers + a juvenile on its back. Shortly afterwards we met up with one of the rangers (John) and had a brief chat (have you ever known Jenny not to have a chat) and he said that there used to be only about 5/6 oxpeckers in the reserve but over the past few months had increased to about 50 – due he thought to the fact that the Parks Board had had a breeding programme going and had released a number of Red-billed Oxpeckers in Umfolozi/Hluhluwe a few years ago and some of these birds must have migrated down to various reserves in KZN.

John also happened to mention that a few weeks ago a Flamingo flew in an stayed for a week and that the Pale Chanting Goshawk still appears about every 6/8 weeks and seems to hang around the entrance area and Acacia Lodge for those birders who would like a rarity on their KZN list.

We had good views of Martial and Fish eagles, Jackal Buzzard, Black shouldered Kite and an African Marsh Harrier quartering a grassy hillside in the late afternoon was special. At the end of a very good day’s birding a Long Crested Eagle brought our count up to 99 – we didn’t crack a 100!

Elena Russell & Jenny Norman – (Jenny’s photographs).

Saturday, 2 March 2013 : Shongweni Outing Feedback

Published on March 4, 2013 by Paul BarthoLeave a comment

Saturday, 2 March 2013 : Shongweni

16 people : 13 members & 3 non members : bird count 76

The day was a little cloudy but after the rain on Friday night I thought the outing was going to be called off but it turned out fine and the birding not too shabby! Of interest was a sub adult Diderick Cuckoo showing a lot of green plumage and the white stripe behind the eye but the bill was still bright red. We also had Yellow billed kites gathering in the sky and on the trees preparing for their migration – at one stage there must have been between 40/50 kites in the sky. We saw the YBK’s again later in the day but not so many the second time. We were also lucky to see a Willow Warbler – maybe the last one of the summer – thanks to Sandi’s good spotting and ID. Sightings of note were a pair of Lanner Falcons + juvenile, Crowned and Fish eagles, Common Buzzard, plus the resident Orange Breasted Bush Shrike in the trees by the road leading to the office.

Photos care of Penny de Vries.

Elena Russel