Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

South Africa 2017

Southern Double Collared Sunbird 

I have been in South Africa for the last week, the last 7 days have sped by and as normal, I haven't had even a second to spare to write the Blog.  The adventure started on the car journey from the International Airport when the first birds seen were Greater Flamingo and amongst them, Stilt on the Black River just before you get in to the metropolitan area. If any bird could give you an indication of what is awaiting you, then surely it is the sight of 200 pink exotic birds, seemingly out of context on a muddy, sadly litter strewn waterway with ramshackle huts  nearby and the distant backdrop of high rise buildings giving you your first contradiction - South Africa is full of contradictions. I was to see Flamingo several times in the next few days, but at the time it was a frustration, and it always is - I have seen them there every time we pass by - to know that I hadn't, as yet, taken good photographs of this iconic bird.

 

Over the weekend we enjoyed the sights, sounds and food and of course wine  but birds are a pretty backdrop to every banquet, sometimes the mundane masquerades as a rarity,  Cape Town has endemics to get the juices flowing and any first time visitor to the area will add numerous ticks to his or her life list. Even the local Wagtail is an endemic and the Hartlaubs Gull flocks in pest like proportions at every beach and waterfront restaurant in spite of its rarity in world terms.  The waterfront building where one buys Robben Island tickets is far  more interesting to birders than a mere temple to Nelson Mandela and African bureaucratic petulance,  it's the home to a large colony of Swift Tern. Drinking coffee whilst sat  at a waterfront cafe could give you 3 endemics, Swift Tern and Fur Seal, not a bad way to spend 30 minutes. Travel just a few miles north up the road that hugs the shore line towards the Western  Cape National Park and now you will open up a veritable Pandora's box of delights. On the journey, more flamingo, African Sacred Ibis, Cattle Egret are constantly seen and at the first wetland area, still with Table a Mountain as a backdrop there are flocks of White Pelican, again stills, various ducks and geese and of course Cape Gull, the South African sub species of Kelp a Gull.  On the long straight road towards the town of Langebaan we enjoyed the spectacle of Yellow Billed Kite on there roadside fence perches, not one but one every mile or so, sometimes three or four just a hundred or so yards apart.  The Western Cape National Park is where I eventually got close views of Greater Flamingo, but I also added  lifetime ticks with 3 banded Plover and photos of Kilitz Plover particularly rewarding. I had missed out on this species previously in Gambia.  I also photographed Cardinal Woodpecker, African Paradise Flycatcher and a very accommodating Rock Kestrel sat obligingly on the restaurant roof during our coffee break.  

Green Point Park is home to the World Cup Stadium and also a very attractive park with water that adjoins an 18 hole golf course.  It’s very close to our accommodation and a great place to see all the common birds. Malachite and Pied Kingfisher, Cape Weaver and Levielant’s Cisticola are easily seen on most visits. 

Also within the City are the Kirstenbosch Botanical gardens, a dream venue for horticulturalists and birders alike. Sunbirds are easily spotted and photographed here and this is a place that I visit as often as I can.

More to follow!

Birds around and about Alphington

Jenny and I went shopping to Sainsbury's at noon today after our usual Sunday morning breakfast outing. We always like to walk, even though I was struggling with my bad arthritic knee - a nightmare by the way. We just happened to walk past a dozen or so birders who were waiting, with the usual array of optics - long lenses, binos and scopes etc. by the carpark  This could only mean one thing - Waxwings! I don't know what it is about Waxwings and Alphington but we always seem to get them here when they are in Devon. Anyway, it seems that I was just a little bit late as they had already polished off the berries from a small clump of shrubs and moved on to look for more somewhere else - later 9 were seen feeding at nearby Topsham, more than likely the same ones - so I missed them but hopefully all my fellow birders managed to see them if they haven't before. Yesterday I had been to my Kingfisher stakeout and sat in the cold for a couple of hours but, for the firsts time in  least 20 visits since November, I didn't get a visit.  However I did get a visit from a Water Rail for the first time which moved very quickly across the brook and then 30 minutes later it scurried back in the opposite direction, a real frustration that I didn't get a photo of it, a lovely species! The lack of Kingfisher may well have been due to a walker who lingered for ages taking photos of the brook and the surrounds without realising that I was tucked away under cover, always good to know that my camouflage is effective but frustrating that there is disturbance.  Towards the end of the session, just when the cold had started to win and my feet were freezing, in flew the resident Heron which is pretty much a daily visitor at the brook here.  It must find something to eat at this spot but I have never seen it catch anything, but it keeps on returning.  I saw a female Sparrowhawk twice on this visit so another reason why the Kingfishers were keeping a low profile.  I daydreamed about the possible photo opportunities of a Sparrowhawk with Kingfisher, I wouldn't like it to happen but if it did i would like to get the picture!

Goldeneye

I had the best opportunity to photograph Goldeneye today.  This is a common winter resident on the River Exe and regularly swims up the river as far as Topsham.  At points the river here is comparatively narrow and with patience I was able to get the closest that I have been able to before. I sat quietly and waited for them to swim closer to me - three in total, although I had been told that there had also been a drake around as well.  Goldeneye are a nice addition to our winter species and I have wanted to get a decent photo for several years. I could do better with luck and even more patience of course.  The male is even more attractive but but both sexes have the same distinctive eye that gives the species the name.     

Grey Heron

Kingfishers and Dippers

It's been a tremendous eye opener to photograph and record  the species that I have observed  in just one tiny spot on the local brook over the last couple of months. Take yesterday, a Dipper was suddenly on the tiny waterfall just in front of the hide.  This was more than unexpected, I would never have associated this habitat with what I think of as a bird of much more remote locations and different kinds of watercourses. The brook here has very few sections where the water flows quickly yet this dipper must have been able to find food even though the water can be muddy.  They feed entirely on invertebrates and very small fish which the catch by fully immersing themselves underwater and walking along the bottom of the stream.  They use the fast flow of water to force them down on to the bottom to feed.  The first assumption to make is that this bird was just passing through, but from where and to where? We are miles from Dartmoor for example? Further to this, I have been told that Dipper have been seen here on the brook previously, I can only assume that they must be breeding somewhere on this watercourse.  Regardless of these quandaries, it certainly was a great sighting. Later on in the day, I was yet again really surprised when a Kingfisher arrived in front of me but not the male that I had been seeing for the last 6 weeks but this time, a female.  Knowing that Kingfishers are highly territorial I wouldn't have expected a new bird to suddenly be hunting here where I had previously seen a male, the presumed territory holder.  It was brilliant to see it, first fishing about 30 yards away and then fly closer and eventually - well after only a minute or so - land on the reed mace just in front of the hide.  It dived and immediately caught a stickleback, and then after landing on a light reed, move on to the heavy branch that I had laid in the water. It dealt with the prickly fish and I managed some great shots, a very successful session. At this spot I have now recorded the following species: Fox, Green Sandpiper, Snipe, Grey Heron, Little Egret, Kingfisher, Stonechat, Robin, Redwing, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Cormorant, Teal, Mallard, Moorhen, Buzzard, Black Headed Gull, Grey Wagtail, Pied Wagtail, Wren and of course Dipper. 20 species in all. 

 

 

Grey Heron

I went back to the brook this afternoon for a Kingfisher stakeout.  I hadn't been there since before Christmas and I wondered if everything would still be in place. I need not have been concerned, it was as if I had never been away and I quickly tucked myself inside and hoped that I would be lucky.  I sat motionless for at least an hour and as the light started to go - and just when I thought I wasn't going to have any luck whatsoever - suddenly the resident Grey Heron flew in, landed on the grass bank and walked towards the water.  It stayed in the brook for around 10 minutes and I got the impression that it realised that there was no prey and then flew off again to try elsewhere but not before I had taken some nice images even in the failing light.  Grey Herons are described as the UK's largest predatory bird, they are massive, standing 3 feet tall and with a wingspan of 6 feet.  They are formidable predators and will eat anything that they can grab, this includes fish of course but they will also take small birds up to moorhen size including water rails, ducklings, rats, mice etc. and they have even been photographed eating small rabbits. I guess they would take a Kingfisher if one came close enough, that would be a fantastic photo opportunity and I hope I never get the chance!!   Like I said nothing is safe.  They have a very calm hunting strategy, watching and waiting motionless for extended periods before suddenly extending the long neck to grab their prey.

Desert Wheatear Thurlstone Devon

I know I am almost a month behind most other serious Devon birders and even others from further field as well, this bird has been thriving here for well over a month now and it is obviously doing really well.  I have a gallery of Devon birds  and this is a new species for that gallery which now totals 220 so I really had to go and get some photographs of it and today and with bright sunshine it seemed perfect.  The plus side was that the novelty of the bird has almost subsided and when I arrived I pretty much had both the beach and the bird to myself.  To be honest, I am not too fond of chasing after birds when I am one of a crowd so this was perfect for me....a rare bird - a lifer in fact - and I had it all to my self for most of my visit. Fabulous!  The day was cold but very clear with bright perfect light and sunshine throughout.  I walked to the beach expecting to find it hard to find the bird but I was wrong.  It was as if the bird was sat waiting for me and seemed to be enjoying it's perch on a boulder in full sun as much as I enjoyed the spectacle.  I immediately got some photographs and could have turned back to the car there and then - so perfect was the light and the pose - I was thinking that I couldn't possibly get better.  In the end I stood waiting for it to do the circuit that it was obviously following and waited for it to fly to the boulders in front of me where I was hopeful of a good flight shot.  Suddenly my wait paid off, it landed in front of me and then I was ready when it flew to the next boulder and I got a nice in flight shot.  I spent a very pleasant hour or so chatting to a really nice guy who had travelled the world as much as me and we swapped stories about sea birds in the Southern Oceans and other places that we had both been fortunate enough to visit.

Desert Wheatears breed in the Sahara and also in the Deserts of Central Asia, all very harsh environments.  They are migratory of course and this one should be with the rest of it's species in warmer more southern climes. It obviously got lost on it's Autumnal travels and finished up here in Devon where the beach and rocks are not all that different from the habitat that it left behind.  What with rotting seaweed and warm rock cliff sides where insects are active,  this is quite a warm and comfortable environment in which to over winter.  It certainly was very active and finding lots of insects to feed on and also enjoying the free offerings of mealworms that someone had provided. Even though the overnight temperatures were low last night, by midday it was almost too warm for the heavy clothes that I  had worn to make sure I wasn't going to be too cold as I stood around taking pictures.

 

Redwing in the garden.

As I sat in the living room this early afternoon entertaining my grandchildren, I realised a couple of Redwings were feeding on the holly berries in my front garden.  This is by no means an annual occurrence and I have only had them in the garden a few times in the last 30 years, the last time in late December 2009 and then the next month in January.   I set up my camera in the back room and when they returned, I took the opportunity to get a couple of pictures as they crept quietly to the berries. Redwings are thrushes - members of the turdus family of birds - they are migratory birds and are one of the first winter visitors to arrive in the UK.  They move in to the suburbs only when the berries in more rural habitats have been depleted.   This is a  very attractive species which I find interesting because they have migrated all the way from their breeding grounds - a few pairs breed in Northern Scotland but the majority nest in Northern Europe and Asia and then over-winter in Western and Southern Europe.  I may get more photos tomorrow if they visit again, they may possibly but in the meantime, here is a photograph that I took when they came in to the garden the last time. Then, they were feeding on cotoneaster berries.