Over the years we have been approached by birders on numerous occasions for information on pelagic birding during the course of a visit to Cape Town. Net result is that we have posted the following article on ‘10000Birds’, Read the rest of this entry »
Pelagic birding off Cape Town
April 4th, 2012 by avianleisureLITTLE CRAKE in CAPE TOWN: NEW BIRD FOR THE SOUTH AFRICAN LIST!
March 27th, 2012 by avianleisure
An unexpected arrival in Cape Town, in the form of a female Little Crake ( Porzana parva) triggered a wave of national media coverage and local ‘twitcher’ interest when it appeared last week on a local pond in Clovelly not far from our home in Simon’s Town.
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Anne Albatross’s Cape Town Pelagic Trip Report 3rd March 2012, by Patrick Cardwell
March 6th, 2012 by avianleisureWeather conditions remained ideal for offshore pelagic birding, so by 7Am on 3rd March we were all aboard ‘Obsession’ owned and skippered by Dave Christie, with Anne Gray a.k.a. ‘Anne Albatross’ on board as well, for our Cape Town pelagic birding trip out of Hout Bay.
Rarity of the day: Spectacled Petrel!
Birding and Wildlife Art
February 13th, 2012 by avianleisureWhilst we love good wildlife photography, and Patrick is on an ongoing mission to improve his photographic ability, there is also a place for wildlife art, and an artist whose love of the African bushveld shines through, is Diane Weiman.
Young Lion Pride, by Diane Weiman
OF CUCKOOS IN GENERAL AND GREAT SPOTTED CUCKOOS IN PARTICULAR…
February 7th, 2012 by avianleisureFor me it has never been the first ’swallow’ that heralds the start of spring down here in the Western Cape. It has always been the repetitive and plaintive ‘mietjie-mietjie’ call of the Klaas’s Cuckoo delivered in a monotonous sequence from the very top of the highest tree available within its chosen territory for the forthcoming breeding season.
Great Spotted Cuckoo
KAROO BIRDING: THE EVER SO ELUSIVE ROCK PIPIT
February 7th, 2012 by avianleisureOf all the pipits the one with the most evocative call is undoubtedly the Rock Pipit as its repetitive and far-carrying signature note and supporting trill drifts down the slope of a rocky Karoo hill during the height of the summer rainfall season. This is the best time to try for a sighting as the species is easily overlooked when not calling outside of the breeding cycle.
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ZIMBABWE REVISITED – BIRDING TOUR January 2012
January 25th, 2012 by avianleisureThe 2012 birding year got off to a scintillating start with 330 species notched up in quick succession during a nine day birding trip to Zimbabwe. For me it was also an opportunity to experience first-hand the current state of environmental well-being in a Southern African region I had travelled to several times before the collapse of the currency and the many logistical problems to do with overland travel that went along with it.
ROBERTS NESTS AND EGGS OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN BIRDS
December 2nd, 2011 by avianleisureWarwick Tarboton has been known within birding circles for many years as an outstanding ornithologist, wildlife writer and photographer with a passion for birds and more recently for dragonflies and damselflies.
Roberts Nests and Eggs, Warwick Tarboton, Front Cover
CONFUSING BIRDS in NAMIBIA: BLACK TITS
October 5th, 2011 by avianleisureWithin the sub-region there are two ‘black tits’ and for the most part they are easily separable based on known distribution with the only overlap taking place in the very north of Namibia. Read the rest of this entry »
SOUTH AFRICA’S CONFUSING BIRD SPECIES: BLACK KORHAANS
October 5th, 2011 by avianleisureSo often birders new to the game go straight to the illustrations as the sole means of identification when they get home and, as is so often the case, end up confused by what they have seen in the field due to too little in the way of fine definitive detail being noted at the time. Read the rest of this entry »
CAPE TOWN’S MARINE CORMORANTS
October 2nd, 2011 by avianleisureThe Cape Peninsula is home to four species of cormorants that frequent the coastal environment. One, the Cape Cormorant, is highly gregarious and is often seen in large numbers leap-frogging over one another in a frantic feeding frenzy after sardine and anchovy within the inshore fishing grounds.
Bank Cormorant and Cape Cormorant
BIRDING THE GARDEN ROUTE
October 2nd, 2011 by avianleisureWithin the mix of many biomes in Southern Africa the Garden Route represents the only area enjoying year round rainfall of varying intensity depending on time of year. As such it represents a diverse mix of evergreen habitat types ranging from pristine tracts of fynbos to established cathedral forest bisected by spectacular gorges that have cut their way over time through the rugged coastal plain to the sea.
Knysna Turaco
THE UNIQUE ‘SAFARI’ HOUSEBOATS OF THE CHOBE RIVER in BOTSWANA
September 25th, 2011 by avianleisureOne has to go a long way to eclipse an overnight houseboat experience on the quiet, meandering Chobe River in Northern Botswana: the total tranquillity combined with complete relaxation, along with many opportunities for close-up bird and wildlife creates a safari at its very best for photographers,wildlife lovers, and those simply needing respite from their busy lives….
Houseboat at Sunset on Chobe River
NAMIBIAN BIRDING DELIGHTS – HARTLAUB’S SPURFOWL
August 8th, 2011 by avianleisureOf all the ‘specials’ found within the Namibian bird list this highly specialised inhabitant of the boulder-strewn slopes and rocky outcrops of the Erongo and Waterberg Mountain is for me the most captivating and entertaining.
Recorded for the first time in 1928 this small, fairly rotund gamebird, with a relatively small head and disproportionately large beak, was named after Gustav Hartlaub (1814-1900), who practised ornithology in West Africa.
Hartlaub’s Spurfowl (Male) Hartlaub’s Spurfowl (Female)
BOULDERS COASTAL AFRICAN PENGUIN RESERVE – SIMON’S TOWN
July 9th, 2011 by avianleisure
With the onset of the winter rains ‘braying’ activity within the resident penguin population has begun in earnest as bachelors stake out new nesting sites in the hope of a mate, while pair bonded couples reinforce existing marital ties within the resident community of several hundred birds directly below our ‘birder friendly’ guest house.
HALCYON DAYS IN CAPE TOWN
June 17th, 2011 by avianleisure Southern Double-collared Sunbird |
Spring has not exactly sprung as yet but the first winter rains, in the form of several striding fronts sweeping up from the South Atlantic, have greened up the local environment immeasurably following the long dry summer.
All around the resident bird mix is now overtly engaged in setting up breeding territories in eager anticipation of the warmer weather to come with the austral spring now round the corner.
Out front with bags of attitude as they flit about in a flurry of conspicuous exuberance in full breeding dress are all three of our resident sunbirds in the form of Malachite, Southern Double-collared and the highly flamboyant Orange-breasted Sunbird.
