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We don’t normally go in for wholesale reproduction of press-releases here on 10,000 Birds (wherever possible we like to write our own posts), but the saga of the Lesser Flamingos breeding on an artificial island at Kamfers Dam in southern South Africa is one we’re very interested in (see eg here) so we’ll make an [...]

Good news, via Mark Anderson of Birdlife SA, that the Lesser Flamingoes are breeding again on Kamfers Dam’s artificial flamingo island. There are 8517 nests on the island, the first chicks were observed more than a week ago, and there are hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of adults incubating eggs. Kamfers Dam is the first breeding [...]

When I visit Johannesburg, Gauteng (South Africa) one of the birds I most look forward to seeing is the Long-tailed Widowbird Euplectes progne, a member of the Bishop family. Sexually dimporphic, female widowbirds are all rather similar and tricky to separate (though Long-taileds are the largest widowbirds) and outside of the breeding season male Long-tailed [...]

Even after nearly twenty years of flying international routes, travelling between the northern and southern hemispheres like a (slightly moody it has it be admitted) jet-propelled swallow, I still forget that ’summer’ is something that happens north of the equator in June, July, and August and then happens again to the south in November, December, [...]

The beautiful White-throated Swallow Hirundo albigularis breeds in southern Africa from Angola and Zambia southwards to the Cape in South Africa. It is mainly migratory, wintering in Angola, Zambia and southern Zaire. A bird of open country and grassland, White-throated Swallows typically occur in the highlands and are almost always found near water (even small [...]

Southern Black Korhaan Eupodotis afra
West Coast National Park, western Cape, South Africa

I have a genuine soft spot for korhaans, those typically shy ‘mini-bustards’ that usually occur in small family parties in secluded areas of grassland or semi-desert. For a start you have to make a real effort to see them - you won’t find them [...]

Okay, so you’ve got two days in Johannesburg, the weather is gorgeous, the birding excellent - what (if you were me) would you do: stay nearby and have a relaxed time visiting reliably excellent sites like Suikerbosrand or Marievale, or rent a car and drive to Memel, a place you know very little about on [...]

I’m off to one of my favourite birding destinations tomorrow - South Africa. I’m only there for a couple of days before coming home, but I’m planning to rent a car as usual and go and have a look at some truly superb sites like Suikerbosrand, Marievale, the Zaagkuildift Road etc etc. I’ll also take [...]

Blue Crane Anthropoides paradisea
Agulhas Plains, Cape Province, South Africa. April.

One of the smallest of the 15 crane species worldwide the Vulnerable Blue Crane is the national bird of South Africa. It’s endemic to southern Africa, with more than 99% of the population occurring within South Africa (a small disjunct breeding population of approximately 60 individuals [...]

Birding the Cape: the west coast
May 29, 2008

For my second trip to South Africa in just three weeks, this time to Cape Town (the first was to Johannesburg), I decided to hire a professional guide for the two (actually, one-and-a-half) days I would be there. Normally I’m happy just to hire a car and wander [...]

I’m just back from a superb two days birding in Cape Town, South Africa (just two days? For those who don’t know I work for an airline - I come, I go, what can I say…) with Brian Vanderwalt. It’s going to take me the best part of next week to work through all the [...]

On May 16th (after visiting both Marievale and Suikerbosrand on the 15th) I spent the morning driving up and back down the Zaagkiuldrift gravel road to Kgomo-kgomo - a lightly-used, exotically-named dirt road that cuts between privately-owned farms and game reserves in excellent thornveld to the north of Pretoria. The road more or less follows [...]

A couple of days ago I posted a short trip report on a visit I made to one of my favourite spots on earth - Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in South Africa. Writing the post reminded me of just how many birds I’ve seen at this one small site, and I thought I might put a [...]

Greater Striped Swallow Cecropis/Hirundo cucullata
Suikerbosrand, South Africa. May 2008
 
The Greater Striped Swallow Cecropis/Hirundo cucullata is a large swallow breeding in South Africa, Namibia and southern Zimbabwe. It is migratory wintering further north in Angola, Tanzania and southern Zaire. A bird of dry open country (such as the highveld grassland at Suikerbosrand where these photos were [...]

After a few hours birding on the morning of May 15th at the excellent Marievale Bird Sanctuary I headed over to one of my favourite places anywhere - the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. Just a thirty minute drive from Marievale, Suikerbosrand NR protects a superb area of the highveld sandwiched between farmland and townships, an undulating, [...]

Right. Hands up all those of you fed-up with Mike and Corey’s posts on tens of thousands of wood-warblers migrating through various parks and forests in New York. Anyone? Do I see a hand, any hand…just one would do…how about you sir, over in the corner? No? There must be someone…? I guess not - [...]

I photographed this non-breeding plumaged cisticola on the circuit through the upper part of Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve, south of Johannesburg. It was giving a very high, thin whispery sub-song which consisted of various, different “tsee” notes both from the ground and on the grass stem it flew up to. It didn’t call in the air [...]

Crowned Lapwings Vanellus coronatus
South Africa
 
Crowned Lapwings (or Crowned Plovers as they are also widely known) are widespread on savannas in Africa from Ethiopia to Angola - particularly favouring dry, short, or over-grazed grassland - and are common throughout South Africa where they are regularly found in suburban settings. They feed mainly by opportunistically foraging [...]

Capped Wheatear Oenanthe pileata
Gauteng and Cape Province, South Africa.
 
One of 17 species of wheatear found in Africa, the Capped Wheatear is a large, striking species found from southern Kenya to the Cape. Typically found on barren, sandy, or stony areas in flat country throughout South Africa, Capped Wheatears are characterful birds often seen scanning their [...]

Cape Bulbul Pycnonotus capensis
Cape Province, South Africa (various dates)
 
The Cape Bulbul is a southern South African endemic found in the coastal bush and fynbos of the Western and Eastern Cape, as well as exotic thickets, gardens and parks. A conspicuous species, like many other similar African Pycnonotus bulbuls it tends to sit chattering away at [...]