[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIPULi8q1h0&w=500&h=400]The 19 hectare Bird Island in Algoa Bay is home to 250,000 Cape gannets, the largest breeding colony of these birds on the planet. In 2014 Alan Straton of MyPE did this great time lapse of Gannets on Bird Island at sunrise.
Another flower picture sent to me by Gerhard Burger, this one of a Hadida Ibis between the flowers. Wonder if his name is Petal the flower (bird) child? Picture taken in Glendinningvale.
Not a lot of non-twitchers would know that the Swartkops River estuary is one of the best places around Port Elizabeth for bird watching. It is home to a huge amount of estuarine and water birds and the ideal spot to tick off a few feathered friends from your bird list.
We've all seen pictures (or in real life) of Red Bill Oxpeckers sitting on rhino, buffalo, giraffe or some of the other bigger animals. Taking a drive through Addo the other day I got to see a similar scene but it didn't include a Red Bill Oxpecker nor a big animal. This time it was a Southern Boubou riding on a warthog's back. Pumba has a new friend.
One of my favorite birds to see in the Addo Elephant National Park is the Pale Chanting Goshawk. You normally find them perched on a bush like this scanning the surrounding area for prey.
If you enjoy photographing birds and is looking for a nice urban location around Port Elizabeth to do so then you don't need to look any further than Lovemore Lake at the bottom of Boundary Lane in Mount Pleasant. Every time I pass there I'm amazed at the amount of different birds around. On Saturday morning I passed there and noticed a number of them including what looked like a Goliath Heron.
Road trip stories. I have many. Why? Because it's a lot more exciting than just flying to your domestic destination. So except for speed, what is the most exciting thing that could happen on an average flight? Chicken or Beef?Road tripping to Cape Town with Shefetswe and Erenei, we were driving somewhere between Caledon and Bot River in the Overberg when my eye caught something in a field next to the road. As I spotted it Shefetswe remarked, "Wow! Check the Blue Cranes."…
The residents of the penguin pool at SAMREC having their morning sun worship. Notice how it's not just penguins residing in the penguin pool. There's also a gannet on the right and a cormorant in the back.
Where ever there is a dam, lake or other piece of water you are sure to find a family of Egyptian Geese. Last weekend during our CITO clean up at Lovemore Lake in Mount Pleasant the resident Egyptian Geese couple came to show us their babies, swimming past quite close.With 9 chicks the lake must be a great place to raise so many babies
The Swartkops Estuary is one of the best bird watching spots around Port Elizabeth. Making a quick stop at the river mouth a week or so ago I noticed that you can watch birds right up to the river mouth.