I was very fortunate to go on a guided walk along the Flamingo Trail next to the Swartkops Estuary the other day and got some great flamingo sightings along the way. After posting the view of the flamingo's from the top of the hill I thought I'll follow it up with a picture taken from the side of the river of the flamingo's wading along.
Walking on the Flamingo Trail a week or so ago we did one of the loops up onto the escarpment next to the Swartkops River and this was one of the views down. The pink specs are flamingo's on the Swartkops Estuary.
Ornithologists, or just plain bird lovers for those who don't know the big word, visiting the town of Montagu in the Western Cape gets drawn to the Leidam like a mouse to cheese. For the last two years we spent a week in Montagu during our summer holiday and during both visits I spent some time just watching the birds in the trees around the dam. The Leidam was originally built to supply water to the town via canals with each…
As you all know, Port Elizabeth Daily Photo isn't just always about places and historic sites around the city. Far from it actually. Walking around the Donkin Reserve the other day I snapped this pic of a fiscal shrike sitting on top of an aloe. I wonder what he had his eye on at this moment. Perhaps a little lizard scampering away in the nearby rock garden?
Have you even noticed that you will always find Egyptian Geese where ever there is water. Lakes, dams, rivers, ponds and even on the off chance a backyard pool. When the Boardwalk development opened in Port Elizabeth some years ago it wasn't long before a pair moved in and they have been there ever since, hatching their chicks every year. The same has happened at the new Kings Beach development with a pair moving in very soon after completion. I…
The Swartkops Estuary is well known for its waders and other water birds making it an awesome bird watching spot. But its not always about the birds themselves like the scene in the picture of the spoor of a bird that went for a walk along the river bank.
The Swartkops River estuary is home to a big variety of waders but the one bird that you will always see and recognise are flamingo's. Here are a couple of flamingo's on a sand bank with the Swartkops Power Station in the background.
Egyptian Geese are generally very territorial so once a pair finds a home they will very much stick around. This means that young birds have to find their own "unused water holes" which isn't always that freely available. I know of some that even made a dogless backyard with a swimming pool their home. It was great to see that a pair of Egyptian Geese quickly made their move in at the lake at the new Kings Beach development. Always great to see wildlife…
A Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) decked out in its breeding plumage sitting in a sweet thorn tree at the Montagu Leidam in the Western Cape
I don't always get great photographs of birds with my super zoom camera as its not nearly as fast as a DSLR, but the other day I was extremely lucky on a trip to Cape Town that this sunbird sat still long enough for me to snap a pic before he flew off. The Orange-breasted Sunbird, Anthobaphes violacea, is the only member of the bird genus Anthobaphes and is endemic to the fynbos habitat of south-western South Africa. Obviously due to its…