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Saturday, August 17, 2013

18/08/2013

Back again this morning,hooked up with an old mate Les.A pleasant couple of hours.A tad chilly at 3 degrees c. The water is running into the pans again and hide number 1 is full again.A trade off , the levels in pans 2 and 3 has risen. The willows are shooting so spring is around the corner. A fleeting sighting of a green backed heron and a nice look at a little bittern .Lots of black crowned night herons basking in the early morning sun.No sightings of the SA Shelducks.

I see the lady guard is back and she can be obnoxious ,treat her with kid gloves as she can be really rude and not sure if she is trustworthy.

                              My first sighting of the African Purple Swamphen this year at the BS.
                  Greater Flamingo
An extraordinary occurrence,this dove actually tried to land on the gull,not sure what his story was and he actually landed in the water ,swam around and then moved on.
                                                  Grey Headed Gull Adult


                                                       Grey Headed Gull Juvenile
                                                               Greater Flamingo

Friday, August 9, 2013

09/08/2013

It has been sometime since i visited my local patch,with commitments elsewhere it has been difficult to get here.As always in winter the sanctuary looks shoddy.This has been compounded by the buck moving into the picnic area to eat what little grass is left. I have made the observation earlier that there is not enough food for the amount of plains animals in the sanctuary and in winter they have to fend for themselves.Huge amounts of animal droppings all over the area.

The storm last night broke some rather large deadwood off the trees next to hide number 3.One of these large branches has fallen over the walkway leading to the hide.This walkway is still in a dangerous condition and care should be taken when using it.Last night's rain has dampened the winter dust and left a good african smell in the air.

Good sightings of all the regular fowl including a pair of SA Shelduck. Saw a pair in the autumn could be they overwintered here. The flamingos definitely did and i wonder if the rather warm winter we have had influenced there decision to stay.Water levels have fallen by at least a foot exposing mudbanks which is encouraging as our spring approaches. White throated swallows,brown throated martin and common swift where all hawking for insects over the pans, a good sign that spring is close and the migrants have left there northern hemisphere breeding grounds and are on there way.

Cape shoveller,Hottententot teal.Yellow billed duck,green backed heron,various warbler and weavers also made an appearance.
                                                          Juvenile Grey Headed Gull
                                                                       Grey Heron


                                                                Juvenile Reed Cormorant