08/09/2013

Very warm this morning as i set out for the BS before heading for the office, once again the pan in front of hide no 1 is empty, the continual emptying of this pan is causing birds to disappear. The breeding pair of malachite kingfishers have already departed.Water levels however in the other pans is consistent and the area around hide number two produced sightings of black crake and african rail.A Black Swan was floating around in front of hide number 5. Obviously an escaped bird and hopefully it survives and moves on. Black crowned night herons where plentiful as where Squacco herons.In fact also saw Grey,Black Headed and Striated[Green backed]. Caught a glimpse of a couple of Ruffs skim past hide number 3. Not a bad couple of hours all in all. Still amazed at how many folk still do not know where the keys are kept as there is a sign right next to the gate.

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

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

28/05/2013

I popped past on Saturday and could not get into the sanctuary as there was a power failure. Te security guard was unable to open as she did not have keys for the gate motor which was a little frustrating.

I went back on Sunday and the water levels are extremely high. There is a large flock of Flamingo's. I counted at least 45 individual birds. I am not sure how long they will be around for but i am expecting them to start there migration to Kenya soon. A few white faced ducks,common moorhen and spur winged geese around but nothing much happening.

Good sightings of some really good birds at Suikerbos though. Fairy flycatcher,black eagle,steppe buzzard,capped wheatear,and another european roller.

21/03/2013

Awesome morning,the light was great early today with the late autumn sun giving rich colours. The malachite kingfishers are still around.18 degrees at 07.00am.Rondebult manages to surprise me every now and then showing willow warbler,african goshawk,red throated wrynec,african rail on occasion and today it was a pair of breeding South African Shelduck.A Rondebult lifer for me and really close.

Female South African Shelduck

Male South African Shelduck

The Malachites are still hanging round hide number 1

                                                    African Reed Warbler

                                            Juvenile Common Moorhen

                                                            Hunting Squacco

                                                          Greater Flamingo

9/3/2013

Rondebult was very quite today.The water levels are extremely high with the weeds really making it difficult in front of hide one and two obscuring the view of the bird life.The green seeds are starting to cover the water surface again and in particular at hide umber two. Not many pics today but a couple of nice sightings in particular this Malachite Kingfisher adult in front of hide number one.The squacco heron was seen at hide number three. While there i met a polish chap Peter.Had a nice chat about lens and cameras and his enthusiasm was great.

15/02/2013

The sanctuary is looking quite shoddy as we head into late summer,all the wading areas in front of all the hides are covered in grass and waist high weeds,coupled with very high water levels there are no waders at all. I did manage to see a flock of little stints as they flashed past and head towards the smaller water pans at the back of the reserve. This area is supposedly out of bounds to folk but i see no harm in taking a walk up next to the boundary fence east of hide number one.The few visitors to this area will not impact at all and some good sightings are common. In fact ruff,three banded plover,african snipe,black crake are common around these shallow ponds which are seasonal.

Black Crowned Night herons are common here and there are a few breeding pairs so young are regularly sighted.

 The african reed warbler pictured here are continually flitting around.

 This little egret has been hanging around hide number one for over a month and i got some good pics in my last visit here.

 Little stint. starting to gather before they migrate.

 Yellow billed duck

Visit www.birdsouthafrica.co.za for more pics by Warren. Also try out www.birdsouthafrica.blogspot.com for trip reports for South Africa.