Today, Friday morning, is a wonderfull day..I decided to take a walk at a local dam...let me set the scene...
Its Sep. and spring, we have had no rain since March, (Highveld gets summer rains), so the dam should be pretty empty..
You stop, look left...this is normal water level!
You look right.....pheeeeu...gonna be difficult to take bird pics! They will see me a mile away!
#1 Spotted dikkop...(dikkop meaning big head)
#2 Sabota or Scatler's Lark...oh, where is Resin when you need him...
#2b I will take another, to show him later...hmmm...sit still!
#3 Birds galore...they've seen me....already!
#4 Blacksmith plover...always the last to fly away...noisy...just spoiling the fun...with his alarm system...sshhhh!
#5 Black-winged Stilt...wonder why Stilt!...he must be deaf!
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#6 Cape wagtail....hmmm...know why they say you are common...not too bothered with humans are you!
#7 Darter.... nice fishing today, then! There is some big carp in here I understand!
#8 Ahhhh cute...dabchicks or little grebe's....my fav'
# 9 Little stint ....thanks to Resin....
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# 10 .... Egyptian Geese coming in!
# 11 Spur-winged geese! Woooowee...great!
# 12 South african Shelduck (middle), Blacksmith plover front and Red-knobbed coot in back....I just wish I was invisible!
# 13 Some more SW and Egyptian Geese with another SA shelduck...where is a good T.lens and money when you need it!
# 14 Some Stilts and coots looking for nice goodies!
# 15 Hey whats that in the distance! Nho! Flamingo's.....20 years since I've seen them in the wild.
# 16 Had to creap closer for a better pic....beautiful.... GREATER flamingo's
# 17 Whats this? a Caspian tern!
#18 ... OOps! too close, he's off....some SW and Egyptians geese in the background, maybe a coot as well. But what was next to him!
#19 A Grey-headed Gull!..Whaat! (Apon further reading, They do come inland)
# 20 Had to take one more pic!
#21 South african Cliff-swallows...nice...spring is def. here!
oops first a SA cliff-swallow.....here is the swallowsss!
#22 Three-banded plover (front, back and....bottom!)
#23 Time to get back...Grey heron making a "fly-by".!
#24 aah..my fav' dove of all time...Namaqua dove...male!
# 25 another lark...I will leave this one for Resin...
Hope you enjoyed the walk!
Wow, Little_Things, what an incredible variety of birds. Enjoyed the commentary. Fancy seeing Flamingos whilst you were out for a stroll. Very funny with the Plovers.
A good day out!
Larks are tricky!! Of those two (Sabota, Scatler's), after looking them up, I'd be inclined to think Sabota.
#5 "...wonder why Stilt!" - because it walks around on stilts! (i.e., has extremely long legs)
#9 Little Stint. Wrong shape for Grey Plover (a much larger bird!); definitely a Calidris, and the only other one in that genus common inland in SA is Curlew Sandpiper, which has a much longer bill.
#25 Ugghh!! A URO (Unidentified Running Object). Could even be a pipit from that pic!
Resin
Wow Little thanks so much for this thread; theres so many birds here I love I can't begin to mention all of them.
Great job!
Resin...yeah, I am with you on sabota...3 books later! The stilt remark had to have a LOL after it sorry....and 25, well let's leave it at 25! lol I really did think of you...I only caught 30% of what was out and about today...only had a 1 hour....but I will take you for more walks soon! Resin the 3-banded lucky shot with 2.5 angles...why can't they all be like that...hahaha.
Margaret, Pelle...glad you enjoyed it! As the only SA, I try and keep my end up....you guys do such a fab job there with great pics...today mine was a little shady, but given the open position, and the fact that the camera operated at max +,I am not tooo unhappy! The flamingo's and namaqua dove was actually and unusually my prize finds...just because I love them and they take me back to my teens!
Great walk!
I think this is a Juv. Blackwinged Stilt, given the grey feathers over the head.
Kittlit's plover....I think I missed this in the walk photo's...
resin I found another pic of 25, and it may be a buffy pipit
Yep, it is a pipit. Another very tricky genus! Don't think I'll be able to come to any reliable conclusion, without call notes, etc. Sorry!
Like the Kittlitz's Plover. And yep, that B W Stilt is probably an immature (likely ~9-10 months old, not newly fledged).
Resin
Thanks for the walk!
