African Birds - Our trip to S. Free State

#15 Spotted dikkop.

#16 Yellowbilled duck

#17 2 Blackwinged stilts and yellowbilled ducks

#18 Lone South African Shelduck - I think he decided just to rest in the wind as even the swallows struggled in the wind.

#19 European swallow - also having a rest against the wind....

Here he is trying to fly against the wind...

# 20 Sandpiper of something similar...nice long beak...

# 21 White-throated swallow - also resting, the pic picks up a glossy colour blueish as well..

# 22 Maccoa duck...although the waves did get big for a dam, you can see the blue beak of this duck

#23 Kittlit's plover...

#24 Cape Wagtail

#25 Raptor - still working/trying to id..

# 26 Red Bishop nests....in a thick reedbed...

#26b Red Bishop, best I could get, also yellow bishops around...pretty birds

#27 Ostrich male with about 8 chicks

These were not on the farm but the 30000ha conservation area, proper wild, and they gave us a good laugh, because the middle 2 youngsters watch us in the running and tripped over each other in a dustcloud...very funny!

#28 Rock bunting .. another first and a special find for me.

We managed to see 123 species of birds from a possible 256 and various animals, there is lots more to experience and we will go back and back and back.....It was nice to study some of the bird behaviour also...I loved it. Wildebeest in this pic....and an openess that just "charges" the soul...

Nice!

#20 - Greenshank

#25 - probably a buzzard of some sort.

Resin

Wowee, Little_Things, it sure seems as if you had a great time. Wide open spaces and lots of birds. And the good gnus is that you can go back again. I love the Spotted Dikkop.

Great thread Little! So many wonderful birds.I love the Spotted Dikkop,the swallows and of course the Ostrich w/ little ones!

So glad you had such a productive and good trip!

Resin, yes 20 is greenshank. Have you ever seen or heard anout the clapping larks...amazing little birds...my farther told me about them many years ago, and I have allways wanted to see them, this time they were all around us...great to watch them.

Pelle, Margaret...spotted dikkop with its yellow legs is striking, I agree.

Resin....yes you are right, I also did some research today and came to the same conclusion. My local books also say they are a common summer visitor and sometimes overwinter as well. I took 3 pics and on the other I could see the tail stripes and a hint of yellow...eventually going with the common buzzard.

We actually have 3 clapper larks, Eastern (Mirafra fasciolata) and Cape (M.apiata) clapper larks and the flappet lark (M.rufocinnamomea), but the Eastern Clapper and Cape Clapper does the clapping going up and the dropping sound coming down. Flapped only when going up.