![]() ![]() Posted in Birds, Game Reserves | Tagged Addo Elephant National Park, bokmakierie, Cape turtle dove, Cattle Egret, Eastern Cape, Egyptian Goose, Rednecked Spurfowl | 36 Comments Post navigation This one is looking for seeds in the veld in the Addo Elephant National Park. Strangely enough, I seldom see them in my front garden as they seem to prefer the area behind our home. The sound of Cape turtle doves – called R ing-necked dove ( Streptopelia capicola) – filter through our suburb daily. I occasionally see these birds on the edge of town too. This lone Egyptian goose was actually on its way to join a few others grazing nearby. It is refreshing to see a flock of them gathered at the edge of a waterhole. ![]() Given the various groups of donkeys and the Urban Herd of cattle that roam around our town, cattle egrets are a common sight as they keep these animals company. Jack’s Picnic Site in the Addo Elephant National Park provides wonderful opportunities to see them really close up. Red-necked spurfowl have been visiting my garden regularly over the past few weeks to peck at the seed spilled on the ground below the feeders. I often hear them, yet rarely see them in my garden so am always pleased to find them here. This Bokmakierie was perched close to the road. The Addo Elephant National Park is a delightful place for watching birds. Posted in Birds, Game Reserves, Travel, trees | Tagged Egyptian Goose, Garden Route National Park, Helmeted Guineafowl, Knysna turaco, White-necked Raven, Wilderness | 27 Comments They were engaged in this messy activity for a while until one of the Egyptian Geese bore down on them and chased them away!Īnother bird we were privileged to see and hear a lot of was the very beautiful Knysna Turaco. How wrong we were! A pair of White-necked Ravens could be seen pecking and pulling at the plastic bags – one even using its foot for extra leverage – in order to tear them open and inspect the contents. We wondered about the litter lying around – very unusual for a national park – and assumed monkeys had been responsible for tearing open the garbage bags that had been put out for collection. They are obviously used to having human visitors around and were not at all perturbed by our presence. Later in the afternoon, a small flock of Helmeted Guineafowl picked their way across the grass. While we had been entertained by a flock of goslings during our earlier visit, this time we were kept company by a pair of Egyptian Geese that were quite at home on the lush lawns. Our rondavel was situated in tranquil surroundings next to the Touws River among many beautifully shady trees. We so enjoyed our rather serene stopover after Easter at the Ebb-and-Flow Rest Camp which forms a part of the Wilderness Section of the Garden Route National Park that we broke our journey here again. I think the Three-banded Plover is a particularly attractive bird: ![]() Lastly, I want to show off a common resident seen all over South Africa, especially around freshwater wetlands. This flock of Greater Flamingos is flying over a dam in Gauteng:Īlthough I do not see them very often, the African Black Duck is fairly commonly observed along streams and rivers in this country: Some time ago I proudly showed you photographs of the flamingos we were able to observe in the West Coast National Park. The rest of the birds on show today are indigenous and the first of these is a large local resident at some lakes, dams and rivers – the Goliath Heron :Ī bird that is ubiquitous all over South Africa – and which is making increasing inroads in the UK – is the Egyptian Goose: First up though is a native of Australia that turns up in odd places – the Black Swan: You see enough of the regular visitors to our garden, so I thought of spreading my wings a little to show you a sampling of some of the many other birds we see in this country. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |