Cape wagtail.

These little birds fascinate me, always busy and purposeful, they have very little fear of humans and can become quite tame. A friend of mine once had a pair nest in a fern he had on a stand in his lounge. While they were hatching their eggs, then feeding the nestling's, until they fledged he had to leave a window open. 

Cape Wag-tail. Took this photo late this afternoon.

To see what we could see.

Took the camera and the dogs and I went to see what we could see. We didn't see anything very exciting, only some old familiar friends.

This family of Cape wag tails. They're on the spillway of the dam every day, so we hardly notice them any more.

Three proud Egyptian geese, mom, dad and junior.

This rather disreputable looking Ha de dah Ibis, preening itself. Seems I caught just after it's evening bath.

A black headed heron, also a regular on the dam wall.

A pair of yellow-billed ducks, paddling sedately together.

Three black-smith lapwings patrolling the edge of the pond for a last minute tit bit before bedtime.

A quiet, wooded glade, inviting one to linger a moment and enjoy the peace.

The imperious red-knobbed coot, who barely spared us a glance over it's shoulder.



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A clutch of birds and a clutch of White-faced duck eggs.

Except for the first photo of the Cape crow, which was taken on Sunday, all the rest were taken late this afternoon.

Cape crow, (Corvus capensis), this photo was taken at an extreme distance.

Steppe Buzzard, (Buteo vulpinus). A Paleartic migrant arriving in South Africa, Oct/Nov, leaving Feb-Apr.

There is a pair of these birds that I've been stalking for about 3 weeks now, to try and get a photo. Today I managed to get close to one of them. About 50 meters.

A very handsome bird, preys on insects, rodents and small reptiles.

Fiscal shrike. This photo was also taken at a long distance.

My little friend the Three-banded plover. In a previous post I miss identified it as one of the Wagtail family. These little birds obviously don't mind muddy feet.

The little bird above, half hidden in a cow hoof-print, I could not identify. Whitish beak, black or dark blue glossy plumage, with a red stripe down the wing. Before I could get a clear shot it flew away.

A Cape wagtail, Motacilla capensis) Not quite as friendly as the Three-banded plover and hard to spot.

White throated swallow, (Hirundo albigularis).Inter African Migrants. 

Clutch of White-faced duck eggs, a dozen of them. The dogs flushed the duck which did it's broken-wing trick to lure the dogs away. After a couple of minutes searching I found this nest well hidden under the long grass. I had to pull the grass away from above to photograph the nest. One quick photo, covered the nest again and left. The dogs were still looking for the duck more than a hundred meters away.

Last photo of the day, a Hadeda iIbis, (Bostrychia hagedash), it's nest in a willow tree. A very interesting afternoon.