Yesterday afternoon, while walking towards the biggest dam on the farm, I spotted a kingfisher hovering over the water. I tried to photograph it hovering, but all I got are shots of wide expanses of blue skies.
Pied kingfisher, (Ceryle rudus). The bird in the photo is a female, males have a second collar.
These photos of the kingfisher were taken at a very long distance and I had to crop most of the original photo, thus the very grainy appearance when you enlarge them.
Pied kingfishers hunt for fish almost exclusively while hovering, unlike other kingfishers who hunt from a perch next to the water.
The day before yesterday I photographed this Steppe buzzard.
These White-faced ducks just seemed to be posing for me to photograph them. In the foreground are two Black-smith lapwings.
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.
