A special encounter at the Farm

03 May 2025 - Northern Farm

I hadn't been to the Farm for sometime, so this was a long overdue visit. Arriving around sunrise when there was still mist in the valleys and the Farm was just waking up

Farm landscape

As a creature of habit, I followed my usual route and made my first stop at the 'quarry' where I always seem to spend more time than planned. I heard and then found the vocal Cape Grassbird

Cape Grassbird (Sphenoeacus afer)

I tracked down a calling Swainson's on a fence pole further down the track

Swainson's Spurfowl (Pternistis swainsonii)

Common Reed Warbler's were pretty active as the sun started rising. It's amazing how the light subtly changes the colour of the plumage

Common Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)

My favourite image of the series

As were Levaillant's Cisticola

Levaillant's Cisticola (Cisticola tinniens)

A lone Cape Robin-Chat started calling from the top of a tree

Cape Robin-Chat (Dessonornis caffra)

The Wild Dagga were in flower and these are real magnets for both White-bellied

Female White-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris talatala)

And plenty Amethyst Sunbird's

Female Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina)

Male Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina)

My late friend Andre Marx anniversary was the 1st May and I was rewarded with his spirit bird, the African Yellow Warbler, in the same general area as where I have seen it before. A special, emotional and warming moment which was certainly the highlight of my day!

African Yellow Warbler (Iduna natalensis)

Down near the small dam, Purple Heron in the Willow Tree

Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea)

A single Brown-hooded Kingfisher enjoying the warm rays

Brown-hooded Kingfisher (Halcyon albiventris)

Along with a few Yellow-fronted Canaries in the same tree

Yellow-fronted Canary (Crithagra mozambica)

Good numbers of Lesser Swamp Warbler in the reeds

Lesser Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus gracilirostris)

Whilst a few Little Grebes floated serenely on the dam

Little Grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis)

As it warmed up, Palm Swift's overhead amongst some of the other Hirundines

African Palm Swift (Cypsiurus parvus)

A couple of flyby's of Yellow-billed Duck, the most common of the waterfowl on the Farm

Yellow-billed Duck (Anas undulata)

Walking back to my Hilux, a skulking Neddicky

Neddicky (Cisticola fulvicapilla)

and a pair of Grey-headed Sparrow's

Southern Grey-headed Sparrow (Passer diffusus)

Continuing on my drive, the only other species of interest was a small flock of Pied Starlings whose occurrence on the Farm is sporadic to say the least

Pied Starling (Lamprotornis bicolor)

I then made my way back to the Clubhouse to enjoy a fresh Brekkie Roll and coffee together with the many mountain bikers who had finished their laps around the farm. 

Kyalami Estates April Round-up

30 April 2025 - Kyalami Estates

We are coming to the end of Autumn, but it was still a good month with 53 species recorded, just 3 behind the high of 56 recorded in 2022.

However, following the record summer rains, we had an explosion of butterflies during this month, something I have not witnessed before. I recorded 20+ species in April which was just astounding.

So, this will be an invertebrate heavy post, but I hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed seeing and photographing as many of them as I could.

I will start with some of the birds seen, Amethyst Sunbird in the garden

Female Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina)

In the main park, Cape Robin-Chat

Cape Robin-Chat (Dessonornis caffra)

Along with Southern Fiscal

Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris)

And a handsome Cape Sparrow

Male Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus)

Red-winged Bishop's were still feeding young birds

Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)

Whilst the rest of the clan looked on

Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix)

Transitioning out of summer plumage

The hot weather, had Cape Starlings 

Cape Starling (Lamprotornis nitens)

and Dark-capped Bulbul's enjoying the stream between the two dams

Dark-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus tricolor)

And Hadeda's chilling or wilting in the park

Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash)

A juvenile Karoo Thrush flyby

Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithii)

Down at St Ledger, I had killer views of an adult Black Sparrowhawk as it flew overhead

Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus)

As well as a few White-bellied Sunbird's, with one catching small bugs from amongst the Blackjacks

White-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris talatala)

Moving onto the highlight of the month - the incredible array and diversity of butterflies moving through the Estate. I would say that the male and female African Migrants were the most numerous

Female African Migrant (Catopsilia florella)

Male and female African Migrant (Catopsilia florella)

Male African Migrant (Catopsilia florella)

This was one of the Butterfly Shrubs that had a constant stream of butterflies stopping for nectar and then moving on

Butterfly heaven

I had male and female Common Diadem

Female Common Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus)

Male Common Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus)

A few Common Leopard's

Common Leopard (Phalanta phalantha)

The elegant Citrus Swallowtail

Citrus Swallowtail (Papilio d. demodocus)

A few Garden Acraea's that are generally present all year round

Garden Acraea (Acraea horta)

Some magnificent Garden Inspector's where males outnumbered females

Female Garden Inspector (Precis a. archesia)

Male Garden Inspector (Precis a. archesia)

Good numbers of the delicate Grass Yellow's

African Angled Grass Yellow (Eurema d. regularis)

Interspersed with Pioneer Caper Whites

Pioneer Caper White (Belenois aurota)

and many Zebra Whites

Zebra White (Pinacopteryx e. eriphia)

There were also Painted Lady's

Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)

Yellow Pansy's

Yellow Pansy (Junonia h. cebrene)

One of the Ranger species

Ranger sp.

Numerous Blue's that I still need to ID

Blue sp.

Blue sp.

Blue sp.

Blue sp.

But for me, the highlight was a Two-pip Policeman

Two-pip Policeman (Coeloades pisistratus)

Of course there were some daytime Moth sightings included in this kaleidoscope of colour dancing across the parks and gardens.

The most memorable was an African Hummingbird Hawk-moth - a small moth on Red Bull. Super fast flying and really, really difficult to photograph

African Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum trochilus)

Crimson-speckled Footman

Crimson-speckled Flunkey (Utetheisa pulchella)

and an Owl Moth which is often seen this time of year

Cream-striped Owl Moth (Cyligramma latona)

There were other moths that I have yet to ID, as they are certainly more difficult to pin down than butterflies

Moth sp.

Moth sp.

Slender Burnished Brass Moth (Thysanoplusia orichalcea)

There were also Dragonflies

Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma)

and a couple of Damselflies

Damselfly couple

Damselfly sp.

other invertebrates included; Ladybird

Ladybird

And what may be a Cuckoo Bee?

Cuckoo Bee tbc

Along with many Carpenter Bees

Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa caffra)

Lastly, one of the Skink species in my garden

Skink sp.

April was certainly an exciting and diverse month that may take a few more years before it is repeated again - unless of course we have exceptional summer rains in late 2025 and earl 2026