31 October 2024 - Kyalami Estates
October was a pretty good month and I recorded 58 species as we enjoy spring and the warmer weather, exactly the same number of species as in 2023.
Almost all of the action and good birds recorded was at St Ledger Dam which has the mature Blue Gum and Poplar Forests on either side of the dam.
There is a small flock of Babblers that have a preference for the Poplar Forest where more often than not they are scouring through the thick leaf litter - I call them the Poplar Gang
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| Arrow-marked Babbler (Turdoides jardineii) |
The resident Egyptian Geese have ducklings, as if we need any more of this Geese
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| Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca) |
The Common Moorhen also have recently fledged young - no issue with this species
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| Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) |
The Cape Weaver's are in nest building mode and are going flat out - the same 'bald' male is also back and the females inspecting the first few nests
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| Cape Weaver (Ploceus capensis) |
As are the Thick-billed
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| Male Thick-billed Weaver (Amblyospiza albifrons) |
Whilst the Red Bishops are only now starting to transition to summer plumage
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| Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) |
I caught the White-throated Swallow collecting nesting material
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| White-throated Swallow (Hirundo albigularis) |
And managed to coax out a Little Rush Warbler - one of the more uncommon Warblers on the Estate
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| Little Rush Warbler (Bradypterus baboecala) |
Common Waxbill were seen exploring the reed habitat
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| Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild) |
I did pretty well with Herons - a Grey Heron fishing in the rapidly diminishing water levels of the dam, which create hunting opportunities
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| Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea) |
A Black-headed Heron fly by
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| Black-headed Heron (Ardea melanocephala) |
A Purple Heron coming in to land in the Willow - not the most elegant of landings
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| Purple Heron (Ardea purpurea) |
But the absolute highlight and bird of the month, if not the year for the Estate was this juvenile Little Bittern - first ever record for the Estate, as far as I'm aware of
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| Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutus) |
I also did well with the raptors - Black-winged Kite
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| Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus) |
A Little Sparrowhawk
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| Little Sparrowhawk (Accipiter minullus) |
And this cracking immature Black Sparrowhawk - here the whole sequence of the fly by
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| Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) |
A Skink I still need to ID
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| Skink sp. |
In the main park, I had Yellow-billed Duck passing by overhead
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| Yellow-billed Duck (Anas undulata) |
And Yellow-fronted Canary which I am now seeing more often
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| Yellow-fronted Canary (Crithagra mozambica) |
Roll on summer!
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