Bulletin 341 - South Africa #18 - Part 2 - Bulbuls and other songbirds, antelope, lion

Continued from part 1

The 4" male Red-billed Firefinch (Lagonosticta senegala) has a brown back, red bill and red face and breast.

Red-billed Firefinch - male

The 4" male Jameson's Firefinch (Lagonosticta rhodopareia) is brown above and has a pink face and breast.

Jameson's Firefinch - male

Waxbills are popular cage birds and I photographed 3 species. The sexes are the same color. The 4" Common Waxbill (Estrilda astrild) is brown and gray with a red bill and red eye stripe.

Common Waxbill

The 4" Gray Waxbill (Estrilda perreini) is all gray with a red rump and black eye stripe.

Gray Waxbill

The 4.5" Blue Waxbill (Uraeginthus angolensis) is brown above with an aqua face and underparts. Here is one with nesting material. It is a beautiful little bird.

Blue Waxbill

The 3.5" Bronze Mannikin (Lonchura cucullata) has a brown back, black head and pale undersie.

Bronze Mannikin

The 4" Red-backed Mannikin (Lonchura nigriceps) is similar, but the back is rufous. There is a completely black head and breast

Red-backed Mannikin

There are a few remaining mammals that I have not described yet. The Black Wildebeest (Connochaetes gnou) appear dark brown to black with a black face and short curved horns. The males can weigh up to 450 pounds.

Black Wildebeest

The Blue Wildebeest (Connochaetes taurinus) is dark gray with black straking on the shoulders and neck. The males can weigh up to 550 pounds.

Blue Wildebeest

The Red Hartebeest (Alcelaphus buselaphus) is reddish brown with distinctive horns that curve upwards and then sharply posteriorly. The males can weigh up to 330 pounds.

Red Hartebeest

The Bushbuck (Tragelaphus scriptus) is a medium sized reddish-brown antelope with white spots on the flanks and thighs. The males can weigh up to 110 pounds I did not photograph a male. This female went into the edge of a lake to eat the water lilies. The lake was full of crocodiles and I was expecting to see her grabbed and eaten. Fortunately, she finished her meal and went back to shore unharmed.

Bushbuck

One of the sights in Africa is the Dung Beetle. These beetles make balls for the manure of the large mammals and roll it to a chosen spot,. They bury the dung ball and lay their eggs in it. Here is a beetle pushing his ball along. They use their back legs.

Dung Beetle

Finally, the last Africa photo, the king of beasts. The Lion (Panthera leo) is the second largest of the cats. I learned that lions are very lazy animals as they only have to hunt every 4 or 5 days, so they spend most of the time sleeping and chilling out. The male has a mane as you know.

Lion - male

This is one of the few photos of a lion actually standing .

Lioness

Mostly we saw them lying down or like this pair sleeping.

Lions

Thanks again to my guide Casper Badenhorst for an amazing 16 day trip around eastern South Africa.

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 14 of the 153 species of  bulbuls

I have photos of 2 of the 129 species of white-eyes

I have photos of 6 of the 135 species of laughingthrushes

I have photos of 15 of the 141 species of waxbills, mannikins

I have photos of 23 of the 147 species of cattle, sheep, goats, buffalo


I have photos of 5 of the 39 species of cats

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 340 - South Africa #17 - Part 1 - Vultures, Cuckoos, Secretarybird, Mousebirds

I had an amazing 2 week trip to South Africa and scored almost 280 new species of birds as well as fantastic mammals and a few reptiles. My guide Casper Badenhorst was outstanding. You can see his web site here. He can be contacted through the web site or if you want his email it is info@birdingandwildlifesafaris.com. I recommend him highly as he showed me so many rare birds and animals. I will use him again when I go to Southern Africa.

The 55" Secretarybird (Sagittarius serpentarius) is a unique long-legged raptor in its own family. It has long plumes on the back of the head and very long tail feathers.

Secretarybird

Secretarybird

The Old Word vultures are included in the same family as hawks and eagles, unlike the New World vultures which are a separate family. I saw 6 species for the trip. The smallest is the 24" Palm-nut Vulture (Gypohierax angolensis). It is always associated with raphia palms as about 2/3 of its diet is the nuts of this tree. It is very rare in South Africa because that tree is not native there, but has been planted. The birds have followed.  This was another stroke of luck to see this bird. The guides 17 year old son, who is also a birder, has never seen this species. Here he is on top of that palm tree.

Palm-nut Vulture

The next larger is the 30" Hooded Vulture (Necrosyrtes monachus) It is a brown vulture with a white face, that turns red when excited.

Hooded Vulture

The 38" White-headed Vulture (Trigonoceps occipitalis) is black above, white below and a white head. This one has his crop full after gorging on a carcass, we will see later.

White-headed Vulture

The next larger is the 40" White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus). It is beige or brown backed with a gray neck and black face and bill.

White-backed Vulture

The 46" Cape Vulture (Gyps coprotheres) is a huge white headed vulture that I only saw overhead.

Cape Vulture

 The 46" Lappet-faced Vulture (Torgos tracheliotus) is a huge brown vulture with a pink head. Because of its size, it is able to tear open some larger carcasses when the smaller vultures cannot. The locals call it the 'can opener'.

Lappet-faced Vulture

I am sure everyone has seen nature shows of vultures fighting over a carcass. We saw this spectacle once. Here is a dead hyena and the vultures are swarming around trying to get at it.

Vultures

And in this one, some jackals are trying to get in as well.

 Vultures and jackal

Most cuckoos in the Old World are parasitic which means they lay their eggs in other birds nests (like our cowbirds here in Americas). 

The 12" Red-chested Cuckoo (Cuculus solitarius) has a gray head and back and a brick red chest.

Red-chested Cuckoo

The 7" male Klaas's Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx klaas) is bright green above and white below.

Klaas's Cuckoo - male

The 8" male Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius) is dark green on the back and wings with white spots on the wings and tail. It is snow white below and has a red eye.

Diederik Cuckoo - male

But the most beautiful is the 8" male African Emerald Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx cupreus) It is glossy green with a bright yellow breast and belly.

African Emerald Cuckoo - male

Continued on Part 2

Bulletin 340 - South Africa #17 - Part 2 - Vultures, Cuckoos, Secretarybird, Mousebirds

Continued from Part 1

Coucals are heavy-set cuckoos that are not parasitic. The 16" Burchell's Coucal (Centropus burchellii) had a black head and tail, brown back and wings and white underside. The eye is red.

Burchell's Coucal

I photographed 3 swift species. They are all similar. The 5" Little Swift (Apus affinis) is brown with a white rump and throat. They occur in large flocks.

Little Swift

The 6" Horus Swift (Apus horus) is similar but is solitary.

Horus Swift

The 6.5" White-rumped Swift (Apus caffer) was the first swift I have ever seen perched. They use the nests of the Lesser Striped Swallows that we saw in an earlier bulletin. It is black with a white rump and white throat as well.

White-rumped Swift

Mousebirds are a small African family of just 6 species. The 13" Speckled Mousebird (Colius striatus) is a brown bird with a black face, white crest and long tail.

Speckled Mousebird

The 13.5" Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus) is a greyish mousebird with a red face. In the afternoon light it looks brown. It has the same long tail.

Red-faced Mousebird

I put the different bird/mammal families in single folders for easy viewing

I have photos of 60 of the 254 species of  hawks, old world vultures

I have photos of 18 of the 147 species of cuckoos

I have photos of 6 of the 106 species of swifts

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.

Bulletin 339 - South Africa #16 - Part 1 - Sunbirds, Warblers, Whydah

I had an amazing 2 week trip to South Africa and scored almost 280 new species of birds as well as fantastic mammals and a few reptiles. My guide Casper Badenhorst was outstanding. You can see his web site here. He can be contacted through the web site or if you want his email it is info@birdingandwildlifesafaris.com. I recommend him highly as he showed me so many rare birds and animals. I will use him again when I go to Southern Africa.

Sunbirds are small nectar feeding iridescent songbirds in the Old World. All have curved bills. They occupy the same ecological niche as our hummingbirds. I saw 9 species on the trip. 

The only plain one was the 6" Olive Sunbird (Cyanomitra olivacea). It is olive above and pale yellow below.

Olive Sunbird

The 4" male Collared Sunbird (Hedydipna collaris) has iridescent green head and breast, yellow belly and thin purple band between them. This is another bird named for the least visible field mark.

Collared Sunbird - male

The 5" male Marico Sunbird (Cinnyris mariquensis) has dark green head and back, dark gray belly and a wide purple breast band.

Marico Sunbird - male

The 4" male Neergaard's Sunbird (Cinnyris neergaardi) has a green head, back and breast, charcoal belly and wide red band between.

Neergaard's Sunbird - male

 The 4" male Purple-banded Sunbird (Cinnyris bifasciatus) has a purple breast band and narrower blue one above.

Purple-banded Sunbird - male

The 4.5" male White-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris talatala) is green with a white belly. There is a narrow purple band between but it is not visible in this photo.

White-bellied Sunbird - male

The 4.5" male Southern Double-collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus) has a grayish belly, wide red band and narrow blue band.

Southern Double-collared Sunbird - male

The 5.5" male Scarlet-chested Sunbird (Chalcomitra senegalensis) is a dark bird with a bright red breast.

Scarlet-chested Sunbird- male

Last is the most beautiful of course. The 10" male Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) is bright iridescent green all over. It has 2 long central tail feathers.

Malachite Sunbird - male

Warblers are the name given to small songbirds in several families in the Old World. None of them are in the same family as our New World warblers.. Some of these are colorful, but many are LBJs and IDed by voice.

In the leaf warbler family, I photographed 2 species. The 4" Willow Warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus) is beige with a yellowish wash on the underside.It is a winter visitor to South Africa.

Willow Warbler

Continue to part 2

Bulletin 339 - South Africa #16 - Part 2 - Sunbirds, Warblers, Whydah

Continued from Part 1

The other is the 4" Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler (Phylloscopus ruficapilla). This is a distinctive little bird with an olive back, yellow throat and rufous crown. It is a local resident.

Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler

Next is the reed warbler family. I saw 5 species in that  group. The 6" Lesser Swamp Warbler (Acrocephalus gracilirostris) isan LBJ with a with a white line above the eye and dark legs. It is an African resident.

Lesser Swamp Warbler

The 8" Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) is a drab brown bird with a buffy belly. It is a winter resident in southern Africa,

Great Reed Warbler

The 5" African Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus baeticatus) is another LBJ best IDed by voice.

African Reed Warbler

The next 2 actually have some color. The 6" Dark-capped Yellow Warbler (Iduna natalensis) is a bright yellow bird with a brown cap.

Dark-capped Yellow Warbler

The 5.5" Icterine Warbler (Hippolais icterina) is a yellowish warbler that is a winter resident in southern Africa.

Icterine Warbler

The last warbler is in a third family, the grassbirds. The 6" Barratt's Warbler (Bradypterus barratti) is another LBJ, but has a heavily streaked underside.

Barratt's Warbler

The last bird for this bulletin is the 13" male Pin-tailed Whydah (Vidua macroura) ia a black and white bird with a red bill and long tail feathers.

Pin-tailed Whydah

Happy birding and photography,

David McDonald

dkmmdpa@gmail.com

photos copyright 2006 - 2019 David McDonald

To have these trip reports sent to your email, please email me at the above address and ask to subscribe.