h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

BIRD LIST

1. Cattle egret, Bubulcus ibis – there were some attending the moos!

2. Hadeda ibis, Bostrychia hagedash – around the ponds and perching on stumps emerging from the water.

3. African Fish Eagle, Haliaetus vocifer. Flying and calling! I’m so happy that they’re still there! There must at least still be some fish around.

4. Another large eagle but not seen clearly … MIGHT have been a Martial Eagle or maybe just a juvenile fish eagle (they look very different from the adults).

5. Blackshouldered Kite, Elanus caeruleus. Very pretty, small bird-of-prey. I saw one ‘hovering’ over the reedbeds (it hangs in the air lightly trilling its wingtips) and later perched on a telephone
wire.

6. Natal Francolin, Francolinus natalensis. Partridges in the dense scrub around the ponds, quite noisy.

7. Black Crake, Amaurornis flavirostris. Very pretty, small
members of the rail family. In the rank vegetation around the ponds.

8. African Jacana, Actophilornis africanus. Weird birds with extremely long toes with which they can walk on floating vegetation. I saw MANY today! Maybe they’re taking advantage of the absence of other waterbirds.

9. Threebanded Plover, Charadrius tricollaris. Very cute, tiny shorebird.

10. Blacksmith Plover, Vanellus armatus. Only a few - usually there are loads.

11. Spotted Dikkop, Burhinus vermiculatus. A large plover-like bird, mainly nocturnal but I saw one in the dry savannah outside the reserve.

12. Redeyed Dove, Streptopelia semiqorquata. A large handsome dove with a black collar around the hindneck.

13. Laughing Dove, Streptopelia senegalensis. The most common dove species over here.

14. Namaqua Dove, Oena capensis. Extremely pretty, tiny, long-tailed dove – I saw and heard many today! They have a very soft, low coo. They were drinking the smelly water along with the moos!

15. Palm swift, Cypsiurus parvus. Tiny, long-tailed swift, flying overhead.

16. Speckled Mousebird, Colius striatus. Funny, scruffy birds clambering around the trees and bushes.

17. Brownhooded Kingfisher, Halcyon albiventris. Around one of the ponds. A handsome bird with bright blue wings and tail and a red bill – but this one’s bill was dirty! Perhaps mud … perhaps cow plop! It is actually an insect hunter rather than a fisher, and the cow residue attracts lots of buggies.

18. Whitefronted Bee-Eater, Merops bullockoides. A colourful bee-eater, a regular in the reserve.

19. Acacia Pied Barbet, Lybius (or Tricholaema) leucomelas. A chunky bird, related to woodpeckers.

20. Forktailed Drongo, Dicrurus adsimilis. A few outside the reserve. Conspicuous black birds, expert aerial hunters.

21. Pied Crow, Corvus albus. In flight, and also on the road back
from the reserve.

22. Ashy Tit, Parus cinarescens. I love these! A couple of them were probing the bark of thorn trees for insects … I got a great look at them. Don’t see them very often. Tits are very clever and versatile birds; we only have two species that occur here.

23. Blackeyed Bulbul, Pycnonotus (barbatus) tricolor. Today was the day of the bulbuls! I’m currently working on a painting of one of these. These ones are common, but pretty and cheerful birds.

24. Terrestrial Bulbul, Phyllastrephus terrestris. I am so happy to have seen these! They are plain looking – brown birds with white throats – but they are SO hard to see! They stick to very dense tangles of vegetation, often down on the ground scratching amidst the leaves making soft growling sounds. You can usually hear them but 95% of the time that’s all. In our region this reserve is the only place you have a reasonable chance of encountering them.

25. Yellowbellied Bulbul, Chlorocichla flavivenris. I am again so happy to have seen them today! They are also a ‘specialty’ of the reserve but I haven’t seen or heard any for years. They have a very characteristic moaning sort of call. They’re pretty birds, brown above and bright yellow below. (African bulbuls are generally among the biggest identification challenges: there are MANY, MANY species, most in dense forests where they’ll do their best to avoid being seen, most looking very similar … the best way to distinguish them is to know their calls.)

26. Olive Thrush, Turdus olivaceus, around the ponds and in the dense bush.

27. Whitebrowed Scrub-Robin, Cercotrichas leucophrys. A brown bird with striped chest and belly. Not much to look at but with a pretty voice! Their calls are one of the characteristics of the ‘ambience’ of this place.

28. African Sedge Warbler, Bradypterus baboevala. I think today I FINALLY saw this species! It is ALWAYS calling in the reeds but it is pretty much impossible to actually see. This time I saw one fly out from one reed clump to another! I didn’t get a good look at it, but since I heard it calling and am sure the bird flying was the same one I heard calling I would say this time I got it.

29. Titbabbler, Parisoma subcaeruleum. Not a tit or a babbler, but one of the largest and boldest of the warblers. Its call is often heard in the savannah.

30. Longbilled Crombec, Sylvietta rufescens. Tiny, long-billed, almost tailless warbler, with a rich rolling call, clambering and probing the tree bark like a nuthatch.

31. Rattling Cisticola, Cisticola chiniana. Common warbler of the bushveld, very noisy.

32. Tawnyflanked Prinia, Prinia subflava. Tiny, bold and inquisitive, long-tailed warbler, a ‘regular’ around the ponds.

33. Cape White-Eye, Zosterops pallidus. Tiny greenish-yellow birds
with white eye rings, very pretty!

34. Chinspot Batis, Batis molitor. Tiny flycatcher-like birds with neat black, white and grey coloration – the female with rufous brown on her chin and chest. Very happy to have seen them today!

35. Cape Wagtail, Motacilla capensis. Cheerful longtailed birds, foraging at the water’s edge.

36. White-bellied Sunbird, Cinnyris talatala. Small, pretty, nectar-drinking bird.

37. Whitebrowed Sparow-weaver. Large, sparrow-like birds with loud chirpy calls. In the savannah outside the reserve.

38. Spectacled Weaver, Ploceus ocularis. A pretty yellow weaver with black eyering-and-stripe. In the dense vegetation around the ponds.

39. Redbilled Quelea, Quelea quelea. One of the, if not the most abundant, bird in the world. Small flocks – thankfully!

40. Bluebilled Firefinch, Lagonosticta rubricata. Ridiculously pretty, tiny waxbill – haven’t seen it in years, so very happy to have seen it today!

41. Jameson’s Firefinch, Lagonosticta rhodopareia. Associated with the above … as they seem to be in this reserve.

42. Redbilled Firefinch, Lagonosticta senegala. Also very pretty
… this is the most frequently encountered firefinch around here.

43. Blackcheeked Waxbill, Estrilda erythronotos. Not rare, but not always seen – very pretty waxbill species.

44. Blue Waxbill, Uraeginthus angolensis. Very common but still very pretty!

45. Yellow-eyed Canary, Serinus mozambicus. A pretty yellow canary with bold markings around the face.

46. Blackthroated Canary, Serinus atrogularis. Small and rather
plain canary. I saw one sitting high up in a tree singing its little heart out! Wonderful voice and song for such a small bird.

Well … not a record day in terms of the sheer number of sightings, but still very enjoyable! I also saw some interesting invertebrates … most notably some huge dragonflies, Blue Emperors, Anax imperator … one of the largest species found in South Africa (and also the rest of Africa and in Europe and Asia too): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ai(loz)hydro.JPG

And Peanut, I saw a little spider in the basin in the restroom! I took it out and put it on the wall.

Didn’t do much plant-looking today … apart from the carrion flowers I was also happy to have found some ‘swartstorm’ bushes, Cadaba aphylla, weird leafless plants that aren’t very frequent over here. I will see if I can find some fruit with seeds, I’d like to cultivate it.

All in all a pleasant outing!

You saw all those birdies in one outing?? That's amazing, Willem!

I love The Bird List. Sounds like the title of a short story to me, The Bird List! I love it. I wish I could write the short story, but I can't.

Hello Cactuscafé and welcome to the Bird List! Glad you enjoyed it!