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British Birdwatching Fair August 2010, Rutland Water.
We will once again be at the British Birdwatching Fair, in our usual spot in Marquee 2, Stand 47. Pop in and see us, maybe we can plan your holiday of a life time! Leon and Mavourneen look forward to being of assistance.
'The Guide's Tale'... stories and accounts of memorable moments in the bush
 Unusual branch mates: owl and frog sitting in a tree…
The cryptically coloured African Scops-Owl is hard to spot during the day, when they roost in trees and escape detection by the diurnal birds by closely resembling a broken off branch or other part of the tree. Now in certain camps there are reliable roosting spots where, with a bit of patience, one can eventually find the bird and get great views and photographs. On one morning after breakfast at Nkorho Bush Camp in the Sabi Sand Game Reserve we found the bird that usually roosts somewhere behind the guides room and spent some time observing it and taking photographs. One of the group was looking at it through binoculars and suddenly noticed an equally well-camouflaged Foam-nest Frog sitting on the same branch not more than a few inches away from the owl. The question was, that if they are both so camouflaged, were they aware of each other? And was it just coincidence that they happened to be sharing the same branch? We couldn’t say for sure, but the next day the owl was back but the frog was nowhere to be seen…
Leon Marais.
A bit big for the bird bath:
On a general safari, one on which there is not an overwhelming focus on any one groups of animals, it is normally the big cats which prove to be the highlight. However, on a recent two-week safari of the Kruger National Park and Sabi Sand Game Reserve a bathing Martial Eagle was the undisputed highlight of the tour, or for me anyway. We had had a long day of driving in the Kruger, with scant few big cat sightings over the preceding days. Nevertheless there was much else to see and while on ou  r way to Talamati Bush Camp we approached a small concrete crossing on a dry creek. Some un-seasonal rain had fallen - enough to create puddles and small pools in the river bed - and down on the left I saw an adult Martial Eagle sitting at the edge of a pool of water, not two meters distant from the front left corner of the vehicle. As soon as we saw him I was sure that he would take fright and fly off, as most birds feel quite vulnerable while bathing out in the open. I suppose however that the mighty Martial knew that there is no other bird that could pose any threat and instead of flying away he waddled deeper into the pool and continued with the bathing. We rolled forward until we were as close as we could possibly get, all speechless with the pure thrill of the sighting. After a quarter of an hour or so of dunking and fluffing himself up, he hopped off onto some rocks nearby to dry off, and we continued on to the camp, elated with the Martial Eagle sighting of a lifetime.
Leon Marais
A python makes a meal of a Cape Turtle Dove
 On an early morning excursion from the Tuli Wilderness Trail's tented camp, in the desolate Tuli Block of south-western Botswana, we observed a most amazing event. At around eight o'clock in the morning, after a couple of hours of birding from the open safari vehicle, we had a stop at what was the remains of a dam in the dry plains away from the Limpopo River. Standing on the wall, binoculars in hand, all four of us noticed two Cape Turtle Doves fly in to a dead tree close to the muddy water's edge, obviously alighting before coming down to drink. One of the doves suddenly flew on only moments after landing, and it was several minutes before we noticed that a small African Rock Python had been lying motionless in the same tree and had just caught one of the doves! We had time to rustle up a cup of coffee and grab a few delicious rusks before returning to watch the show. Sitting on a slope opposite the tree, we had a perfect view through our binoculars and observed the entire process, as the snake first secured itself to the tree, and then, with head hanging vertically down, proceeded to slowly ingest the dove. It was without doubt the best reptile-sighting any of us had been privy to, and turned out to be a most memorable coffee stop indeed.
Leon Marais
A herd of impala stumble acro ss an ‘invisible' cheetah
In October, on the Naturetrek Mammal trip, we arrived at a small watering point in the Satara region of the Kruger National Park at around 7: 30 in the morning. We had just seen a clan of spotted hyenas and several lionesses and certainly weren't expecting to have much more luck, and so were rather surprised to see a single cheetah resting at the edge of the waterhole. There were large numbers of impala, the main prey item of the cheetah, in the area, and they seemed to be too busy feeding and socialising to notice the cat. Unexpectedly, a dozen or more impala began to move down towards the water hole, and this did not go unnoticed by the cheetah. She sunk down, becoming almost as flat as a spotted carpet, and awaited the antelope. On they came, unaware of the predator in their midst, until they were standing right on the other side of the concrete basin, not ten feet away from the cat, clearly demonstrating how a mammal's sight is geared for movement rather than shape and form. A few impala were staring right at the cheetah with some measure of curiosity, perhaps wondering where the ‘rock' came from. The seconds ticked by, with the cheetah still prone, the impala still unaware, when suddenly a flock of Cape Turtle Doves landed somewhere behind the cat, causing her to lift her head, and the impala were alerted to the close presence of one of their arch-enemies. The scene erupted into a cacophony of alarm snorts and fleeing antelope, which further unnerved the cheetah, and she was last seen disappearing into the bush to the west, with the bewildered impala looking on in relief.
Leon Marais
Peregrine Falcon
Jozini Dam in the Pongola Game Reserve early one morning in February 2007 was alive with birds. We were birding from a boat and at one stage were watching an Eurasian Hobby in flight when a Peregrine Falcon appeared in a steep dive and chased the hobby out of its territory. We had a stunning sighting but more was to follow... The Peregrine flew low over a patch of reeds and a warbler broke cover in fright, only to be chased and caught right in front of us. We had been about to call out a vocal Great Reed Warbler and it was not heard again after the attack and thus can only assume that "our" bird had been caught before we could identify it for the list.
Peter Lawson
FGASA SKS Birding Qualifications - Our Team
On the 19th November 2005, Peter Lawson was awarded an Honorary FGASA SKS Birding certificate by Brian Serrao of FGASA. This was in recognition of Peter's many years of dedicated, professional bird guiding and his involvement and effort that he has put into the guiding and birding tourism industry within South Africa.
Bruce Lawson was one of the first, along with Martin Benadie to undertake and also reach the FGASA SKS Birding qualification in 2005.
Congratulations to all.
This makes Our Team very qualified to guide you on your next birding holiday here in South Africa.
CAPE PARROTS
Cape Parrots are one of our endangered endemic species, with their numbers declining considerably in the past 30 years. It is our only endemic parrot in South Africa and we should all be striving to work towards the protection of their forest habitat.
Various factors have caused their decline, including forest degradation, food and nest-site shortages resulting in poor breeding success, removal of birds from the wild for the aviculture and pet trade and predators.
Cape Parrots are difficult to locate, due to their nomadic feeding habits. The best time to hope to view them is early morning when they leave their roost to look for suitable feeding sites and then again at sunset, when they return from the days activities and feeding.
At these times, they can be very vocal and their loud harsh call whilst in-flight makes them unmistakable.
Lawson's Birding and Wildlife Tours have had very good success with viewing Cape Parrots on our Tours, especially when visiting the Ngele Forest and the Creighton area of KwaZulu-Natal. Join us on one of these tours, to experience this endangered bird.
How to Help Conserve our Cape Parrots
Preserve existing forest patches and provide food sources
Help prevent illegal trade
Take part in the Cape Parrot Bird Count
For further details on how to assist, please contact BirdLife SA |
