This blog was written by Alex Rivarola, a Bushwise International Field Guide student. Each student takes a turn as camp manager, and writing a blog is part of the experience.
Hello Everyone! My name is Alex and I want to talk to you about birds! Why birds, you may ask? Well it may or may not have something to do with our schedule of just finishing up our Bird Theory exam, followed by Bird Slides and Sounds. I also really enjoy finding and observing our avian neighbors. There is just something relaxing about waiting a while to just listen to their plethora of calls and unique behaviours. So let’s dive right in.
I am based at the Sabi Sabi Ranger Academy (also known as Greg’s Camp) and what I can tell you is that we are in an ideal location to see all kinds of birds. The camp is located along a drainage and is the lowest point in the surrounding area. This, coupled with a high water table, means that the drainage line has had water in it throughout the dry season. Sufficient water means a lot of healthy vegetation for birds to go about their daily business.
Of the kingfisher’s typically found in our area of operation, we have had visits from giant, pied, striped, brown-hooded and malachite kingfishers. It is also only a matter of time before the woodland kingfisher shows up. We have been warned that this particular kingfisher is rather noisy, so it should be relatively easy to find it when it does show up.
We have also had some regular visits from grey, striated and even a white-backed night heron! I always find these birds a bit awkward with how they walk around, until they manage to snatch something from the water with surprising speed.
Another group of birds we see (and hear) on the regular are the sunbirds. White-bellied, Marico and scarlet-chested so far. Much like us students before an assessment, these are busy, busy birds as they move from tree to tree and flower to flower.
From small to large, we have also had some visits from some of the resident raptors such as the African fish eagle, Wahlberg’s eagle, brown snake eagle, and a rather ruthless dark chanting goshawk, who has made it it’s life mission to find every crested francolin or Natal spurfowl in our camp.
And last but not least a few of my favourites! Hopefully we will find some more species paying a visit to our camp. And hopefully not during game drives! I hope you enjoyed this brief foray into some of the local birds. Goodbye everyone!
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