Tuesday, November 13, 2012

AMNH Make-up walk for the impressively long fall series


Today was the last in an impressive series of make-up walks.  Weather has lengthened the fall series almost into winter!  :-)  Today the weather tried again, with a somewhat dismal day dotted with showers, but we braved ahead anyway.    Right away we found a winter wren and this downy woodpecker.
Downy Woodpecker
 Following the bridle path to hopefully find an owl that was seen yesterday, we took a detour to see if we could find the crossbills by Shakespeare garden.  We found this gorgeous Carolina wren instead.  Look at that eyebrow!  We also got to hear it sing a bit, always a treat.
Carolina Wren
 There were several ducks on turtle pond, including several northern shovelers.........
Northern Shoveler
 ..... and this bufflehead!
Bufflehead
 Heading back to the bridle path Paul found us a few goldfinches among the loud blue jays.
American Goldfinch
 And then the reason the blue jays were upset - this Cooper's hawk flew circles over us, presumably seeking lunch.
Cooper's Hawk
 We did find the owl, or rather Paul did, I definitely would have missed it.  It was high up in the tree, and there were only a few spots with a good vantage point.  Hello Gorgeous!
Barred Owl
 We all got great views, and left it before we annoyed it too much.  We finished up at the reservoir but the showers had started again so I put the camera away.  I'm so glad we went ahead, the whole walk was nice but that owl was really special.  :-)
Barred Owl


Friday, October 26, 2012

Take me to the River


I went down to the river, but it was the opposite of a blues song!  :-)  This giant kingfisher got things off to a spectacular start.  Also, the river cruise was like the best drinks stop ever - the bar and snacks set up the whole time!  Wheeeeeeeee! If we are able to visit Phinda again, we might take a picnic lunch and spend all day on the river cruise.  How awesome would that be????  :-)
Giant Kingfisher
The weaver bonanza started right away.  I love them!
Chestnut Weaver

 But it wasn't all weavers.  A sunbird!  We saw these a bunch of times, and none of the pictures are really any good.  Oh well - next time.
 
Mystery Sunbird
 Check out this crazy cuckoo!
Diederik Cuckoo

Diederik Cuckoo 
 Most of the weavers were males building nests, although I think some of them were females.  I mean, because I just couldn't find any males that look like this in the field guide.  Gorgeous!

Mystery Weaver

African Golden Weaver

Mystery Weaver
 Another non-weaver, this darter didn't mind a few pictures.  There were several other herons there, and some jacana, but the darter was the best poser.
African Darter

Spotted-backed Weaver or Village Weaver
 Osprey!  I saw this once and it flew off before Sam got a good look, and he tried to convince me it was the cuckoo.  Ummmm, no.  We saw it again though, and I was totally vindicated.  And then Sam revealed why he doubted - they haven't seen an osprey here for about 10 years!
Osprey
 Well hello hadeda!
Hadeda Ibis

Southern Masked Weaver
 We only saw a green heron flying away, but we saw plenty of evidence that they nest here.
Green Heron Eggs
Weavers!  Weavers!  Weavers!
Weaver Nests
And a croc hanging around just under the weaver nests.  You know, no particular reason.......
Crocodile

Lesser Masked Weaver
 They were busy at work.
Lesser Masked Weaver
African Golden Weaver
On the way back to the dock the malachite kingfisher gave us quite a nice view.  Terrible pictures due to the terrible light, but a great view!
Malachite Kingfisher
We really got spoiled for sunsets.
Sunset
Our good-bye bird (for the river cruise anyway) was a heron in bowling pin configuration.  And that's about it for our Africa trip.  Tomorrow morning it's up way early and off to the airport!  It was a fantastic time.
Purple Heron

To the River


This afternoon we went for the river cruise, but we saw quite a bit on the way there!  We had to keep on moving even if we saw something interesting, so we passed a lot of cool stuff.  We did pause briefly for this stork, which I'm happy about, because that was our only time seeing it!
Wooly-necked Stork
An d we saw this guy.  I don't really know what it is.  Maybe a scrub robin?  That looks almost right, certainly more right than the others I saw in my field guide.  But not so perfectly right that I'm willing to just decide on it........
Mystery Bird (Scrub Robin?)
 By the airstrip was a lot of activity.
Wildebeest 
 Soooooooo thirsty!
Giraffe
 Yes!
Giraffe
 At last, a picture of a swallow in flight! Until/unless I get a better camera this is about as good as it's going to get.
Swallow
 This is clearly a plover. Not a snipe.  Even if you really want to see a snipe, this is a plover.
Kittlitz's plover
 As is this.
Crowned Plover
 I loved these little guys, they are just gorgeous in flight.  I have no idea what they are.  Saw them all over, and never got tired of them.  :-)
Mystery Insect


Goodies at lunchtime


There wasn't much on the nature channel today, but there were a few goodies at lunchtime.

Little Bee-eater
 One of the guests was sad that she missed seeing the violet-backed starlings that the other guests in her car (including her boyfriend) had seen, so I took a lot of joy in showing her this kingfisher.  She was so happy!  And she's right, kingfishers are awesome.
Brown-hooded Kingfisher
 These pretty buntings kept the kingfisher company.
Golden-breasted Buntings


Morning Drive, Continued


We left to go pick up the other guest, and along the way found this charming rhino family.  It really looked like the warthog was their pet.

Then it was back to the lions - most of them were busy looking majestic.
Lions
Lions
 One was attending to personal matters.  Apparently this is how lions floss.  He's really getting up in there!
Lion
 But some were still roughhousing!
Lions

Lions
 A black-bellied korhaan flew by, and later we saw it on the ground.
Black-bellied Korhaan

Black-bellied Korhaan
 And quite close to camp, this gorgeous martial eagle posed for a close-up!
Martial Eagle