Table Mountain

Neddicky

Lizard Sp. (Southern Rock Agama?)

Red-winged Starling

Rock Hyrax

Orange-breasted Sunbird

The 30th December saw us hike up part of Table Mountain, walking from the lower cable car station via Platteklip Gorge. It was a great walk and provided some lovely views of Cape Town - some pictures will no doubt follow at some point.

From a birding perspective it was moderately successful, with neddicky and rock kestrel noted near the lower cable car station, familiar chat, african black swift, cape robin-chat, cape siskin and orange breasted sunbird nearing the table top.

On the top of the mountain, three plus white-necked raven patrolled, with red-winged starling, speckled (rock) pigeon and african black swift were abundant. A couple of orange breasted sunbird provided photograph opportunities, but the weather soon turned as thick cloud shrouded the mountain, dropping the temperature too. I failed to locate any cape grassbird - an annoying dip for the holiday as none were seen at the Cape of Good Hope either.

There were plenty of odd coloured lizard "species" - can anyone id the one in the photograph?, and rock hyrax were also present, no doubt enjoying scraps from the upper cable car station cafe.

We took the easy option for our descent, travelling in the comfort of the cable car.

Cape Canary

Monday 28th December was spent wandering the very impressive 528 hectare Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. This site on the eastern slopes of Table Mountain only contains indigenous South African plants, a feature that makes the location very attractive to Cape bird species. The visit was high on my agenda during the holiday.

This cape canary was part of a small flock feeding near the visitor centre - and although approachable, reminded me of the challenges of bird photography in strong sunlight - shadows become a nightmare!

Image was taken using the 100 - 400mm IS lens along with fill flash.

New Years Eve 31.12.09 / On the beach

African penguins head back to shore at Boulders Beach, South Africa.

Image courtesy of Mrs Birdingsometimes. (Canon PowerShot SD600 "point and click jobbie")

More images of the penguins soon...

24 hours

A belated happy new year to you all!

What a difference 24 hours can make.... This time yesterday I was in Cape Town and it was just over 35 degrees celcius. Today I'm back in blighty and it's below freezing and the garden is thick with snow!

The past week has been spent enjoying the sights of the western Cape in South Africa. It was our first venture here and it was certainly worth the hassle of overnight flights. The scenery is amazing, quite beautiful. The birdiing was restricted to the more touristy areas, but did not fail to impress me (needless to say I had plenty of new birds with this being the first trip to SA).

Hindsight, they say, is a wonderful thing, and if I had had my head screwed on I would have realised that the Christmas and New Year period would be very busy as this is peak summer holiday time south of the equator - so plans for car hire when we arrived were shattered when we found that all the hire cars were taken, and Robben Island was fully booked until 5th January!!

Still, all was not lost, and once I wake up properly I'll sort out some images of the birdlife and scenery.

Heathrow

Hello from the bar at Heathrow terminal 5. Currently waiting for my connecting flight to sunnier climes, due to leave early evening. christmas was quiet for birdingsometimes and family, and the approach to the new year shall be similar but warmer with a few good birds to boot. The flight down to the south east was nice, the snowy north east looked rather nice from, above.

At home the garden has been a hive of activity with visits from dunnock, robin, blackbird and assorted tits - including a tribe of long tails.

Hopefully I'll manage an update during the trip, if not it'll be early new year, hopefully with some nice photographs!

Cool Waves

December is turning out to be my most birdless month of the year, and Saturday was no exception as bitterly cold weather took grip and the region received a scattering of snow. The evening was spent at The Sage, a concert venue celebrating it's 5th birthday. It was our first visit!

We had a rather nice meal at the Brasserie prior to the main event - Spiritualized, who were set to perform their much acclaimed "ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space" album in it's entirety. The show itself was spectacular and intense, with a couple of bonus songs for the encore. The band were joined throughout by a sting and brass section plus a choir. Lighting was superb with a starry back drop that twinkled throughout, although photographically it was too dark to capture in it's glory. For the first time in a long while a Steward asked me to stop filming (on the mobile), so that was a shame. How apt was the show finale? Silent Night. Pure genius.

In the garden a house mouse has taken kindly to the bird feed, joining the blackbirds, dunnock, robin and house sparrow that are frequenting of late.

And with the BA strike action "injunct-ed" (?), I can now take relief that the end of December will be far more birdy than the start. More on that later.... three and a half days left at work then a nice break.

Baggy trooosers!

It was a great night at the O2 Academy, Newcastle on Saturday where Madness performed a storming set of greatest hits to a very lively crowd... their second show of the day. First time I've been to a gig where "does anyone live in Cramlington?" gets a mention from the band!! No support act, but a thoroughly entertaining video of hw to become a sucessful band starring, no prizes for guessing, madness.

Only one more gig planned for the remainder of 2009, then the BA "madness" will determine whether a trip away goes ahead or not...

Not so great northern diver

Spent a few hours this afternoon sitting in the cold waiting for the Whittle Dene great northern diver to swim closer to the causeway ... which it didn't. Cracking bird but no good for the camera! Two kingfisher were kicking about and I almost got a photo as one landed on a fence rail, however my reaction was too slow and it swifty moved on. Other birds included 1 gooseander, great crested grebe, redwing, common buzzard and great spotted woodpecker.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs

I saw Yeah Yeah Yeahs earlier this year at Lollapolooza, but had to view from a distance as the crowd was huge! It was an easier show to get to the front at Newcastle, all we had to do was arrive early enough to get a good spot. Karen O and her team certainly know how to pull off a good show - great combination of dramatic costumes, playing to the crowd, lighting and a huge inflatable eyeball!!

Yeah!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Newcastle Academy 03 Dec 2009. What a great show!

darkdayswhitelies

White Lies at Newcastle O2 Academy 29 Nov 2009

Not much to report...

It was a relaxed day as the last of my 2009 "flexible" holiday was taken - a frightening thought as another year passes.

A potter up to Druridge Bay revealed very little - the north end of Cresswell Pond was busy with curlew, lapwing, wigeon and grey-lag geese, while East Chevington was rather desolate. Nearer home, West Hartford was also rather quiet, with two stonechat patrolling the field and a few common and black headed gull on the pool. No owls... yet. The Horton Burn held one kingfisher ~ a colourful end to a relatively quiet, dull day!

Hope to get out on Saturday morning...

green.orange.yellow.black

Stunning birds, blackbirds...

ISO 800, Fill Flash. Late afternoon in the garden.