Kirstenbosch non-capers

Some additional images from KBC, with (from the top) african dusky flycatcher, karoo prinia and helmeted guineafowl. Strange to be posting images from sunny days as it continues to be dark, cold and starting to snow in the north-east of England...

The flycatcher and prinia pictures were taken in a corner of the gardens that was a hive of activity - the cape batis and cape white-eye images in the previous post were taken at the same spot, just up from Camphor Avenue where we had failed to locate the gardens resident spotted eagle owl. Also present here were cape robin-chat, hadeda ibis and lesser double collared sunbird.

There were many signposts in the gardens warning children not to chase the guineafowl as they had a reputation to retaliate! I'd have loved to have seen that as we saw many a guineafowl running frantically away from kids screaming "get it!!!!" throughout our visit.

Next up will probably be some mop-up species to complete the trip, focusing on birds from around the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town.

Kirstenbosch Capers

More images from Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens - all "cape" birds. From the top: cape batis, cape francolin, cape bulbul and cape white-eye.

I had expected the photography to be much easier than it actually was at KBC, and did not have any luck with sunbirds nor sugarbird.

The cape batis shot was literally a grab shot as this bird flicked past and the cape white-eye and bulbul were record shots as they tended to keep high up (bulbul) or feed actively and too close! (white-eye). The cape francolin was much more obliging, stopping off for a dust bath inbetween feeding with its' family.

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.