Midrand Waterfowl

06 June 2021 - Glen Austin Pan

Hilton Thompson joined me this morning for a quick visit to check out the waterfowl at Glen Austin Pan in Midrand.

On route to the pan, I picked up a distant Accipitor - we stopped to check with the bins and confirmed it was a Gabar Goshawk, a decent bird for the pentad. A crappy record shot followed..

Gabar Goshawk (Micronisus owlet)

It was then down to the Pan and at this time of the morning, I have a good open spot with the sun behind me. As before, there were good numbers of Yellow-billed Duck

Yellow-billed Duck (Anas undulata)

And Cape Shoveler

Female Cape Shoveler (Spatula smithii)

Hilton picked up a lone African Spoonbill flying by against the sun, another good species for this pentad

African Spoonbill (Platalea alba)

A pair of Red-billed Teal's obliged by landing close by

Red-billed Teal (Anas erythrorhyncha)

Whilst the male Maccoa Duck was way out in the middle of the Pan

Maccoa Duck (Oxyura maccoa)

There were also a pair of the newly re-named Blue-billed Teals close by

Blue-billed Teal (Spatula hottentota)

Whilst a Zitting Cisticola popped up at the minimum focusing distance of my big glass.

Zitting Cisticola (Cisticola juncidis)

I heard the Northern Black Korhaan calling, so we walked the semi-burnt veld looking for them. They flushed when we were close by and long before we even saw them, but I did manage to get some great flight shots

Northern Black Korhaan (Afrotis afraoides)

We then went in search of the White-backed Duck which took longer than usual to locate - but we did find them, after which we called it a morning