18 December 2022 - Glen Austin Pan
Our summer holiday is on the horizon, so I had a quick early morning visit and Pentad bash to Glen Austin Pan. I always have an air of expectancy when visiting this site, as it has the potential to deliver a goodie, like the Lesser Moorhen that was seen earlier in the week, following the good rains.
In the reeds there is an active Heronry with both Black-headed Herons and Cattle Egrets breeding amongst other species and there were big numbers of Grey-headed Gulls.
No sign of the Moorhen, but I did enjoy all the usual regulars like African Swamphen
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| African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis) |
African Jacana
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| African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus) |
A single Little Egret
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| Little Egret (Egretta garzetta) |
I flushed a Hamerkop feeding on tadpoles in the shallows of the Pan - still no sign of any adult African Bullfrogs
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| Hamerkop (Scopus umbretta) |
A few Glossy Ibis flew by
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| Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) |
Whilst Southern Pochard were close enough to get papped
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| Male Southern Pochard (Netta erythrophthalma) |
There was a lone White-backed Duck quite close to the edge, but it didnt stay long
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| White-backed Duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) |
I managed to get an in-flight sequence of a White-backed Duck taking off. Since they sit so low in the water and are often wet, take-off is much like a Coot - a lot of flapping and running across the water until they are finally airborne. I was thrilled that all were pin sharp
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| White-backed Duck (Thalassornis leuconotus) take-off sequence |
I was also really excited to see that Yellow-crowned Bishops seemed to have returned to this site after years of absence. I counted at least 4 pairs, so will check again in the new year if they are still present
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| Female Yellow-crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer) |
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| Male Yellow-crowned Bishop (Euplectes afer) |
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