30 April 2025 - Kyalami Estates
We are coming to the end of Autumn, but it was still a good month with 53 species recorded, just 3 behind the high of 56 recorded in 2022.
However, following the record summer rains, we had an explosion of butterflies during this month, something I have not witnessed before. I recorded 20+ species in April which was just astounding.
So, this will be an invertebrate heavy post, but I hope you enjoy the images as much as I enjoyed seeing and photographing as many of them as I could.
I will start with some of the birds seen, Amethyst Sunbird in the garden
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| Female Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina) |
In the main park, Cape Robin-Chat
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| Cape Robin-Chat (Dessonornis caffra) |
Along with Southern Fiscal
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| Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris) |
And a handsome Cape Sparrow
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| Male Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus) |
Red-winged Bishop's were still feeding young birds
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| Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) |
Whilst the rest of the clan looked on
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| Southern Red Bishop (Euplectes orix) |
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| Transitioning out of summer plumage |
The hot weather, had Cape Starlings
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| Cape Starling (Lamprotornis nitens) |
and Dark-capped Bulbul's enjoying the stream between the two dams
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| Dark-capped Bulbul (Pycnonotus tricolor) |
And Hadeda's chilling or wilting in the park
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| Hadeda Ibis (Bostrychia hagedash) |
A juvenile Karoo Thrush flyby
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| Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithii) |
Down at St Ledger, I had killer views of an adult Black Sparrowhawk as it flew overhead
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| Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus) |
As well as a few White-bellied Sunbird's, with one catching small bugs from amongst the Blackjacks
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| White-bellied Sunbird (Cinnyris talatala) |
Moving onto the highlight of the month - the incredible array and diversity of butterflies moving through the Estate. I would say that the male and female African Migrants were the most numerous
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| Female African Migrant (Catopsilia florella) |
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| Male and female African Migrant (Catopsilia florella) |
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| Male African Migrant (Catopsilia florella) |
This was one of the Butterfly Shrubs that had a constant stream of butterflies stopping for nectar and then moving on
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| Butterfly heaven |
I had male and female Common Diadem
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| Female Common Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus) |
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Male Common Diadem (Hypolimnas misippus)
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A few Common Leopard's
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| Common Leopard (Phalanta phalantha) |
The elegant Citrus Swallowtail
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| Citrus Swallowtail (Papilio d. demodocus) |
A few Garden Acraea's that are generally present all year round
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| Garden Acraea (Acraea horta) |
Some magnificent Garden Inspector's where males outnumbered females
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| Female Garden Inspector (Precis a. archesia) |
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| Male Garden Inspector (Precis a. archesia) |
Good numbers of the delicate Grass Yellow's
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| African Angled Grass Yellow (Eurema d. regularis) |
Interspersed with Pioneer Caper Whites
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| Pioneer Caper White (Belenois aurota) |
and many Zebra Whites
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| Zebra White (Pinacopteryx e. eriphia) |
There were also Painted Lady's
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| Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) |
Yellow Pansy's
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| Yellow Pansy (Junonia h. cebrene) |
One of the Ranger species
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| Ranger sp. |
Numerous Blue's that I still need to ID
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| Blue sp. |
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| Blue sp. |
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| Blue sp. |
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| Blue sp. |
But for me, the highlight was a Two-pip Policeman
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| Two-pip Policeman (Coeloades pisistratus) |
Of course there were some daytime Moth sightings included in this kaleidoscope of colour dancing across the parks and gardens.
The most memorable was an African Hummingbird Hawk-moth - a small moth on Red Bull. Super fast flying and really, really difficult to photograph
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| African Hummingbird Hawk-moth (Macroglossum trochilus) |
Crimson-speckled Footman
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| Crimson-speckled Flunkey (Utetheisa pulchella) |
and an Owl Moth which is often seen this time of year
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| Cream-striped Owl Moth (Cyligramma latona) |
There were other moths that I have yet to ID, as they are certainly more difficult to pin down than butterflies
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| Moth sp. |
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| Moth sp. |
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| Slender Burnished Brass Moth (Thysanoplusia orichalcea) |
There were also Dragonflies
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| Epaulet Skimmer (Orthetrum chrysostigma) |
and a couple of Damselflies
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| Damselfly couple |
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| Damselfly sp. |
other invertebrates included; Ladybird
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| Ladybird |
And what may be a Cuckoo Bee?
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| Cuckoo Bee tbc |
Along with many Carpenter Bees
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| Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa caffra) |
Lastly, one of the Skink species in my garden
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| Skink sp. |
April was certainly an exciting and diverse month that may take a few more years before it is repeated again - unless of course we have exceptional summer rains in late 2025 and earl 2026
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