Kyalami Estates - June Round-up

30 June 2024 - Kyalami Estates

June was not a bad month for the Estates and I recorded 50 species which was up by 8 species for the previous year.

Not many species in the garden, but I did have Black-collared Barbet

Black-collared Barbet (Lybius torquatus)

A female Cardinal Woodpecker whilst braai'ing one weekend

Female Cardinal Woodpecker (Dendropicos fuscescens)

and Southern Masked Weaver male, already sporting his summer breeding regalia

Male Southern Masked Weaver (Ploceus velatus)

Not much recorded in the main park, but St Ledger was certainly productive - I had a full house of Sparrowhawk's this month which was a real thrill....

Little Sparrowhawk high overhead

Little Sparrowhawk (Accipiter minullus)

Black Sparrowhawk with a half-hearted attempt to catch a Feral Pigeon - I was ready, it was unsuccessful unfortunately!

Black Sparrowhawk (Accipiter melanoleucus)

and Ovambo Sparrowhawk feeding in the Willow Tree

Ovambo Sparrowhawk (Accipiter ovampensis)

I also had a Black-winged Kite pass by overhead

Black-winged Kite (Elanus caeruleus)

Crested Barbet feeding in the Poplar Forest

Crested Barbet (Trachyphonus vaillantii)

The dam had the resident Common Moorhen

Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

and the not so often seen Red-knobbed Coot

Red-knobbed Coot (Fulica cristata)

Whose Boss?

Along with Reed Cormorant

Reed Cormorant (Microcarbo africanus)

Karoo Thrush were loving this fruiting tree, my favourite kind of habitat image - showing how you really see the bird, most times.

Karoo Thrush (Turdus smithii)

whilst the Parakeet's seem to love the Willow's

Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

Other distractions included Dandelion's - colour and B+W. I quite like the stylised B+W

Dandelion

Red-hot Pokers in the Poplar Forest

Fire in the Forest

Butterflies included both Twin-dotted Border species

Eastern Dotted Border (Mylothris a. agathina)

Southern Twin Dotted Border (Mylothris r. haemus)

and a new species for the Estate in the the form of an African Angled Grass Yellow

African Angled Grass Yellow (Terias b. brigitta)

June was another one of the blood moon months, I caught it setting early one morning which I enjoyed more than the rising moon from my balcony

Blood moon

Flamingo's in Midrand

29 June 2024 - Glen Austin Pan

Not much birding done during the month of June, other than my two local patches. 

A few hours in the afternoon at the Pan was rewarding, as a small flock of Greater Flamingo's had arrived earlier in the week - this was my first record of Flamingo's at Glen Austin, although I had heard of previous records in the past - so it was a real treat

Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus)

The Sacred Ibis now have a breeding colony in the reeds, much to the other species dismay, I can imagine

African Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopicus)

Overhead, there were Palm Swift's

African Palm Swift (Cypsiurus parvus)

and a single Large Rock Martin (the new name) amongst the Brown-throated

Large Rock Martin (Ptyonoprogne fuligula)

African Wattled Lapwing's enjoy the adjacent grassland's

African Wattled Lapwing (Vanellus senegallus)

While the Three-banded Plover's are found on the exposed mud banks around the pan

Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris)

Waterfowl are plentiful with a good few species represented with Blue-billed Teal

Blue-billed Teal (Spatula hottentota)

and Cape Shoveler amongst some of the species

Cape Shoveler (Spatula smithii)

Despite the winter month's, the water level is still favourably high!

Winter morning at the Farm

10 June 2024 - Northern Farm

I managed to find a few hours for a short visit to the Farm on a crispy morning that started off with some low fog. I reversed the circuit I normally follow, just for a change. 

This cold looking Burchell's Coucal stayed put, long after I had taken a few frames and left!

Burchell's Coucal (Centropus burchelli)

At one of the big dams, I heard then found an Orange-breasted Bushshrike, which is a good record for the farm

Orange-breasted Bushshrike (Chlorophoneus sulfureopectus)

A pair of Goliath Heron's appeared to be collecting nesting material and flying into the reeds. They really are quite magnificent!

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)

The White-breasted Cormorant's had some begging young birds on their nests

White-breasted Cormorant (Phalacrocorax lucidus)

Yellow-billed Duck's were numerous at this dam - always great to catch them in flight.

Yellow-billed Duck (Anas undulata)

Continuing around the farm, I had Southern Fiscal

Southern Fiscal (Lanius collaris)

Then down at the quarry, there were a number of Blue-billed Teal's on the smaller dam

Blue-billed Teal (Spatula hottentota)

As well as an African Jacana out on the mudflats together with the resident Three-banded Plovers

African Jacana (Actophilornis africanus)

At the last dam, I was pleasantly surprised when the local Fish Eagle flew in and landed in a Willow Tree

African Fish Eagle (Icthyophaga vocifer)

There were two more Goliath Heron's in this dam with one really close by that I caught catching a small Barbel. I then managed a couple of portrait images and discovered these Heron's do have a bit of a crest, that is not often seen or raised.

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)

I love this image in the early morning light against the background of winter colours

Goliath Heron (Ardea goliath)

Unfortunately, I couldn't stay longer, but as always, it was good to have a few hours at the Farm on a winter's morning.