Breeding Season is Upon Us

Since I last updated this page, an unusual sighting worth mentioning was of a Yellow-billed Stork at Greengrove Dam on 9 Sep 2012. I believe that was the first time that species has been seen there (at least in recent years).

Other than that, I have been birding mostly close to home, in Borrowdale Brooke. The main breeding season is underway, and I have found nests/fledglings of Pied Crow, Common Moorhen, various Weaver species, Common Fiscal, African Wattled Lapwing, Arrow-marked Babbler and African Stonechat.

Southern Masked-weaver.

Pied Crows nesting high in a gum tree.

A very young Common Fiscal trying to be invisible.

African Wattled Lapwing. This one has a nest with eggs nearby.

African Wattled Lapwings aggressively protect their nest from potential predators. They tend to dive-bomb people and animals that get too close.

A new bird for my Borrowdale Brooke list is a Brown-crowned Tchagra. I have seen Black-crowned once or twice, but this one was a first.

Brown-crowned Tchagra, eating some sort of grasshopper.

A quick trip to Haka park didn't produce anything of particular interest, but a few of the highlights were African Golden Oriole, African Snipe and Southern Pochard with ducklings.

Female Southern Pochard with four ducklings.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered a new camera, and it recently arrived! It's no normal camera though - it's a trail camera, or a camera trap. Basically you strap it to a tree or something similar, aim it towards where you think an animal/bird might pass through, and leave it alone. The motion sensor and infra-red flash will do the rest!

I have tested it out on birds visiting my compost heap...

The very first creature I photographed with the camera - a Laughing Dove.

Not long afterwards a family of Arrow-marked Babblers dropped in.

The middle Babbler in this photo has a ring on its right leg. I ringed three Babblers here  in June. The other two may have been present, but I couldn't see any ring in the photos.

This camera is a rather exciting piece of equipment. You never know what might pass by when you aren't looking!

Ringing at Afdis, 06 September

We had a fairly successful morning of ringing at Afdis recently. We caught about 30 birds, including Tropical Boubou, Variable Sunbird, Golden Weaver, Blacksmith Lapwing, Three-banded Plover, Wood Sandpiper, Little Sparrowhawk and Yellow-throated Longclaw, plus recaptured Bar-throated Apalis, Spectacled Weaver and White-browed Robin-chat.

Little Sparrowhawk

I noticed that the Wood Sandpiper's plumage was extremely worn out, so have photographed it to show you:

Wood Sandpipers caught in April (left) and September (right) 2012.
The left bird was caught before migration to Europe. The right bird was caught after migration from Europe.
The plumage of the bird on the right is so much more worn out than the left bird's. Many of the white spots have almost vanished.

A close-up of the tertials on the September bird, showing how the white spots have worn away, leaving the feathers heavily notched.

There were about a dozen Wood Sandpipers around, but we only caught one, which was disappointing. There were also Black-winged Stilt, Marsh Sandpiper, Common Greenshank and Green Sandpiper at the ponds.

Wood Sandpiper (back) and Green Sandpiper (front). The Green Sandpiper is quite a rare bird in most of Southern Africa.

A few weeks ago we ringed at Greystone park again. Not much exciting, aside from a stunning male Purple-banded Sunbird. See Julia Pierini's photograph on the Birdlife Zimbabwe Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=405238032874448&set=a.405237996207785.93535.153269924737928&type=1&relevant_count=2

Birding in Marondera

I spent some time recently in Gosho Park and a similar park next to Peterhouse Boy's School, assisting with an Outward Bound course. I didn't have much time to spare for birding - only a couple of afternoons really.
The miombo woodlands replace their leaves at this time of year, resulting in a fantastic display of colours.

Looking over part of Gosho Park

In the Peterhouse School game park there are a couple of dams, much bigger than in Gosho, so I saw a few extra waterbirds here too. My list for this park includes White-breasted Cormorant, Great Egret, Klaas's Cuckoo, White-rumped Swift, Giant Kingfisher, Cardinal Woodpecker, Rufous-naped Lark, Grey Penduline-tit, Groundscraper Thrush, Miombo Rock-thrush, African Stonechat, Southern Hyliota, Red-faced Crombec, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Stierling's Wren-warbler and Yellow-throated Petronia.

I spent more time in Gosho Park, so the list is slightly longer: Wahlberg's Eagle, Coqui and Shelley's Francolins, Three-banded Plover, African Green-pigeon, Meyer's Parrot, Klaas's Cuckoo, African Wood-owl, Spotted Eagle-owl, Fiery-necked and Freckled Nightjars, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, Whyte's Barbet, Green-backed Honeybird, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Rock Martin, White-breasted Cuckooshrike, Miombo Tit, Grey Penduline-tit, Miombo Rock-thrush, Mocking Cliff-chat, Southern Hyliota, Green-capped Eremomela, Red-faced Crombec, Stierling's Wren-warbler, Ashy Flycatcher, Striped Pipit, White-crested Helmet-shrike, Violet-backed and Miombo Blue-eared Starlings, nesting Yellow-throated Petronia and Golden Weaver, Red-headed Weaver, Black-eared Seedeater, Golden-breasted Bunting and more...

My total count for both parks combined was 95 species.

Fork-tailed Drongo.

Male Golden-breasted Bunting.

Green-capped Eremomela, carrying nesting material?

Lesser Honeyguide.

Miombo Rock-thrush. At this time of year, its bright orange plumage makes sense!

Miombo Tit.

Red-faced Crombec - very tricky to photograph.

A scruffy-looking Striped Pipit.

Yellow-throated Petronia carrying a feather to its nest.