Giant’s Castle vulture hide in the central section of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountains is a place where you can get lost in all the grandeur and the wildlife activity. Sitting in a hide for nine hours might sound boring until you try it. The hours melt away as your attention is caught by all the avian visitors and their fascinating interactions. The weather is always changing and with it the light, the clouds and the mood of the place.

“And in life, it is all about choices we make. And how the direction of our lives comes down to the choices we choose.” – Catherine Pulsifer

Just below the small bushes in the foreground is the Bearded vulture hide. The view looking over the hide across the Bushman’s river valley towards the basalt buttresses in the distant mountains which form part of the escarpment.

A view from the hide looking south west along part of the feeding shelf. The view is spectacular with the eye led to the near vertical basalt buttresses capping the steep sandstones slopes. The height of these mountains creates constantly changing cloud formations which add drama to the vista.

A male Rock kestrel came to visit on two occasions. This is a small kestrel with rufous upper and underparts. The rufous colouring is patterned with black spots. The adult male has a grey head which is streaked. The female is similarly coloured but does not have a grey head and her body plumage is lighter in colour. This adult male Rock kestrel was perched in a Natal Bottlebrush also called a Glossy bottlebrush. This beautiful kestrel can often be seen hovering above the Bushman’s river valley. Its diet varies from rodents (mice, voles and shrews) to reptiles (grasshopper, beetles and crickets) and small birds.

The male Rock kestrel can be confused with the Lesser kestrel. The latter also has a grey head and rufous upper parts but the upper parts do not have the black spotted pattern and the underparts are much lighter. The Lesser kestrel also has a grey bar on the trailing tip of the primary and secondary wing feathers. The adult Rock kestrel has light grey rectrices (large tail feathers) with a black tip on the trailing edge. The Rock kestrel is resident in South Africa whereas the Lesser kestrel is migrant from Europe and North Africa. Rock kestrels are usually only seen in pairs or singly.

A female Cape Rock thrush. The Cape Rock thrushes love the fat on the bones put out for the Bearded vultures. They can not compete with the mobbing boisterous Red-winged starlings. The male and female Cape Rock thrush are dimorphic with the female having a brown head and the male having a blue grey head.

A male Cape Rock thrush. These Rock thrushes prefer rocky areas and are endemic to southern and eastern parts of southern Africa. The Cape Rock thrush favours areas of relatively high rainfall and lower altitudes while the Sentinel Rock thrush is the high altitude specialist of rocky slopes and alpine conditions. The male Cape Rock thrush has a blue-grey head colour whereas the Sentinel Rock thrush has a blue-grey head and the that colour extends down its back and around onto its chest.

A proud looking Drakensberg prinia. This prinia is also called the Saffron prinia. Its preferred habitat is the Drakensberg forest edges, wooded gullies and bracken covered hill and mountain slopes. The Drakensberg prinia can be confused with the Karoo prinia but the latter has whiter underparts with heavier streaking. This prinia forages on the rocks and scrub around the hide for insects.

The Drakensberg prinia’s colouring is warm brown above and yellowish below with fine streaks mostly restricted to the chest and lacking on the throat and belly. It has a long tail which it tends to cock upwards. It has a whitish eyebrow and its eyes are a pale orange.

“The beauty of the natural world lies in the details.” ~ Natalie Angier

A solitary juvenile Southern Bald ibis. The adult is much more colourfully plumed with a bright red bald head and a decurved red beak. This ibis is endemic to southern Africa and its preferred habitat is the high altitude grasslands. According to Birdlife, the global population size is estimated at around 6 592 ± 837 individuals (adults and juveniles), of which 3 296 ± 419 are breeding individuals, across approximately 245 colonies.

We had a wonderful day in the hide and were on our way back to camp driving through a large burnt patch of grass on the upper plateau when we saw this lone juvenile Southern Bald ibis foraging through the burnt grass veld. It was too busy to take much notice of us.

Red-winged starlings are always at the hide. They are the first ones to greet you when you arrive early in the morning. This is one of nine species of starling in South Africa. Its closest cousin is the Pale-winged starling which I have only seen at Tiger Canyon in the Karoo. The Red-winged starling is glossy blue all over with striking red-orange primary wing feathers. The male and female are dimorphic with the female being of similar size to the male but has a grey head.

The Red-winged starlings are attracted by the fat on and marrow in the bones that we put out for the vultures. The bones are too big and heavy for the starlings to carry away and they are constantly pushed off the bones by the White-necked ravens. These starlings frequently squabble amongst each other over the bones. The squabbling is not only male on male but also male on female.

The male on male Red-winged starling disputes can get quite boisterous but never damaging. Red-winged starlings prefer rocky mountainous regions with cliffs and ledges where they breed. These starlings are omnivorous. They prefer fruit but will feed on the nectar of flowering plants and insects when they can find them. The fat and marrow on the bones in front of the hide make easy pickings and attract more than 10 pairs at any one time.

When flying, the red primary wing feathers of both the male and female Red-winged starlings are vividly revealed. The Pale-winged starling looks similar but their primary wing feathers are a very pale beige colour. The Pale-winged starling has an orange eye whereas the Red-winged starling has a dark brown eye colour.

A view of the entrance to the Bearded vulture hide from the parking area above. Looking past the hide, the cliff falls away into the Bushman’s river valley. Beyond the Bushman’s river valley is a rolling tussock plateau which leads to the foot of the basalt capped sandstone mountains with steep high, severely eroded faces which can reach 3300 metres height.

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the Earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life exists.” ~ Rachel Carson

White-necked ravens abound around the vulture hide. At times there must be over 20 ravens on the feeding shelf or flying around it. They, like the Red-winged starlings, are around to feed on the fat and marrow on the bones. The White-necked raven is the only raven species found in south Africa. It has a much deeper beak than a crow. The beak and neck muscles are strong enough to tear flesh and sinew off the bones. The White-necked raven has a deeper beak than even the Common raven which is found in the northern hemisphere.

White-necked ravens were highly social birds but there is a hierarchy. Every now and then, two evenly matched individuals would tangle. These ravens mate for life and known to be highly intelligent birds. The plumage is black in colour with a glossy sheen. The White-necked raven has pure white feathers on its nape.

At times the White-necked ravens got quite aggressive with each other but no one was seriously injured in these scuffles. The squabble was probably just re-establishing the pecking order. These ravens form flocks after leaving the parents. These flocks can be seen from the hide and the flock seems to behave like a gang. Once fully matured these ravens pair off for life.

White-necked ravens are wonderful fliers which seem to revel in the updrafts and wind across the feeding shelf. There is also a lot of sparring but no one seems to get hurt in these tangles.

We watch the Bearded vultures and the Jackal buzzards carry bones away from the feeding shelf in front of the hide. To our amazement, White-necked ravens could carry large bones away on the wing. They often dropped the bones when challenged by other ravens. These ravens have anisodactylic feet with the first toe or hallux facing backward and three toes facing forwards. The feet are strong and these ravens use a combination of feet and beak to lift large bones off the feeding shelf and fly to a more peaceful place to feed. The strength of the beak and neck muscles is evident.

Later in the afternoons when most the bones had been cleaned by the ravens and starlings, the wind would pick up and the ravens took to the sky and appeared to be having such fun frolicking in the wind. They are wonderful fliers and aerobatically jostled on many occasions with each other in the air.

We were visited almost every day by a Cape longclaw also known as an Orange-throated longclaw. Its orange-red throat has a black surround which is diagnostic. The crown is a greyish brown and there is an orange supercilium above the eye. Its upperparts are a light mottled brown which are cryptic and its belly is an orangish yellow. This bird has the GISS ( general impression of size and shape) of a large pipit.

The Cape longclaw prefers high altitude habitats with open grasslands. These longclaws are usually seen singly foraging for insects and seeds. They do not compete on the bones.

A Speckled pigeon flying toward the feeding shelf. These pigeons are fast fliers and normally arrived in pairs or small flocks. It has a red patch of skin around the eye. Its head is grey as is the chest and belly. Its back and wings are a rufous colour and the wings are speckled with spots. The neck feathers are larger and more prominent and are a rufous brown colour.

A male Speckled pigeon trying to get the attention of a female. The male puffs out his neck feathers in a courting display all the while bobbing his head up and down. These pigeons flew onto the feeding shelf to eat grass seed. They were not there for any part of the bones we put out.

We were also visited each morning by Yellow bishops in their non-breeding plumage, as it was winter. These small bishops foraged on grass seeds immediately in front of the hide.

A non-avian visitor, a male Black-backed jackal. We think a family of Black-backed jackals live in the rock crevices a couple of hundred metres to the south along the cliff. These jackals visited the feeding shelf in front of the hide each day we were there, and on some days more than once a day.

There was always tension in the hide when we watched the jackals and ravens take away many bones from the feeding shelf. The raptors only arrived later in the morning once the thermals and updrafts intensified making soaring easier. The starlings and ravens also made quick work of removing the marrow in the bones.

I hope the previous images gave you a sense that there is much more to the experience in the Bearded vulture hide than the raptors. Winter is an ideal time to visit the hide as the grass on the feeding shelf is low. This helps photograph the small seed eaters without grass stems obscuring the view. The same is true when we place bones on the far end of the feeding shelf, When the grass is long it makes photographing the raptors more tricky.

“We are the creative force of our life, and through our own decisions rather than our conditions, if we carefully learn to do certain things, we can accomplish those goals.” – Stephen Covey

You are guaranteed to see many White-necked ravens and Red-winged starlings but the sightings of the other birds was the luck of the draw. The weather is also highly variable which enables photographers to mix the bird and landscapes. Patience is needed as there are quiet periods but then no raptor gives you warning that it is on finals for landing so you have to stay alert the whole time.

“This is as true in everyday life as it is in battle: we are given one life and the decision is ours whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind, or whether to act, and in acting, to live.” – Omar Bradley

Explore, seek to understand, marvel at its interconnectedness and let it be.

Have fun, Mike