We visited Marievale in early spring knowing full well that the warmer weather would bring more birdlife and low water levels in the wetland would attract certain species. The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is situated in the southern half of the Blesbokspruit RAMSAR site, an area that is also a designated Important Bird Area (IBA SA021) in South Africa. Marievale Bird Sanctuary is about five kilometres east of Nigel, a small town a drive of about 45 minutes south from Johannesburg in South Africa.

It was a couple of weeks since our previous visit to Marievale but were interested to see the change in birdlife activity with the warmer weather. We normally get to Marievale around 06h00 when it is light but before the sun has risen.

“I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perhaps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning.” ~ J. B. Priestley

Just after we had entered the bird sanctuary we found a pair of Black-winged kites. The female was perched on a dead reed and had a small feather stuck to her beak, the remnants of some prey she must have recently fed on. Her primary wing feathers are black and she has grey upper parts and a white neck, chest and belly which are diagnostic as is her ruby red eye.

It was not long before she moved and was joined by a male and they proceeded to mate. It was certainly a brief unbalanced affair.

A Grey heron foraging along the transition between the reeds and the water’s edge.

We stopped at the Hadeda hide to see what we could find and to our delight we saw an African rail following the small remaining stream of water flowing in front of the hide.  Its plumage is brown on its back, its head and chest are dark gray, it has a dark grey belly with white barring, red eyes, and a red beak and legs. This rail is elusive so this was a fortunate sighting.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” ~ Anonymous

The long red beak is ideal for probing the mud and shallow waters. During its short visit in front of the hide it remained in the mud along the stream and did not venture into the vegetation. This rail forages for food by sight and looks for insects, crabs and other small aquatic animals.

A White-throated swallow stretching its wing just before taking off. This swallow was perched on a stick directly in front of the Hadeda hide. It has glossy dark blue upperparts and a bright chestnut fore crown. A dark blue-black breast band separate the white throat from the greyish white underparts and underwing coverts. The White-throated swallow looks similar to the barn swallow but has white throat not the chestnut coloured throat of the barn swallow.

“Today is a new day. You will get out of it just what you put into it.” – Mary Pickford

A Levaillant’s cisticola foraging in the greenery next to the stream in front of the Hadeda hide.

This little Levaillant’s cisticola was drying out after foraging in the dew laden vegetation.

A male Stonechat with its rufous chest puffed out because it was cold. This chat was foraging for insects in the dried out section of the stream bed in front of the hide.

Our time in the Hadeda hide proved to be very productive with a pair of Hottentot teals moving up the stream, but some distance behind the African rail. This Hottentot teal was using its bill to scoop up grass seeds, though it is omnivorous so will also eat crustaceans like ostracods, molluscs, water insects such as beetles and their larvae if it can find them.

A Hottentot teal foraging in its ideal environment in front of the Hadeda hide.

A Three-banded plover foraging in the wet mud section in front of the hadeda hide. Its beak dictates that it is only able to probe shallowly in the mud. It forages mainly along the water’s edge of open lakes, rivers and streams. It uses a “run-stop-search’ technique for finding its prey. This little plover focuses on insects and their larvae, small crustaceans, molluscs and worms.

A Malachite kingfisher perched on an angle iron protruding from the water next to the Otter hide. There are plenty of small fish for this diminutive hunter.

This wetland sanctuary attracts Hadeda, Glossy and Sacred ibises. The next image is of a Sacred ibis foraging among the rocks next to the elevated access road leading to the main picnic area. This section of road can be highly productive when the water levels are low.

A Marsh sandpiper caught an aquatic insect after wading relatively deeply into the water. This is a small sandpiper that does not have long legs so you can get an idea of how shallow the water was in this pool.

“Much learning does not teach understanding. ” ~ Heraclitus

The water levels around the Otter hide had all but disappeared leaving mud flats which were ideal for this Little Stint to forage in. Again the small beak only allows a shallow probing action.

One of the first species of the migratory waders to arrive in Marievale was the Ruff. This female was very busy probing the mud flats for flies, frogs, beetles, snails, spiders, and worms. These birds are omnivores, and will feed on both invertebrates, seeds or berries.

An adult Black-winged stilt picking small insects off the surface of the water. This stilt is aptly named because of its exceptionally long legs. It is a black and white wader with long stilt-like pink-red legs and a straight black bill. It has black plumes on its back and a white underparts, head and neck and has a red iris.

“The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.” ~ Heraclitus

A Pied Avocet resting in the open water on one leg. The still water early in the morning provided a near perfect reflection.

A Glossy ibis caught an aquatic insect. Glossy Ibises look uniformly dark, but a close look in good light reveals stunning colours with deep brown-maroon upper and under parts with an iridescent emerald, bronze, and violet gloss on its wings.

A Speckled pigeon walking on a fallen tree stump in front of Duiker hide. There are many Speckled pigeons in Marievale probably because of the abundant grass seed and a farmer’s lands adjacent to the sanctuary.

An Orange-throated longclaw. This is a large ground-dwelling pipit-like bird. Its upperparts are brown and cryptic, but the underparts are particularly colourful. It has a yellow supercilium and yellow chest and belly. Its neck is a red-orange enclosed by a black band which runs from its beak down to the lower part of its throat and back up to the other side of the beak enclosing the orange-red throat plumage.

This Orange-throated longclaw was very busy foraging on insects in a dried out section of the normally waterlogged section of the wetland.

“What people call serendipity sometimes is just having your eyes open.” ~ Jose Manual Barroso

I was sitting in the Duiker hide watching a Goliath heron hunting in the deeper waters on the other side of the pool from the hide. This section of the wetland has water all year round and as such has some large carp living in it. We watched several carp jumping out of the water. The main reason carp jump is to clear debris from their gills. When foraging for food, carp gulp sediment from the bottom and filter out the edible bits. During this process, some particles get lodged in their gills as they are expelled. A jump clears the gills of these particles (Source: Improvedcarpangling.com). I had to smile, this Goliath heron was not even looking in the direction of the airborne carp.

The Goliath heron is extremely patient which can be frustrating when you are trying to capture it spear its prey. Patience paid off and it managed to capture a small fish while we were watching it.

A Long-tailed widowbird coloured in its transition plumage. In winter, the male loses his black plumage and long tail feathers. In summer, the male Long-tailed widowbird has black plumage with orange-red and white shoulder (lesser and median) coverts.

The access roads through the wetland are elevated embankments with water on each side. The main access road to the picnic site can be very productive. On this occasion we saw a lone Great crested grebe fishing in the open water.

“If you do not expect the unexpected you will not find it, for it is not to be reached by search or trail.” ~Heraclitus

The grebe’s long, slim neck and pointed bill are used for catching fish underwater in a similar way to a Reed cormorant or Darter. Grebes dive underwater to search for prey. It can remain underwater for up to 30 seconds and can dive up to five metres, depending on the depth of the water. Like a heron, this grebe rotates the caught fish to swallow head-first to ensure the spiky dorsal and pectoral fins will flatten against the body so it will go down smoothly.

The images shown represent just a few of the birds and their behaviour that we saw during one morning visit to Marievale Bird Sanctuary. Some birds we only saw fleetingly, and others were not easily photographed. A visit to this bird sanctuary is a great way to brush up on your bird recognition and photographic skills.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this wetland sanctuary is that the water level has a major influence on what birds you are likely to see and how frequently you are likely to see them. In early spring, it is ideal for the small waders as they can probe the open mud flats. There are still large stretches of water which attract coots and moorhens. The Red-billed and Hottentot teal are resident as are the Cape shovellers and Yellow-billed ducks. Most of the migrants have yet to arrive but the large flocks of Spurwing geese and the flamingoes are sensitive to the level of water in the open stretches. If the water is shallow you may see the flamingoes, but if it the water is too deep you will not see a single flamingo.

“Go to a bird sanctuary frequently. Be quiet and present, and the more you will notice its subtleties. The weather, the light, the water levels yield different birds in different numbers. These subtleties alter their behaviour which will give you a quite different experience.” ~ Mike Haworth

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

Have fun, Mike

A pair of Little sparrowhawks are resident in our suburb and they visit our garden each day. The regular visits are probably because we put out food for the birds which helps their hunting success rate.

“Expect nothing. Live frugally on surprise.” ~ Alice Walker

The Little sparrowhawk is a small and secretive raptor, just a bit larger than a laughing dove. It is the second smallest raptor in southern Africa after the Pygmy falcon. A male Little sparrowhawk typically weighs around 68 to 70 grams, and his mate can can be almost double his weight at between 100 and 105 grams.

The colour of the plumage of a Little sparrowhawk and African goshawk are similar with a grey head and upper parts. Its neck is white and its chest and belly are white with a slight rufous tinge and grey barring. It has yellow legs and a yellow cere and eye ring but its eyes vary in colour from yellow to orange. Males are blue-grey above with fine orange barring beneath, females are grey-brown and white. Young birds are browner with coarsely barred chests.

One of the most striking aspects of sparrowhawk morphology is the difference in size that exists between males and females. It is not uncommon for male raptors to be smaller than their mate, but the size difference between male and female sparrowhawk is usually large. It is speculated that this size difference ensures both birds can hunt different prey, and not come into conflict over limited prey, especially in winter. The larger female is also more able to protect her nest and young from predators.

“To be prepared against surprise is to be trained. To be prepared for surprise is to be educated.” ~ James P Carse

Although they look similar, there is marked difference in size between an African goshawk and the Little sparrowhawk. The African goshawk has a wingspan around 70cm and body length which varies between 36cm to 47cm whereas the Little sparrowhawk has a wingspan around 39cm and body length averaging 26cm.

Another marked difference is in the tail feather colouring. The African goshawk has clear dark grey and white banding whereas the Little sparrowhawk has very light banding on the underpart of the rectrices but two clear white spots on the upperparts of the tail feathers.

This small raptor is often seen alone and it usually hides in the middle of trees for cover. It is a diurnal hunter and we mainly see it in the hours around dawn and dusk. We hear the Little sparrowhawks often but only see them clearly in late August and September once the trees have lost most of their leaves. When the greenery returns to the trees these little raptors are more often heard than seen. According to Ulrich Oberprieler’s Raptor Guide of Southern Africa, the female calls a rapid high pitched “kick-kik-kik-kik” while the male’s call is a mellower “kew-kew-kew-kew”.

The Little sparrowhawk is a bird hunter, waiting in cover. When an opportunity presents itself, it attacks using a short dash which often results in flight capture. This raptor seems to catch many birds the same size as itself. It normally consumes its prey on a branch in a tree. It will go for chicks of many species if it can find them. The Little sparrowhawk preys mainly on small birds weighing between 15 and 60 grams which include seedeaters such as mannikin, waxbills, weavers and frugivores such as bulbuls and thrushes. We have seen the male Little sparrowhawk go for a Green woodhoopoe but they never seem to go for Indian mynas.

These sparrowhawks have keen eyesight and are excellent at targeting unsuspecting prey. As a perch hunter and using their sharp eyesight and acute hearing, they scan their surroundings for potential prey even when light is relatively low. When this diminutive raptor decides to attack it is phenomenally quick and agile diving through the branches of the trees at remarkable speed.

“Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.” ~ Anonymous

With the female being so much larger than the male and having a steadier flight pattern, she is able to hunt in more open spaces for larger prey. Males tend to hunt more in woodland and riverine areas seeking small sparrow-sized birds.

Little sparrowhawks prefer to nest in trees in forests and woodlands. Sparrowhawks build their own nests. The nest is often built low in a tree, in a fork near an opening with easy access. Sparrowhawks build simple platform nests from twigs which are not lined with soft material. We have watched a pair mating in mid-August though most breeding in Southern Africa takes place between September and February. Until the chicks are old enough to be left alone, the male sparrowhawk does all the hunting, feeding both the young and the female. Then both parents hunt for the juveniles, and they continue to do so for a month or so after the young sparrowhawks have left the nest.

Life starts rapidly in the Little sparrowhawk world. The incubation usually takes about 32 days and only one chick survives from a clutch of two to three eggs. The nestling is fed by its mother and becomes independent after about a month.

Little sparrowhawks are small birds of prey with short, broad wings. Most bird wing shapes can be grouped into four types, which include elliptical wings, high speed wings, high aspect ratio wings and slotted high-lift wings. Elliptical wings are found on bats and most small forest and scrub-dwelling birds. This wing shape allows a high degree of control and manoeuvrability in confined spaces. Elliptical wings are highly slotted between the primary feathers which helps to prevent stalling during sharp turns, low-speed flight, and frequent landing and takeoff.

Sparrowhawks and goshawks are Accipiters and as such are specialised hunters. The Accipiter shape is very distinctive, with short and broad wings with a strongly rounded wing-tip – ideal for rapid manoeuvring in confined spaces. This is the ultimate ambush predator of small birds, relying on surprise and the speed of pursuit.  The shape of the wing is important in determining the flight capabilities of a bird. Different shapes correspond to different trade-offs between advantages such as speed, low energy use, and manoeuvrability.

Two important parameters are the aspect ratio and wing loading. Aspect ratio is the ratio of wingspan to the mean of its chord (or the square of the wingspan divided by wing area). A high aspect ratio signifies long narrow wings which are useful for endurance flight because they generate more lift. Wing loading is the ratio of weight to wing area and determines the capacity for sustained lift and soaring.

“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” ~ Stephen McCranie

Wings with a low aspect ratio facilitate rapid takeoff and swift twisting flight, but not for sustained high speed. When not hunting, the flight lacks the aerial mastery of the falcons and appears a little weak with characteristic ‘flap, flap, glide’ pattern. The relatively high wing loading is due to the relatively small wing area to its weight but the weight assists in the mid-air attack.

Many Accipiters hunt and chase songbirds, which are very good at flying fast for short bursts and ducking and dodging through branches. Little sparrowhawks are slender with short, broad, rounded wings and a long tail which helps them manoeuver in flight. The shorter wings make it easier to tuck in and avoid hitting branches, and the roundness still gives them lots of power on the down stroke. They have long legs and long, sharp talons which they use to kill their prey, and a sharp, hooked bill to cut and tear into its prey. The long narrow tail acts like a rudder and steers the bird in and around most obstacles, but it can also be fanned out to act like a third wing.

Sparrowhawks are the sprinters of the raptor family. They are capable of dramatic and fast bursts of speed of up to 50kph, but cannot sustain this speed in a chase. This means ‘spars’ must rely on stealth, speed and surprise to succeed, startling their prey before it has any time to react.

Even when we cannot hear the Little sparrowhawks calling, we often know where they are because of the alarm calls of small birds in the trees in the garden such as Black-capped bulbuls.

It is interesting that these sparrowhawks hunt an area in a similar way to lions. They will hunt in the area daily for a short while and then move away for a period. This prevents over hunting the area and does not give the garden birds enough time to get to know the sparrowhawks pattern of hunting and helps keep the element of surprise.

Whether it is first thing in the morning when we are watching these little “spars” with a cup of hot coffee in hand or dusk with a sundowner it is exciting when these “dashing hunters” come into the garden. The avian dynamics change dramatically and their presence adds dimensions of excitement and wonder spiced with a dose of anticipation.

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” ~ Bruce Lee

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

Have fun, Mike

I am fortunate enough to have worked from home for the past 14 years. My office has a set of french doors which open onto the garden. We live along the Outspan bird sanctuary which has a stream flowing through it. This sanctuary has many trees so looks like a forest. The Outspan stream flows past our home and on down to the Jukskei spruit. Many birds wander up and down the stream foraging.

We are fortunate enough to have many birds resident in the area, probably because the is so much food around. It helps that we provide seed, fruit and suet which attract a variety of our avian friends daily.

“Tame birds sing of freedom. Wild birds fly.” ~ John Lennon

Over the years, and especially after the dry period around 2015, many bushveld birds moved into the urban areas to find food. They found a bounty and never returned to the bushveld. Johannesburg has many parks and is a well treed city which also provides a haven for our avian friends.

In recent years, we have regularly seen and heard a pair of Grey-headed bushshrikes. They have a distinctive long piping call which changes to a clicking sound when they are alarmed. Their clicking sounds just like the clicking of an electric fence. The clicking is normally due to the presence of a pair of Little sparrowhawks which are resident in the well treed Outspan bird sanctuary.

An adult Rose-ringed parakeet with its vivid green plumage and a black and rose ring around its neck. It has a bright red beak and a red-orange eye ring. This is one of the world’s worst invasive parrot species. Rose-ringed parakeets were first introduced to South Africa in the 1900s as part of the pet trade according to an report by the Mail & Guardian.

In the last six months we have had regular visits from as many as five Rose-ringed parakeets at one time. These parakeets have a call which is a harsh shriek but their beautiful vivid green plumage makes them very acceptable. These parakeets come into the garden for the suet but they are relatively skittish.

Juvenile Rosy-cheeked lovebirds. We have had as many as 15 arrive at one time. They compete with the doves and weavers for the seed we put out. These lovebirds are endemic in Namibia and the population in Johannesburg must have grown from pets that managed to escape.

The adult Rosy-cheeked lovebird has the rosy cheeks but the fledged juvenile can vary in colour from a vivid green with a light pink flush across it face and throat to a blue beige colour. The adult’s rump plumage is a powder blue and the colour of the underside of the rectrices is a barred vivid orange, black and green colour combination.

“In order to see birds, it is necessary to become a part of the silence.” ~ Robert Lynd.

Although these lovebirds are monogomous and at times have a very confiding manner, they can be very aggressive towards each other when it comes to dominating the available seed. They certainly dominate the weavers and sparrows on the seed tray.

A male Southern masked weaver in his full breeding plumage. The female is a similar size but lacks the colourful yellow plumage and black face and neck mask. These weavers are seed eaters but also enjoy the suet. This male was perched in a budding prunus looking down at the activity around the feeding tray.

An adult Grey lourie or Go-away bird. It’s latter name is onomatopoeic. It has light grey plumage and when excited raises its grey crest in the same way as other turacos. These lourie’s come into the garden for the fruit we put out. In late winter they gorge themselves on syringa berries and in early spring also eat the new buds on the oak tree in our garden.

An juvenile Speckled mousebird with its partly grown rectrices. These unique birds fly in as a group of six or more birds. They come in for the fruit and the berries on the puzzle bushes and bottlebrush trees. Like swifts, mousebirds are pamprodactylous meaning their two outer toes are reversible, so all four toes can be directed forward at will. Being able to rotate all four toes to face forward enables them to feed upside down, hold food with their feet, and perch with their legs positioned at strange angles.

The Speckled mousebird’s feet are large, and their legs widely spaced. Mousebirds do not perch like most other species and tend to rest their abdomens on their perch. They could be considered “living fossils” being survivors of a lineage that was massively more diverse in the late Paleogene and Miocene ages. These birds are unrelated to anything else alive today.

An adult Cape glossy starling with its iridescent blue plumage and bright yellow eye. These starlings are frequent visitors to our feeding table to enjoy the fruit and suet. These birds are very talkative which makes great accompaniment when gardening. Of the seven species of glossy starlings, only the Long-tailed and Burchell’s starling have a black and not a bright yellow eye.

“Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain.” ~ Douglas Coupland

A few months ago a pair of Red-winged starlings were regular visitors to our fruit and suet offerings. These starlings are frugivores and insectivores so enjoy the fruit and the suet in particular. The brick-red colour is only on the primary wing feathers.

The female Red-winged starling is the same size as the male and has the same clearly evident brick-red primary wing feathers. The female has a grey head with darker streaks and her blue glossy plumage is somewhat duller than that of the male. This species of starling has a variety of call which are more like whistles with the most frequent sounding like an extended “spreeooo”.

Two adult Green woodhoopoes with their iridescent green neck and back plumage, and bright red beaks. The fledged juvenile has purply-blue neck and back plumage and a black beak. The juvenile’s distinctive white and blue barring has still to fully develop on its rectrices.

An adult male Grey hornbill feeding suet to his female. The female has a creamy coloured maxilla (upper mandible) with a dark red tip to both mandibles. These hornbills have a distinctive piping call which has a sad tone to it.

The adult male Grey hornbill has its diagnostic dark black beak with a noticeable but small casque on his upper mandible. A pair of Grey hornbills are resident in the area and occasionally come to visit to feed on the suet balls we put out for the birds.

We have a pair of Southern boubous in our area and they can be heard during the day dueting to each other. These shrikes have a distinctive black upper parts, a buff-beige under parts and a clear white wing bar. They have a wide variety of calls in their repertoire. The boubou prefers to forage in the undergrowth and only occasionally presents itself out in the open. They are not fruit or seed eaters and are very selective on the suet.

A pair of Cape Robin-chats are resident on our property. These are shy but inquisitive birds with an orange throat and rump, grey upper and under parts and a striking white supercilium, which separates the blackish lores and ear coverts from the dark grey crown.

This species of Robin-chat is always the first to start singing in the morning at the first hint of light. When on alert it flicks its tail up. The masked weavers chase the robin-chats when they get too close to the weaver’s nest.

“Some birds are not meant to be caged, that’s all. Their feathers are too bright, their songs too sweet and wild.” ~ Stephen King

A fiesty małe Southern masked weaver guarding his seed against all birds smaller than himself. The Southern masked weaver has a red eye and its crown is yellow to just above the beak. The Lesser masked weaver has a yellow eye and the yellow plumage on its crown only extends half way across its head and the black mask extends from its neck across it cheeks and include the front part of its crown.

An adult male Cape sparrow. It has the white and black markings on its face and neck and rusty brown upper wing coverts. This male did not have the usual black crown so its grey nape and crown suggested it still had to develop its full adult colouring.

The female Cape sparrow has the same colouring as the male except it has a grey head, neck and nape and no distinctive black markings on her face and neck. The female has a clear white supercilium.

A pair of Crested barbets are resident in our area and they can often be heard trilling. They are very fond of the fruit we leave out for them. They tend to dominate the fruit and are only pushed off by the Grey Louries. The smaller Black-collared barbet defers to its larger black, red yellow and white plumed cousin.

“Birds chirping around you is a beautiful realisation that life is incredibly good. Let this sound be a gentle break in your routine.” ~ Hiral Nagda

The Crested barbet is also fondly referred to as the “marmalade bird”.

A family of Black-collared barbets regularly come to visit the fruit tray. These barbets can be quite aggressive to some birds that are bigger than themselves. They have a very strong beak which is probably the deterrent. This species of barbet is smaller than the Crested barbet and is pushed off the fruit by the latter.

The intensity of red face mask seems to vary according to age. I have never seen a Black-collared barbet with a yellow face mask, a yellow morph. This barbet has dark red eyes. Black-collared barbets have a distinctively different call to the Crested barbet and can be seen bobbing and quivering their wings while duetting.

A female adult Thick-billed weaver is also an occasional visitor. I have not seen the male in the garden but I know they nest in the reeds in a small dam about a kilometre down the stream. These weavers prefer the grass seed and also do not compete on the feeding tray.

We normally see the Southern boubou hopping around in the undergrowth in the garden. They tend to be more secretive than the other birds with the exception of the Cape Robin-chats. Among the vast repertoire of the Southern boubou, it has a piping call like a Grey-headed shrike but its call does not extend as long as that of the Grey-headed bushshrike.

A Green woodhoopoe holding precariously onto a thin branch. We have a family of six which come through the garden twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. They seem to travel up and down the Outspan stream foraging for grubs and insects under the bark of the many trees growing along the stream. They are particularly fond of the suet balls and can easily access them with their long beaks. Interestingly, the Indian Mynars will not tangle with these woodhoopoes because of their long beak.

A male Red-headed finch. This is an occasional visitor. A few of these finches come into the garden at times when the grass seed is abundant. They cannot compete on the feeding table with the weavers and doves.

A Ground dove – I think! I do not know what species of dove this is. I have only ever seen a similar looking dove in Mauritius. This character stayed for a few days and we have never see it again. It was bigger than a Laughing dove but was shunned all all the doves.

An adult Laughing dove. With the seed we put out on the feeding table, we attract 20 plus Laughing doves and a few Cape Turtle and Red-eyed doves. The Laughing doves have a soft call that sounds like ‘coo-coo-cuk-coo-coo’. These doves have exquisite soft pink, cinnamon, brown and bluish grey colouring on their wing and back feathers. As demure as these doves appear they can be quite aggressive with each other using their wings to hit their opponents when feeding.

The Red-eyed dove looks like a large turtle dove but has a red eye. We usually only see one or two of these doves around at any one time.

We have several Karoo thrushes in the garden. They enjoy the fruit and the suet. We often see them foraging on the lawn for insects and worms. The Karoo thrush is easily mistaken for an Olive thrush but the latter has a dark brown maxilla whereas the Karoo thrush has a yellow maxilla and mandible.

A Tawny flanked prinia is a regular visitor but prefers to forage for insects in giant strelitzia, clivias and and other shrubs.

We had Black sparrowhawk in the garden a year ago when a pair were nesting in the poplars along the Outspan stream. We even had an African Harrier-hawk visit a couple of times a few years ago, but we do have daily visits from a pair of Little sparrowhawks. They use the cover of the large trees in the garden to launch their blisteringly fast aerial attacks.

These images illustrate the variety of birds which we are fortunate enough to have come into our garden. Feeding the birds is certainly helps attract them.

There are many more species of birds which we see in the garden varying from Cape white-eyes to bronze mannikins. We often hear a woodpecker in the olive tree next to the house but I have not seen it clearly. We have several Hadedas which aerate our lawn and flower beds for us. Although the Hadeda is an attractive ibis, it is very noisy. Tongue-in-cheek we refer to the Hadeda as a “sabre toothed pigeon”.

“Every bird, every tree, every flower reminds me what a blessing and privilege it is just to be alive.” ~ Marty Rubin

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

Have fun, Mike

We visit Marievale bird sanctuary regularly to practice our wild bird photography and expand our knowledge of birds and their behaviour in this wetland sanctuary. The Marievale Bird Sanctuary is located about five kilometres north of Nigel and lies within the Blesbokspruit Ramsar wetland which is internationally recognised.  The Blesbokspruit forms part of one of the tributaries of the Vaal River, which provides water to Gauteng province. 

“If you stay stuck in the past season or fixated on the future season, you will miss the one you’re in.” ~ Maree Dee

The major habitat consists of shallow open water, extensive phragmites and typha reedbeds, and surrounding grassland. During winter the grassland is often burnt which causes the regeneration for the spring. The water level in the shallow open water varies depending on the season, being high in summer and low in winter.

“Creative expression, whether that means writing, dancing, bird-watching, or cooking, can give a person almost everything that he or she has been searching for: enlivenment, peace, meaning, and the incalculable wealth of time spent quietly in beauty.” ~ Anne Lamott

An adult Pied Avocet with its pied plumage and ruby bred eye. Given its up curved beak it uses two feeding methods. In clear water, avocets feed by sight by picking prey from the surface of water or mud which they can do very accurately with that sharp posted beak. When the water is murky and when foraging in the sediments, they forage by touch, sweeping the long, upcurved bill from side to side through water or loose sediment to locate hidden prey. The avocet’s primary food is invertebrates, especially crustaceans and worms but in fresh water they also feed on insects found on the water’s surface or within the top layers of the bottom sediments.

An adult Glossy ibis in his breeding plumage. The bronze-brown plumage glistens and the primary and secondary wing feathers are an iridescent green in the sun. Outside the breeding season the adult’s neck and head is flecked with white.

An adult female Ruff in non-breeding plumage of bold mottled brown on the back and wings. The male is much larger. The mud on her beak shows she prefers invertebrates but will feed on seeds as well as small frogs and fish. The Ruff breeds in colder regions of Northern Eurasia and migrates down to, amongst other places, southern Africa for the northern hemisphere winter. 

In adult Purple swamp hen foraging in the mud among the reeds. The mud was exposed because the level of water in the wetlands was low at the end of winter. Its red beak, red frontal shield and red legs are diagnostic as its green back and wing coverts and blue head, neck, chest and belly feathers.

“The colours of winter are browns and yellows illumed by icey blue skies. Many grasslands are blacked by fire, but birds provide colourful jewels in this otherwise subdued winter wetland.” ~ Mike Haworth

The frontal shield appears to relate to protection of the face while feeding in, or moving through, dense sharp vegetation like reeds, as well as courtship display and territorial defence.

An adult female Fiscal shrike perched on a broken reed stem. I never realised that the female had a rufous patch on her flank just below her wings. The male is just black and white.

A juvenile Black-shouldered kite perched in the gum trees near the Duiker hide. The adult has ruby red eyes and its back and primary and secondary wing feathers are a light grey and its neck, chest and belly are white. Its shoulder coverts are black, hence the name.

A Lazy cisticola foraging in the grasses exposed by the lower water levels. Its plain light brown upper parts are its non breeding plumage but in the breeding season its upperparts become more rufous.

A pair of Pied kingfishers watching the water below carefully from their perch on a fallen tree branch. The female looked to be on top with a single breast band and the male at the bottom with two breast bands.

“Birds are indicators of the environment. If they are in trouble, we know we’ll soon be in trouble.” ~ Roger Tory Peterson

A Marsh sandpiper with white underparts and well defined grey-brown mottling on the upper parts. This sandpiper has yellow-green legs much like a Greenshank but is smaller and has a long thin beak. The length of the beak probably enables it to wade in relatively deep water while foraging.

A Wattled lapwing chick identified by the patchy brown down on its head and upper parts and the early vestiges of its black primary wing feathers. There is no early sign of the black head of a Crowned lapwing.

“What people call serendipity is sometimes just keeping your eyes open. ” ~ Jose Manuel Barroso

An adult Wattled lapwing. Two lapwings have yellow wattles – the White-crowned and Wattled lapwing. The latter has shorter yellow wattles and the white patch is only on the fore crown and it has a red skin immediately above the beak and below the fore crown. The Wattled lapwing also has a yellow eye but its head is brown and its neck is streaked brown and white. 

Being August which is the end of winter in southern Africa, this male Long-tailed widow bird had not yet grown his black breeding plumage and long tail feathers. His red-orange shoulder patch was evident as were his beige primary coverts and his black primary wing feathers had a beige leading edge.

Searching through the burn grassland with green shoots was this Orange-throated long claw, which is a colourful large pipit. It was foraging through the new grass shoots for insects.

“The sound of birds stops the noise in my mind.” ~ Carly Simon

This was the first time I had seen a Capped wheatear at Marievale. This wheatear was also foraging through the burnt grassland.

A Yellow mongoose ventured onto the burnt grassland from its sanctuary at the base of the mine dumps on the western boundary to Marievale. This is an opportunistic carnivore which mainly eats insects including, ants, termites, locusts, and beetles but will also go for baby birds, eggs, frogs, lizards, rodents and snakes and lizards. This species is mainly diurnal.

There were plenty of Grey-headed gulls flying around the wetlands and some nesting on the reed tufts and mud mounds protruding out of the water. This is a striking grey and white gull with a red beak and red eyering surrounding a pale yellow eye.

We did not see many species of duck on this visit but we did see quite a few Cape shovelers with their unique shaped bill and bright yellow eye. 

We always see Stonechats during our wanderings around Marievale. This is a male. The female has a grey-brown head.

We only saw Little grebes this time but occasionally also see the Great-crested grebe. The Little grebe is a very busy paddler which often dives under the water in search of food. This is a juvenile which still has to develop its ochre cheek and neck colours.

The time of the year has a big influence on what and where you see birds in Marievale. There are two reasons, the warmer weather brings the migrants and from December to April the water level rises with the summer rains.

When the weather has warmed somewhat in late August and September, the water levels are low enough for the sandpipers, stints, snipe, rails and egrets to forage in the muddy water’s edge. When the water level deepens the ducks, teals, cormorants, darters and flamingo numbers increase.

It is fun to visit the bird sanctuary with no expectations and then be amazed at the variety of birds you can see. More often than not you see a bird you have never seen at Marievale before or it is doing something that gives you a much deeper insight into the nature of the species.

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

“Everyone likes birds. What wild creature is more accessible to our eyes and ears, as close to us and everyone in the world, as universal as a bird?” ~ David Attenborough

Have fun, Mike