By chance we were back in the “big smoke” for a week after our week at Giant’s Castle when my brother Jerry told me that his guest who was going to take the week in Mashatu could not make it. Helen and I jumped at the opportunity to return to Mashatu in February this year which was toward the end of the rainy season. We are members of a syndicate operating Rock Camp in Mashatu which is sited along the Limpopo river close to the Ponte Drift border post.

“Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them. Everyone must be challenged. A day dawns, quite like other days; in it, a single hour comes, quite like other hours; but in that day and in that hour the chance of a lifetime faces us.” ~ Maltbie Davenport Babcock

There is prolific bird life in Mashatu when in and around the camp and when on game drives. Part of the beauty is that you often do not see the same species on consecutive game drives.

“Opportunities multiply as they are seized.” — Sun Tzu

A male Bearded woodpecker in a large tree in the front of Rock Camp’s patio. The top of the male’s crown is red while the female’s crown is black, otherwise they look similar. They use their beaks to search for grubs under the bark and to communicate by tapping on the trunks of trees.

This Blue waxbill waited for the activity around bird bath to quieten down and proceeded to have a proper bath. It was very hot so many of the birds that visited the bird bath also bathed to cool down.

A male Green-winged pytillia was also cooling down in the heat of the afternoon.

A Spotted flycatcher found a perfect perch from which to hawk insects in the heat of the afternoon behind the Rock Camp main lodge near the swimming pool. The Spotted flycatcher is a summer visitor and is identified by the light brown streaks on its buff coloured breast and belly.

“Most people miss great opportunities because of their misperception of time. Don’t wait! The time will never be just right.” ~ Stephen C. Hogan

Although there are many birds in the camp area, it was summer so the birdlife was more spread out and could find water everywhere. There are many Sabota larks in Mashatu. This lark is identified by the strong brown streaks on its chest and its distinctive white eyebrow. This species seems to prefer the Mopani woodland interspersed with rocky areas where the grass is sparse.

Southern African summer is a time when the palearctic and inter-Africa migrants arrive to feast on the profusion of insects that respond to the rains and warmth. Mashatu is well known for being a good area to see most of the species of cuckoo which visit in summer. The most common cuckoo was the Diedrick’s cuckoo. The male has barred flanks, white flecking on the wing, white patches in front of and behind the eye, and a distinctly red eye surrounded by a red eye-ring.

The bronze-green female has a diagnostic white patch in front of the eye, a plain back, and white patches in the wings and her eye ring is brown not red. Both images are of male Diederik’s cuckoo as the female has a more pronounced coppery sheen on her back. The name “diederik” is an approximate rendition of the loud, persistent “deed-deed-deed-er-ick” call of the territorial male.

At Rock Camp we often hear the distinctive call of a Black cuckoo along the Limpopo river but I have yet to see one. During this visit we saw many Jacobin cuckoos but very few Striped cuckoos. Usually it is the other way around.

The Jacobin is differentiated from the Striped or Levaillant’s cuckoo because the former does not have black stripes on its chest. Both the Jacobin and Striped cuckoos have black plumage on their head and a crest on the back of the head. Both species have black and white bars on their tail feathers.

We also regularly see the Great spotted cuckoo. This is the largest of the summer migrant cuckoos. The adult is grey above, it has a grey cap, grey wings, a yellowish face and upper breast, and white underparts. This species of cuckoo prefers warm open woodland savanna. It feeds on insects, spiders, small reptiles and hairy caterpillars, which are avoided by many birds. Like most cuckoo species, this is a brood parasite, but it targets larger species such as crows and starlings

Another summer migrant is the Carmine bee-eater. It has exquisite carmine red, blue and brown plumage with an aquamarine crown. It is an adept aerial hunter and is usually seen hawking flying insects in the afternoon when it is very hot.

We see Carmine bee-eaters – young and adult. The fledged juveniles are browner and have not yet developed that gorgeous carmine breast and throat plumage and its crown has not yet turned to a vivid aquamarine.

Several shrikes are also summer visitors such as the Lesser grey shrike and the Red-backed shrike. The Red-backed shrike is quite skittish and normally will not let you get close so a long focal length lens is needed. This shrike migrates from its breeding grounds in eastern Europe and Russia down to southern Africa.

The Fiscal, Southern White-crowned shrikes and Grey-headed bushshrike are common residents in Mashatu. Another migrant, the Lesser grey shrike has a full black facial mask with a grey crown and back. Its belly, chest and throat plumage are white. These shrikes hawk insects from a prominent perch. The Lesser grey shrike also migrates to southern Africa from its breeding grounds in southern Europe and western Asia.

The White-browed sparrow-weaver is a common resident. It has a distinctive white eyebrow, black cap and black malar stripe. This species is very talkative and seems to be constantly busy building its untidy nests on the west side of larger trees. Since breeding mainly occurs in the warmer months, it may be because easterly winds prevail during summer, thus the nests are more protected on the western side of the tree.

A male Chestnut-backed sparrow-lark. It has a distinctive chestnut coloured back and covert plumage. Its head is black and it has a white cheek and white stripe on its nape. These diminutive sparrow larks are found in the dry rocky areas of Mashatu. They are normally seen in small flocks.

A male Black-backed puffback shrike. This diminutive shrike is usually heard before it is seen. The male has a black crown and face mask and a bright red eye. The female differs in that it does not have a black face mask. This is a highly active shrike constantly moving around in the upper reaches of the tree canopy. The males puffout the loose white rump and lower back feathers in display.

The ubiquitous Lilac-breasted roller. A stunningly coloured roller which is common in Mashatu. It was usually seen hawking insects from a perch. In Mashatu during summer, we see very few European rollers and the odd Purple roller. By contrast, we saw many more European rollers further south in Zululand and very few Lilac-breasted roller in that region.

“We’ve moved from a small world on a big planet to a big world on a small planet.” ~ Johan Rockstrom

Another summer migrant, a Woodland kingfisher. Its trilling call can be heard in camp and along the Majale river. It is an insect eater with a vibrant turquoise blue back, wing and tail plumage.

A Barn swallow migrates to the southern Africa summer flying from across Eurasia. This annual migration has been recorded covering up to 11,660 km. The Barn swallow is distinguished by its brown forehead and throat and steel blue back and shoulder plumage and white breast with a steel blue collar.

“Taking an image, freezing a moment, reveals how rich reality truly is.” ~ Anonymous

A male Paradise whydah preening himself. Whydahs are distinguished from widow birds as the former has more colour on its body. Widow birds have all black plumage but for a flash of colour on their throat, rump or shoulders. The Paradise whydahs congregate in flocks and the females are parasitic breeders. The male Paradise whydah is all black except for a thick brown band across its chest to its shoulders and a yellow-buff coloured nape and belly.

A male Namaqua dove preening itself.

The bantam-like Crested francolin foraging in the underground. These francolin can be heard all over Mashatu and often gives away the presence of either a predator or snake.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

The ever shy Kori bustard. This bird will always walk away from you in Mashatu and will not let you get close. Usually we see a single Kori but at times we are lucky enough to see the whole family which can comprise two adults and three juveniles. This is a ground-dwelling bird and an opportunistic omnivore. Male Kori bustards can be more than twice the weight of a female and will try to breed with as many females as possible and consequently takes little or no part in the raising of the young.

We invariably see a Secretary bird striding around the southern section of Mashatu near the vlei. It strides through the grasslands searching for anything from small birds to rodents, and grasshoppers to chameleons. The Secretary bird is a large bird standing up to 1.3 metres in height and is instantly recognisable because of its eagle-like body on crane-like legs which give this raptor its height.

“The value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, which is a prerequisite for stable societies; its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat.” ~ Johan Rockstrom

The Secretary bird hunts and catches prey on the ground and is very nimble aided by its wings. Having caught its prey it usually stomps on its victim to kill it. Being a bird of prey it is carnivorous. The sexes resemble one another, although the male is larger and tends to have longer tail feathers, more black erectile crest plumes, a shorter head and more blue-grey upperparts and less extensive bare orange facial skin behind the eye.

One of my favourites, a Lanner falcon perched on top of a Shepherd tree scanning the surrounding area for potential prey which can include queleas, doves and sandgrouse. This falcon is larger than a Peregrine and usually hunts in a horizontal pursuit rather than a vertical dive. The Lanner has a brown crown and a buff coloured head with a black eye stripe and a black malar stripe. Its belly is buff coloured with brown blotches across its chest and belly. Watching this bird of prey hunt is a thrilling experience because of its sheer speed.

A beige morph Tawny eagle. This species of eagle has many colours from fawn to tawny, striped and even a dark morph.

Tawny Eagles are opportunistic hunters, meaning they will feed on just about anything they are able to catch or find. They will hunt mammals including hares and dikdiks, birds such as francolins, bustards, and even hornbills, and will also take reptiles, such as lizards,  fish, amphibians, and insects (including termites). They are not adverse to scavenging on a predator kill.

I was confused as to whether this was a dark morph Booted eagle or a juvenile African hawk-eagle. A lifelong birder, Terence Archibald, thankfully corrected me indicating it was a juvenile African hawk-eagle highlighting it strong beak, powerful talons, narrow stovepipe like leg feathers and spots on the wing coverts. This is an aggressive aerial hunter, targeting mainly birds up to the size of francolin and small-sized mammals. It will also prey on rodents and lizards when it can find them. This raptor prefers miombo and especially Mopane woodland in southern Africa.

A Brown snake-eagle with its distinctive brown plumage and vivid yellow eye. Snake-eagles have a distinctive angular shape to their head, with a crest of sorts on the back of its head and a small very hooked beak. We see many Brown Snake-eagles in Mashatu but no Black-chested snake-eagles or Western banded snake-eagles.

The Limpopo river is the southern boundary of Mashatu. There are numerous pairs of Fish-eagles along the Limpopo but every now and then one or a pair venture along the Majale river when it is drying out hoping to find stranded fish. A juvenile fish eagle can take between four and five years to develop its adult plumage.

The bird photography in Mashatu is highly productive. Patience and guidance is always required. The guides know where resident species stay and when unique species are in a particular area, which is particularly helpful.

There is a big difference in the diversity of species seen between summer and winter due to the influx of migrants in summer. Mashatu is known for its diversity of species and not necessary the quantity of a particular species. This is mainly because of the six different ecosystems in Mashatu which attract very different species.

“The diversity of the phenomena of nature is so great, and the treasures hidden in the heavens so rich, precisely in order that the human mind shall never be lacking in fresh nourishment.” ~ Johannes Kepler

This post has shown is just a smattering of the diversity of avian species that you can see in Mashatu. In summer this dry part of Botswana transforms into the garden of Eden with its verdant greenery and carpets of yellow and pink flowers. Inevitably, the garden provides a wonderful background for bird and wild wild photography.

“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” ~ Ansel Adams

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

Have fun, Mike

This is the last post from our six day sojourn at the Giant’s Castle vulture hide. Helen and I stayed for a longer than usual period hoping to see different behaviour that we had not seen during our previous one and two day visits.

We awoke on our last morning to heavily overcast weather with swirling mist. If there is one thing I have learnt over the years with wildlife photography, do not stay in bed when the weather is bad. We got up at 5h30 and picked up our allocated bucket of bones and then drove up to the vulture hide. It was deeply overcast, cool and wet with thick mist. The one thing you can never predict while driving up to the hide in heavily overcast weather with low visibility is when and the weather will break. It is very seldom once the summer temperatures warm up that the heavily overcast weather with thick mist persists.

“Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.” ~ Anthony J. D’Angelo

In wildlife photography you need the overcast weather to lift and the light to brighten just as there is wildlife action. You only need a couple of seconds. More is just a bonus.

We settled into the hide at around 6h30. The mist was so thick that we could not see the end of the terrace where most of the raptors usually landed. Priorities, a cup of coffee and a rusk first, second setting up my cameras and third strategically placing the bones. Then we waited. Initially, there were several White-necked ravens and Red-winged starlings feeding on the bones. Eventually, the weather started to break around 10h30. It was interesting to note what the birds are doing, and what they are not doing, in front of the hide when the weather is poor. This all helps build an understanding of their behaviour which is so important in helping to know what to expect to capture that unique shot.

“If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.” ~ Frank Lane

With the break in the weather there were patches of sunshine in an otherwise overcast vista. The Bearded vultures started to fly along the ridge at around 10h30.

We saw two Bearded vultures soaring at around 10h30. The young adult with the predominately white head and body plumage that we saw two days before and an older adult, over seven years in age, with a rust-orange stained neck and body plumage.

The young adult began flying closer past the hide and was having a good look at what was on the terrace in front of the hide.

Eventually, close to 11h00, the young adult turned and looked to be on “finals” and coming in to land at the far end of the terrace.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill

The young adult landed below the edge of the terrace and walked up onto the terrace. The heavily overcast weather cleared somewhat improving the illumination of the terrace. This vulture immediately marched over to the bones and started to collect a few and placed them next to each other.

The vulture’s hoarding behaviour did not go unnoticed by the White-necked ravens. One was bold enough to tug at the young adult Bearded vulture’s tail feathers. The vulture did not try to scare it away just turned around and fed on the bone facing the raven. This performance went on for a while before the raven gave up.

This young Bearded vulture was aware of all the White-necked ravens on the terrace and other Bearded vultures above the Bushman’s river valley and was frequently looking up and around.

As soon as another Bearded vulture appeared in the skies above the terrace this young adult began to duck down and squat next to the bones.

After the other Bearded vulture had flown past, the young adult stood up again to see where the former had flown.

The older Bearded vulture circled over the Bushman’s river valley and flew back towards the terrace. Again the younger adult crouched down hiding one or two of the bones. We had never seen this form of hiding behaviour before.

As the older adult got closer, the younger adult crouched even lower this time further hiding some of the bones under its breast.

The young adult realised it was going to have a visitor as the older adult flew close to the terrace and stood up with its red eye sclera clearly visible, signalling a potential threat.

The younger adult stood up to get a better look at what the other Bearded vulture was doing. The bright red scleral ring around its eye showed a threat display.

“We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn.”~ Mary Catherine Bateson

Sure enough the older adult landed close to the younger adult. The younger adult had about half an hour to itself on the terrace before the second older Bearded vulture landed.

The older Bearded vulture stayed a few minutes and never tried to feed on any of the bones.

It was not apparent what the older Bearded vulture was doing and it soon took off.

“By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.” ~ Confucius

When an adult Bearded vulture is landing or taking off, it is a magnificent sight with its wings fully extended.

“Listen to the wind, it talks. Listen to the silence, it speaks. Listen to your heart, it knows.” ~ Ojibwe Prayer

The younger adult Bearded vulture swallowed six bones behind a large grass tuft so I could not get any reasonable images of it swallowing those bones. After another 15 minutes the younger vulture took off leaving the terrace open. Within 10 minutes the older Bearded vulture flew in to land at the far end of the terrace.

“True wisdom comes to each of us when we realise how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.” ~ Socrates

The older vulture walked up to where the younger adult had gathered some bones. The sclera eye ring was not bright red signalling it was relaxed.

It was only a few minutes later when a Cape vulture landed fairly close to the older Bearded vulture. The Cape vulture was after the meat and fat on the bones.

The older Bearded vulture immediately took off and flew closer to the Cape vulture in what looked to be an intimidating tactic.

The Cape vulture saw what was going on but did not seem to be too fazed.

“We are gifted with freedom, but with that freedom comes the reality of the unknown and the responsibility to be aware of our surroundings and on guard against those who would do us harm.” ~ Mike Crapo

The two species of threatened vultures remained close to each other with both constantly looking around.

For some inexplicable reason the older adult Bearded vulture stayed only a few minutes close to the Cape vulture before flying off.

The Cape and Bearded vultures are not direct competitors because the Bearded vultures are mainly after the bones and marrow.

Both the Cape and Bearded vultures are the subject of projects by the Maloti-Drakensberg Vulture Project to conserve the two species, both of which are threatened. The project researchers study the two species using satellite transmitters to observe their ranging behaviour. These projects also aim to dispel the myths associated with these birds and in the process reduce the threats they face from the farming communities in the region.

The behaviour of the Bearded vultures was fascinating. The younger one was clearly threatened by the older one. The Cape vulture seemed unconcerned by the close proximity of the older Bearded vulture.

The landings took place between 10h30 and 11h30 on our last morning. The weather opened up during that period and the level of light improved allowing me get some interesting images of the various vultures. It took six days and endless patience, and not being put off by the weather to get the images.

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

By midday the clouds closed in again and the level of light fell. This gave the Black-backed jackals an opportunity to sneak up and steal some of the bones at the far end of the terrace.

The decline of vulture populations in southern Africa has been explained by decreased access to food due to changing farming practices, habitat loss due population growth and various sources of unnatural mortality such as poisonings, electrocutions and collisions.

“Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity? ~ EO Wilson

Ongoing campaigning to reduce harmful anthropogenic effects such as the use of poisons and vulture-unfriendly utility structures have not reversed the decline in the vulture populations. The establishment of several vulture restaurants with their associated hides has slowed the population decline. In the case of the Maloti-Drakensberg region, the Giant’s Castle vulture hide plays a vital feeding role and has substantially increased the interest and awareness among nature lovers in these uniquely adapted raptors which play a vital role in the biodiversity of the region’s fauna.

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

Have fun, Mike

On day four, we were just over half way into our six day visit to the Giant’s Castle vulture hide. We had seen many fly-bys by the fledged juveniles and adult Bearded vultures. At times the fly-bys were far away in the middle of the Bushman’s river valley. At other times they were way above the hide and at other times the juveniles and adults flew close to the valley floor.

“… there’s a silent voice in the wilderness that we hear only when no one else is around. When you go far, far beyond, out across the netherlands of the Known, the din of human static slowly fades away, over and out.” ~ Rob Schultheis

There were many occasions when the juvenile and adult Bearded vultures flew very close and had a good look at what was the on the terrace in front of the hide. Not once during the first three days in the hide did we see a Bearded vulture land on the terrace or the rocks at the edge of the terrace in front of the hide, despite many good looks at the available food.

We had frequent visits from Jackal Buzzards where they landed and spent quite a while feeding on the meat on the bones that we had put out on the terrace. We also had fly-bys from a lone Yellow billed kite, a Lanner falcon and a Rock kestrel. The latter landed on the rocks close to the hide but never tried to feed on the meat, marrow and fat on the bones as they feed mainly on insects, small rodents and reptiles. We saw many lizards on the rocks and I am sure there must have been many rodents attracted by the meat and fat on the bones.

“Wildness is more a quality than a place, and though humans can’t manufacture it, they can nourish and husband it…” ~ Michael Pollan

At last, on our fourth morning after a landing by a Jackal Buzzard, we saw a young adult Bearded vulture flying in the Bushman’s river valley. It flew progressively closer and from just above the far edge of the feeding terrace in front of the hide this Bearded vulture looked to be approaching the terrace on “finals”. Helen was my spotter and she called the species, direction, and elevation. Helen called out “adult Bearded vulture at 2 O’ clock approaching from deep in the valley”. With great excitement we got ready for a possible landing. With their wings at full span this vulture is three times its body size. This is a critical estimate to prevent clipping its open wings in the image.

There were so many times that we thought a Bearded vulture was on “finals” to land, only to veer off and fly on by along the ridge. The thrill of watching this massive vulture coming in to land was huge. This was one of the sightings we were hoping for. The other was to see a mid-air courtship display but it was the wrong time of the year for that.

Little did we know, in our initial excitement, that this young adult Bearded vulture would stay at the far end of the terrace from the hide for about 45 minutes. Roberts Bird Guide has a Bearded vulture aging chart which shows the progression in head feather colours from black to white with age. Its body feathers change from a mottled brown, black and white to white, which over time, through dust bathing, becomes a strained rich rust-orange colour. This young adult Bearded vulture looked to be around six years old.

For a while this Bearded vulture walked around the far end of the terrace collecting bones. Some of the bones had a small amount of meat and fat on them.

Bearded vultures are uniquely specialised to live on a diet of bones and bone marrow. This Bearded vulture picked up a large bone with its beak, tilted its head back and began to progressively swallow this huge bone. Its esophagus is highly elastic and the walls of the esophagus are thicker than those of other vultures, which prevent potential internal injury from bones with jagged edges. (Source: Bone Dropping Bearded Vulture, Reed College, Biology 342 Fall 2012 by Ivy Hellickson).

“Much of human behaviour can be explained by watching the wild beasts around us. They are constantly teaching us things about ourselves and the way of the universe, but most people are too blind to watch and listen.” ~ Suzy Kassem

Bearded vultures are known to be able to swallow bones as long as 25cm. This vulture lacks a large crop but has an unusually large stomach and intestine. Its stomach acid has a ph of less than one. This high degree of acidity enables this species to break down large chunks of bone within 24 hours.

If the bone is too large to swallow, Bearded vultures pick up the large bone either with their beak or talons and fly above large open flat rocks called ossuaries then drop the bone from a height of up to 60 metres. The drop usually shatters the bones into smaller pieces which enables them to swallowable size. The long strong tongue enables this vulture to access the hollow centre of the bone to extract the nutritious marrow. The Bearded vulture diet comprises between 85% and 90% bones.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

The vulture hide was built with a view to feeding the Bearded vultures with bones under controlled conditions. The increased population pressure and changing rural farming practices have reduced wildlife and stock mortalities and so shrunk the size of this vulture’s feeding ground. The bones provided by Giant’s Castle staff as part of the hide booking provide the necessary supplementary food which is poison and pharmaceutical free

We watched this adult Bearded vulture swallow two large bones before taking off from the far end of the terrace. The next image shows the huge bulge in its chest due to the bones.

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

This vulture is not a carrion eater like other vultures but is capable cutting through ligaments and removing bones from a carcass with its large strong beak with a sharp tip. It was such a privilege to watch this species swallowing bones.

“You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

Vulture Conservation Foundation research showed a 27% reduction in breeding range and 20% reduction in breeding densities between the first study period (1960 to 1999) and the second study period (2000 to 2020). The adult vultures prefer open grasslands and avoid forested areas and built up rural and urban areas. In southern Africa, much of the breeding range reduction had taken place away from the eastern Cape and Lesotho resulting in an isolated population concentrated in the Drakensberg-Maluti mountains.

Projectvulture.org.za estimates that only about 350 individual Bearded vultures and 100 breeding pairs remain in southern Africa and are now considered critically endangered. The global Bearded vulture population has been classified in the IUCN Red List as near threatened since 2014. Today, the Bearded vulture lives and breeds on crags in high mountains in southern Europe, southern Africa, East Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Tibet, and the Caucasus.

The Bearded vulture is a magnificent raptor because of its size, plumage and unique physiology. This species’ role in ensuring biodiversity is unique and necessary and so has a special place in the conservation efforts.

“Most people are on the world, not in it — have no conscious sympathy or relationship to anything about them — undiffused, separate, and rigidly alone like marbles of polished stone, touching but separate.” ~ John Muir

It was interesting to visit the hide outside the breeding season where we saw more landings than during breeding season (June to August). In the last post from our six day experience in the Bearded vulture hide, I show some unusual behaviour by Bearded vultures that we have never seen before.

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

Have fun, Mike

The main attraction of the Bearded vulture hide in Giant’s Castle Reserve is the sightings of rare raptors such as the Bearded and Cape vultures. These vultures are not around the hide all the time. While waiting for the vultures to appear above the Bushman’s river valley there was plenty of wildlife activity in front of the hide to keep Helen and I occupied.

“One day your life will flash before your eyes, make sure it’s worth watching.” ~ Gerard Way

This post shows a selection of the wildlife that we saw in front of the hide when the vultures were elsewhere. The Orange-throated or Cape longclaw was a regular visitor. It has brown and cryptic upperparts. Its underparts are striking with its throat which is a deep orange colour which is bordered by a broad black necklace, and its belly is yellow with buff flanks. It has white-tipped tail feathers that make the tail distinctive in flight. Similar to a pipit, this species has a long hind claw.

It is summer in the southern hemisphere in January so it was light when driving up to the hide at 6h00. This was the first time we had seen a Secretary bird on the plateau leading up to the hide. This Secretary bird took no notice of us and continued to stride across the plateau looking for snakes, small mammals and birds, and reptiles and various invertebrates, such as insects, scorpions, and millipedes.

Another bird not seen at the hide but while driving up to the hide was an adult Southern Bald-headed ibis. The Southern Bald Ibis is endemic to a restricted region in South Africa with its main range lying in the north-eastern Free State, Mpumalanga and the KwaZulu-Natal Drakensberg. The distinguishing feature of an adult Southern Bald Ibis is its crown which is naked, bright red and domed. This species of ibis prefers grasslands in high rainfall and high-altitude areas. This species is classified “Vulnerable” by IUCN with an estimated population of 6 592 individuals which is in a declining trend according to the Southern Bald Ibis Species Champion Project of BirdLife South Africa.

“I think the most important quality in a birdwatcher is a willingness to stand quietly and see what comes. Our everyday lives obscure a truth about existence – that at the heart of everything there lies a stillness and a light.” ~ Lynn Thomson

You know when you are getting close to the hide because you can see the White-necked ravens sitting on the rocks near the hide and many Red-winged starlings waiting in the trees next to the hide. This pair of Red-winged starlings had been enjoying the fat and marrow offered by the bones.

One of the advantages of visiting the hide in summer is that the smaller birds have moulted into their breeding plumage. The Yellow bishop is also known as the Cape bishop, Cape widow or Yellow-rumped widow. Its breeding plumage is black with a bright yellow lower back, rump and shoulder patches. This bishop is a seed eater and was attracted by the grass on the terrace in front of the hide which was relatively long with plenty of seed.

“The presence of a single bird can change everything for one who appreciates them.”~ Julie Zickefoose

This trip was the first time we had seen Black crows in front of the hide. Black crows are also known as Cape crows. Their plumage is completely black with a slight gloss of purple in the feathers. The Black crow has a sharp narrow beak which is differently shaped to the White-necked raven and so feeds differently. In front of the hide it pecked at the marrow in the bones. It normally eats seeds and fruit but will also feed on reptiles and invertebrates, small birds and their eggs. These crows are known to be highly intelligent.

The Greater striped swallows were challenging to photograph because they fly fast and do not have a constant flight path and are highly agile in flight. Fortunately, they flew past the hide regularly so gave me plenty of practice.

Several pairs of Greater striped swallows flew around the hide each day for most of the day. We assumed there must have be plenty of flying insects for them to feed on. The insects could have been attracted by the meat and fat on the bones and also borne up onto the terrace from the updraft from the Bushman’s river valley below.

A male Speckled pigeon. This pigeon is a seed eater and was not visiting the terrace in front of the hide for the bones but for the plentiful seed on the long grass in front of the hide. The Speckled Pigeon has strong, fast flight. We normally did not see these pigeons arriving until the last moment as they flew up from below the ridge.

A female Cape Rock thrush. There was only one pair around the hide. They were there mainly for the fat and marrow in the bones. The female is differentiated from other rock-thrushes by her shape and rich buff underparts broken only by a small white patch on the centre of the throat. This female’s underparts were mottled and not a uniform rich buff indicating she was a young female.

“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

A male Cape rock thrush. This species is larger than the other species of rock thrushes and has darker uniform grey-blue breeding plumage on his head and neck. His underparts and outer tail feathers are a rust-orange, and his wings and back are brown. This pair of rock thrushes were feeding on the fat and marrow on the bones but had to regularly submit to the larger Red-winged starlings and White-necked ravens.

A Streak-headed canary. This small seedeater only visited the area in front of the hide once. I have never seen this species of canary before or since around the hide. This little seed-eater was not there for the marrow but the seeds on the long grass in front of the hide.

An African pipit visited once and foraged for insects mainly on the rocks. This is a slender bird with an erect stance. It has dark brown upperparts with buffy-brown leading edges to its primary wing feathers and coverts. The underparts are white or pale buff with a streaked breast and plain belly and flanks. The face is boldly patterned with a pale stripe over the eye and a dark malar stripe. The legs are long and pinkish and the slender beak is dark with a yellow/pinkish lower mandible.

A Familiar chat was very busy trying to get at the bone marrow while avoiding the larger birds. This chat was the smallest bird competing for the bone marrow in front of the hide. It was, and needed to be, the artful dodger.

A male Malachite sunbird stayed briefly in the trees just below the edge of the terrace. This male was adorned with his breeding plumage which is a iridescent copper green colour with dark green primary wing and tail feathers. Its central tail feathers are around 25 cm in length.

We did not see the female Malachite sunbird which has much duller plumage with brown upperparts and a light yellow coloured throat, chest and belly with malachite green flecks. She has shorter central tail feathers around 15 cm in length. The male spent some time in the coral tree below the hide and seemed to be looking for nectar.

A Black-backed jackal. One or two members of the jackal family appeared through the day to steal bones that still had meat and fat on them. The jackal family must have lived in the rock shelves further along the ridge. The jackals certainly claimed their fair share of the bones despite being very skittish.

There is a fascinating variety of wildlife activity on the terrace in front of the hide. The weather affects the dynamics of the activity. In summer the weather in this part of the Drakensberg can be highly variable. It might be heavily overcast and raining at 5h30 but a break in the clouds later in the morning can produce beautiful light. The clouds do provide dramatic backgrounds and the mist adds mood to the backgrounds.

We spent six days in the hide in an attempt to better understand the avian behaviour in front and around the hide. Each day the weather was different and birds that appeared differed. There were the perennials such as White-necked ravens and Red-winged starlings but different seedeaters, insectivores and even nectarivores appeared.

The longer time in the hide took off the pressure from expectations and gave repeated opportunities to practice my bird in flight photography.

“Birds will give you a window, if you allow them. They will show you secrets from another world– fresh vision that, though it is avian, can accompany you home and alter your life. They will do this for you even if you don’t know their names– though such knowing is a thoughtful gesture. They will do this for you if you watch them.” ~ Lyanda Lynn 

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

Have fun, Mike