Birds, Birds, Birds iSimangaliso Wetland Park
Anthem of St Lucia village would most definitely be the Trumpeter Hornbill whizzing around the trees throughout the village, loud wailing especially late afternoons.
Medium size, distinctly black-and-white hornbill occurs in thickets, dense woodland and coastal forest. Moving around are surprisingly inconspicuous while eating large fruit in forest trees, flight with noisy wing beats, sound of far carrying baby crying sound wailing, 'whaaaaaa waa waa' messagel.
Trumpeter Hornbill - Bycanistes bucinator - Greeting at the end of the day, sends shivers down the spine knowing you are in the bushland area, the call of the Trumpeter Hornbill
Tree set back deep into the bush, photography not the best at distance of around 50 meters, with both these first two birds enjoying perching here.
High off the ground one could not see evidence of a hole used for nest, female will be sealed into a nesting site with help of male bird using mud and faeces to seal the entrance except for a small slit he will feed her through during incubation of 2-3 chick eggs.
In the same large tree....
Southern red-billed hornbill - Tockus rufirostris - kuk kuk kuk ... which ends in a crescendo of double notes, kuk-we kuk-we the raucous sound of the bush adding to the cacophony of sounds emitted from bush.
Zazu in the Lion King movie brought this busy bird to your screen, perhaps you remember the chatty character.
Building nest holes in trees to raise young also popular with this bird. Southern Red-billed Hornbill call
Water ponds East Bank iSimangaliso Wetlands Park
African Wattled Lapwing - Vanellus senegallus - diurnal birds, usually seen singly, in pairs or small groups. Sighted in flooded grassland along the roadside, much rain has left more open spaces available for wildlife, a joy for us to see.
Dabchick (Little Grebe) - Tachybaptus ruficollis Fairly common small diving bird enjoying reeds and vegetation, bobbing around enjoying the morning.
Pied Kingfisher - Ceryle rudis - Distributed across Africa and Asia, black and white plumage with crest here sharing the tree with the African Darter - Anhinga rufa, sunning together waiting preparing for their next dive.
Pied Kingfisher black and white with bushy crest, all dark bill an excellent hovering fisherman we will go into more depth with photography further down the line.
African Darter sitting enjoying a preening with quiet freshwater everywhere they have greater selection as to where they perch.
Dark-capped bulbul - Pycnonotus tricolor conspicuously sits above my head back home to serenade the sun going down, same bird as seen in our garden at home and around twenty-five countries. Call at days end Dark-capped bulbul call
"A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush", travel to destinations knowing what one has is most cases, over shadows looking to/for something else where wildlife is abundant, paying your way to get there worthwhile expenditure.
Rich diversity in bird life around our land is simply amazing, learning to know who is talking above your head.
This trip rewarded us richly in an abundance of birds with many posts to follow over the following weeks.
All photography is my own. Any queries or requests please drop a comment below or make contact with me, have a wonderful day! Photography without tripod, go with the flow wherever life takes you. NB: Amateur photographer and bird watcher, keep smiling!
Calls of birds both downloaded from https://dibird.com - identification https://avibase.bsc.eoc.org.
Thought for Today: "When a bird builds its nest it uses the feathers of other birds." - South African Proverb
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The sunsets must be noisy because of the chirping of the birds there, with huge specimens singing at the entrance of the sun
How many species of birds are there in your town dear friend @joanstewart you always surprise us with beautiful photographic shots of them
I appreciate that you show us these beautiful images
enjoy the weekend
This region boasts around 530 species recorded, singing and trying to identify many smaller ones drowned out by the large noisy guys 😅
Where I live 380 species, never a dull moment, always have camera in hand.
Thanks for your lovely comment, as always the support you give.
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With 380 species of birds close to home, it's impossible to get bored. I think it is a lifestyle of all of us at Hive to have a camera at hand, you never know when something beautiful to photograph will be presented
Enjoy this day a lot
Oh your title is so accurate. This is indeed a birdwatcher's paradise! What wonderful and amazing creatures we have on our doorstep. Lovely post and amazing photographs. You are so lucky!
This is the tip of the iceberg on this trip, such a wide variety still to come, it was feast your eyes time!
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I can only imagine! I would destroy my camera with all of the photographs I would take and what an eye fest!
First for me this time is the African Wattled Lapwing in this post, yes and eye fest in bird life.
African Wattled Lapwing preening and cleaning.....
That is amazing! What a special moment. You were surely fortunate! I am traveling up north to Joburg in the next couple of weeks, hopefully, I can find some nice bird sanctuaries there!
Black Eagle Project Roodekrans, Roodepoort, Gauteng. ... Malcolm Road (Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden), 1739 Roodepoort, South Africa. A place a visit when venturing up that way, always found it to be a lovely day outing with picnic or purchased lunch in the gardens.
on the way up or return journey a place to really enjoy with a difference Karoo National Park, Beaufort West. Some little suggestions off the beaten track.
Enjoy, I have not gone up in a good couple of years!
O wow thank you so much for this!! I am surely going to use this. I was wondering where I can find such a lovely spot for a picnic or something similar in Gauteng as I am very unfamiliar to it.
And yes, off the beaten track is the way to go! Sometimes even better than the alternative to which everyone flows.
So beautiful and many birds, Joan, your trip has certainly paid off if you can make multiple bird posts in addition to the other posts I have already enjoyed.
I'm always fascinated of the Kingfishers and so it is my favourite bird in your today's post.
Wishing you a lovely Friday afternoon 🌞
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Every day out was a treat, so many photographs still to come from every avenue in wildlife in this region.
Yet to see leopard, elephant, wild dogs, whales, dolphins in this area that is why you keep going back at slightly different times, always cooler months though!
Thanks for visiting and enjoying the kingfisher, he is a handsome bird!
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I can completely understand why you keep going back there, I would love it there too.
That's also a reason why I keep going back to my favourite places, although there are no leopards nor elephants there, but small and big waterfalls and sometimes a bird or two 😁 !LOLZ
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Hiking in Alpine wooded area to see beautiful waterfalls a great reason to be out.
Perhaps something to consider when we go venturing out is to find waterfalls again, something we did when younger.
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I love to be in the mountains, exploring nice places and waterfalls, but because I'm not the only one, I try to avoid the millions of other people by not going to the popular places at times when the tourists are awake 🤣 !LOLZ
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Avoiding the crowds is a bonus, we avoid school holidays and high season.
Last days drive was most probably the best not many people out, we had the place to ourselves whenever we stopped to walk/explore/photograph.
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Yep, long weekends and school holidays are the worst.
I love it when there's no car in a car park because then I know I am alone and don't need to hurry or take care that nobody's in the image 😉 !LOLZ
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Lovely hanging out with the birds Joan, they are such beautiful creatures in their own space wide and free.
Beautiful shots!
Sunset shots of hornbills at quiet a distance wish we had seen them up closer, many more birds to come, place was a paradise with all the water around this time.
Have a great Saturday !LUV
A great Saturday to you as well Joan 🙂
How can I forgot Zazu lol!
Magnificent birds. We do have bulbul here and they used to frequent our yard. Sometimes they just sit quickly on a branch that I don't even notice.
We are spoiled with birds wherever one goes the species may completely vary making a different region extra special to what we have at home.
Ah, that indeed is true :) Come to think of it, the birds that visit us make me feel special too :D
Birds at home definitely begin to know you, come very close up to door to remind you if you forgot to put seeds out for them 🙂
That is something I have been meaning to do, put up a bird feeder.
So many inexpensive ways to add feeders to a garden, birds don't recognize how pretty it is, it's the food that counts.
Lol! Indeed, it's all about the food :D
such a biodivercity! splendid. need less to say, none of these nice birdies will come here to the northern area, to get acquainted with me, haha
Good reason to try visit Africa once in a lifetime, very different to the North. Thanks for visit and kind comment.
Joan, you 'putting salt to my wounds'.... ofc I'd love to. maybe I need to find a sealed bottle with jeanie, who will execute my dreams?.. otherwise it is no realistic, I dont see how I can travel across the world and see the countries. the harsh truth...
We have reached the same situation here, well hope that genie lamp brings some luck your way soon, or stick to local travel 😇 we have to enjoy time out!
I was listening to the song of a bird this morning and it occurred to me that I didn't know the words to it. Have you ever wondered what they were singing about?
Such a wonderful flock of birds, it is always nice to see, once the earth is relieved of its burden of drought. I love all of them, but, the kingfisher has always been my favorite! And your little guy is so photogenic. You grabbed a really good shot of him!
It is so nice to see your feathered friends out and about, enjoying Mother Nature.
Beautiful shots, Joan!
Some rudely yell from tree tops to make sure you do hear them, others come with sweet little songs all a mystery to me. Perhaps we should not understand, just listen.
Kingfisher birds in the region number around ten species, we did get to see the one that visits our home regularly as well.
Water everywhere made sightings extreme on this week away, well worthwhile with plenty wildlife around.
Thanks for visiting and kind comment always.
You have ten different kingfishers? That is awesome!
I do love it when water descends upon an area after being absent. The entire earth comes to life! Thank you so much for sharing this with us!
Birds sing because they can, no words needed,a constant lullaby in the background.
Years of drought when the estuary pan was dry and cracked now well under water birds return.
One is extremely aware when nature is out of sync the animals die or move to regions where they are able to survive.
Hornbill, what an unusual amazing bird! And kingfishers are just one of my favorite birds. It's very interesting to watch these guys fish.
Last day in region decided to go out later, very rewarding with pictures of kingfisher hunting just before sunset along with more animals which were close up or crossing road close to us, lucky day!
I just love the variety of species that you have close by.
Loved the wee kingfisher.
Awesome pics Joan, have a wonderful weekend:)
Variety in this region is amazing, thanks for visiting and kind comment.
Happy Saturday evening Ed.