World Migratory Bird Day

May 11 - 12

Theme for 2013: Networking for Migratory Birds
World Migratory Bird Day is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats. .
The 2013 theme highlights the importance of networks of sites for migratory birds along their migration routes.... Migratory birds travel huge distances along their migration routes, sometimes even tens of thousands of kilometres. These connected sites act like 'stepping stones' and are used by birds to migrate. They are important for resting, feeding, breeding and wintering.
www.worldmigratorybirdday.org/2013/

Rietvlei Walk 11-Jun-07

11-Jun-009

Rietvlei Walk

Birds spotted:

• * 8 Black-headed Herons - one has just caught a frog. There seems to be a great number of frogs in the area (photograph below)

• * A pair of Black-shouldered Kites in the area between North and South-vlei

---------------

k

Rietvlei 1-6-2009

01-06-2009
We watched how a Black Sparrowhawk was trying to get to a dove he dropped on the other side of a fence while the Hartlaub’s Gulls were dive-bombing him.
He gave up and flew away.
Later we saw him return to when the coast was clear to collect his prey.

Night life at Rietvlei 26-05-2009

Read more: http://wally.iblog.co.za/2009/06/03/along-the-night-path/

Rietvlei 23 May 2009 White-breasted Cormorant

Photograph by Wally Wolhuter

Visit to Intaka Island - 12 March 2009

Thursday 12 March 2009
A Visit to Intaka Island accompanied by John Linden and Andre Swart.
We had a great walk, and enjoyed our picnic lunch in one of the two bird-hides.
A pair of Malachite Kingfishers gave us a wonderful show, chasing each other and flew right up to the hide. I took some smashing photographs

Birdlife at the Vlei 12 March 2009

12 March 009

• 1 Malachite Kingfisher, sitting on the front landing site, flew towards the reeds on the North-Shore erosion site. This reed area is called the erosion site because the reeds were planted there to stop the erosion.

• 2 Spotted (Dikkop) Thick-knee Chicks were spotted at the parking area opposite the clubhouse.

• 70 Great White Pelicans on the north shore and on the vlei.

• 800 Gulls.

• A Juvenile Sandwich Tern and 50 Swift Terns on the jetty

Also spotted 1 African Purple Swamphen (Purple Gallinule)


Photographs: Malachite Kingfisher, Swift Terns and other birds on jetty.

Intaka Bird-hide View

Bird Activity 2 January 2009

2 December 2009

Bird activity at Rietvlei:

• Cape Francolin with 8 chicks

• Helmeted Guineafowl with 15 chicks.

• The White-throated Swallows are breeding again.

Photograph: White-throated Swallows
Links to photographs of :
Helmeted Guineafowl
Cape Francolin

My old blog: http://www.wally.iblog.co.za/

My bird photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/omdiebos/WallySBlog?authkey=0VT7Mn3IZkw#

Back to the top: http://waterranger.blogspot.com/

Spur-winged Goose

Rietvlei, Cape 2008

My Garden Birds 12-12-2008

One of the masked weaver chicks - hatched

Birds at Rietvlei - 27-Nov-2008

27-Nov 2008 Rietvlei

• Spotted White-throated swallow with one chick.

• Black-headed Heron with plastic caught on its bill.

Birds spotted 12-11-2008

12-11-2008

• About eight flamingos were spotted in the South vlei.
  
• Two Greater Striped Swallows were buzzing around my office this morning.

Birds Spotted 10-11-2008

10-11-2008

Birds spotted:

• 2 Fish-Eagles
  
• 3 Yellow-billed Egret
• About 10 Whiskered Terns are still around (photograph)
  

Rietvlei birds 10-11-2008

10-11-2008
Birds spotted:

• Fish-Eagles 2

• 3 Yellow-billed Egret

• About 10 Whiskered Terns are still around
• 
  
• 

Photograph Whiskered Tern flying over Rietvlei dam 10-11-2008

BIRD ID

05-Nov-2008

I spotted some birds (about 8) with black body, red beak, grey tail, black cap and white a stripe across the eye.

We forwarded a photograph to Trevor Hardaker from www.zestforbirds.co.za to confirm the ID of the bird. His reply was

There is no doubt that it is in fact a Whiskered Tern, which is in full breeding plumage. The potential confusion candidate, White-cheeked Tern, has a deeply forked tail and not a squarish ended tail like the bird in the photo and is also not quite as dark on the underside as is the bird in the photo.

Water Thick-knee nest

05-11-2008

The Water Thick-knee (Water Dikkop) nest in the boat-park contains only one egg.

return to home page

Pond at Horse Trails destroyed

5-09-2008

Big Bay Walk (Horse Trails) 05-09-2008

The pond is totally destroyed by the flood after the heavy rains and high seas.

The Sand Plovers are still there on the beach, what is left of it.

Rietvlei 3-Sept 2008

3-Sept 2008

• The daisies are blooming. The sun is shining and there is no wind for a change.

• Five Egrets just flew by.

• A Caspian Tern is diving into the lake.

• About seventy Pelicans arrived.

The “Cape of Storms”

01-09-2008

The “Cape of Storms” really lived up to its name this time.

Mother Goose’s second batch of five eggs was washed away.

At home our Masked Weaver “Boytjie” lost his nest containing two chicks.

I tied Boytjie’s second nest down, using nylon cord.

During the storm the poor nest did a somersault but remains hanging (a bit tighter around the branch)

We are not sure if the young birds survived.

Among the birds spotted at the vlei were 2 Caspian Terns.