Helmeted Guinaefowl

Rietvlei birds 10-11-2008

10-11-2008
Birds spotted:

• Fish-Eagles 2

• 3 Yellow-billed Egret

• About 10 Whiskered Terns are still around
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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.

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Among the birds spotted

4-Sept-2008 RietVlei -The bird-hide path.

Birds spotted:

• 2 Purple Herons.

• 1 Marsh-Harrier

• 2 Caspian Terns

• 2 Greater Striped Swallows

The Hadedas are breeding

(Above a Caspian Tern photographed on the jetty at RietVlei recreational facility, Cape Town - Table View)

(The photographs (birds in flight) are of Hadedas flying over Rietvlei recreational facility, Cape Town - Table View)

Photographs by Wally

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.

Egyptian Geese are very territorial

28-08-2008

The Egyptian Geese are very territorial and aggressive during breeding season.

A pair of juvenile geese were brought to the vlei and released near “Father Goose’s” territory. He immediately went into attack mode. Luckily for them they were old enough to fly and get out of the way.

Spotted: One Caspian Tern.