Outing report- 11th November 2012 Umbogavango Nature Reserve

Picnic area at Vumbuka Nature Reserve
(Photo Andy Ruffle)

Attendees:- Stan & Val Culley, Mike Fagan, Stanley Gengan, Eric Kok, John Powell, Andy Ruffle, Bob & Hazel van Rooyen, Ron Whitham. (10 attendees)

Once again Umbogavango Nature Reserve provided an excellent morning's birding.
Both Orange-breasted Bush-shrike and Red-billed Firefinch were added to our records for the reserve list.
Inside information from local birder Barry Swaddle, enabled us to explore a new area in the complex named the Vumbuka Nature Reserve.

More swarming Yellow-billed Kites

This email was sent in by Sally Smith from Kloof on 5th November 2012.

Hi,

I live next door to the Kranskloof Nature Reserve in Kloof and on returning home this morning saw 20-30 yellow-billed kites tightly swarming around a copse of trees less than 100m from my house. It was truly amazing to watch as they seemed to narrowly miss each other in flight. They swarmed from ground level to about 40m above ground and made a great deal of noise. I didn’t see any of them land and couldn’t see what the attraction was but assumed there must be something dead that they were waiting to feed on. I came outside with my camera about 20 mins after first seeing them but they’d all disappeared completely.

We get to see a lot of birdlife in the nature reserve but this is the first time I’ve seen anything like this. I hope other folk get the opportunity to see something similar as it was a truly amazing spectacle!

Kind regards,

Sally

Grey Crowned-Crane mating dance

Clive Edmundson sent in this photo of a Grey Crowned-Crane performing it's mating dance. He says:

''I witnessed two Crowned Cranes doing mating ritual recently just on the oribi flats just above the gorge. Watched them for a long time. They were beautiful.''



Grey Crowned Crane doing mating dance,
Oribi Flats 2012
(Photo Clive Edmundson)