Outing report- 23rd December 2012 Uvongo River Conservancy

Uvongo River Conservancy
(Photo Irene & Dudley Reid)

Attendees: Stan & Val Culley, Cathy Lee, Dudley, Irene, Robyn Reid & Douglas Williams, Andy Ruffle, Ron & Elaine Whitham. (10 attendees).

Our last outing of 2012 saw us returning to our favourite haunt, the Uvongo River Conservancy. It was nice to see the Reid's from Durban again and Cathy Lee who now lives in Vereeniging.
Birding today was surprisingly slow, considering the ideal conditions, but we still achieved a respectable list of 57 species recorded. The 'resident' Lesser Honeyguide was in it's usual locale, calling away. The Reid's were especially lucky by managing to catch glimpses of not one African Finfoot, but three- a female and two juveniles. Many thanks for the photos they submitted.

Female African Finfoot with two juveniles.
A very lucky sighting indeed.
(Photo Robyn Reid)

Birds recorded: Red-eyed Dove, Purple-crested Turaco, Dark-capped Bulbul, Black-backed Puffback, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Black-headed Oriole, Black-collared Barbet, Burchell's Coucal, Pied Kingfisher, Egyptian Goose, Dark-backed Weaver, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Olive Sunbird, Hadeda Ibis, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Spectacled Weaver, Yellow Weaver, Sombre Greenbul, Southern Boubou, Tambourine Dove, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, African Dusky Flycatcher, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Square-tailed Drongo, Spur-winged Goose, Cape White-eye, Speckled Mousebird, White-breasted Cormorant, Diderick Cuckoo, Green-backed Camaroptera, Knysna Turaco, Brown Scrub-Robin, Red-winged Starling, Cardinal Woodpecker, Collared Sunbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Canary, Lesser Honeyguide, Fork-tailed Drongo, Thick-billed Weaver, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Violet-backed Starling, Black-bellied Starling, Reed Cormorant, Village Weaver, Southern Black Flycatcher, Red-billed Firefinch, Bronze Mannikin, Laughing Dove, White-throated Swallow, Giant Kingfisher, Cape Batis, Black-crowned Tchagra, Yellow-billed Kite, African Pied Wagtail, African Finfoot. (57 species).