After sitting at home for the consecutive weekend, “studying” for the up coming exams, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt if I spoilt myself a bit. On Sunday morning I asked my mom if we could go to Rietvlei nature Reserve in Pretoria for a quick visit… (The reserve is only 30min away from my house and has always rewarded me with great sightings. The varieties of habitats include grassveld, wetlands, spongy marshes, dense woodland and thornveld thickets.)  My mom wasn’t to keen on the idea but eventually gave and at 14:00 we were in the park.

The park had turned into its ‘LBJ’ form. All the widows and bishops were in their non-breeding plumage and the grasses sported all different types of brown colours. I was shocked to see the amount of Fiscal Shrikes in the area. As far as the birding list goes, well, let’s just say I went to enjoy the overall atmosphere instead of bird watch (we ticked off about 12 birds)…  

I had to laugh at my mom a few times though. We were sitting over a bridge peacefully watching our surroundings. Not long afterwards, a Warbler had made an appearance from the reeds. As soon as it arrived my mom quickly whispered, “Warbler Pipit!” and sat back for me to take a photo…

Well, that was better than me as I am uncertain of the ID of this bird. The two Dabchicks we were watching had begun to fish when a Moorhen appeared behind them. Overjoyed with the fact that this was a new bird we could tick off, my mom proudly said, “Look, there is a Yellow Billed Coot,” with a satisfied smile…

 Highlights:

• 6 Pied Crows had chased two Black-shouldered Kites off a nest.
• 2 male Ostriches put on quite a display for us. They were running towards each other in an aggressive manner. As they ran, the one would lie down and flap his wings but soon get up again and carry on running. The other one would then do the same. They eventually reached each other and – after all that excitement – they walked off together into the distance.
• An Ant-eating Chat sat on top of a ‘yield’ sign and sang away merrily. We tried to pick up on a pattern in his song but he made up a new tune every time.
• A Capped Wheatear made an appearance (the first time I’ve seen one there).

• 02/09/2010 21:09 - A trip to Pilanesberg NP
• 21/08/2010 13:11 - Photo Contest #21 Winners!
• 25/07/2010 11:58 - Rietvlei Nature Reserve: Update
• 20/07/2010 16:52 - Photo Contest #20 Winners!
• 09/06/2010 21:12 - Searching for the Fairy: Take 3
• 01/06/2010 15:05 - Searching for the Fairy: Take 2
• 28/05/2010 22:06 - Searching for the Fairy
• 22/05/2010 12:29 - Photo Contest #18 Winners!