Neil Gray's birds and other wildlife
Atlasville, 29 Sep 2007 Paid 2 more overnight visits to the exploration site in the Hotazel area in the past 4 weeks. Again due to the nature of the visits there was no time for any serious birding, but still managed to add one to my Umtu photos list with Shikra, and another rare opportunity …
Atlasville, 23 Sep 2007 Paid a quick visit to Marievale this morning. After a few minor rain showers recently some sections of the veld are recovering after the fire in mid-June, as this photo of an African Pipit shows. The only migrants in evidence are many more Ruff, adding to the single bird seen 5 …
Atlasville, 22 Aug 2007 Paid 3 more overnight visits to the exploration site in the Hotazel area in the past 6 weeks. Because of the nature of the visits there was no time for any serious birding, but again there was a bit of activity around the exploration yard and I managed photos of …
Atlasville, 12 Aug 2007 Visited Marievale this morning. The veld is still looking awfully black after the fire in mid-June but the reeds are recovering, as well as the vegetation around the fringes of the spruit. The Capped Wheatear that seem to prefer these conditions are still quite prominent. Also in good numbers …
Atlasville, 30 Jun 2007 Paid a visit today to the Northern Farms just outside suburban Johannesburg, where the arrival of a male Northern Pintail in breeding plumage is causing quite a stir. Is it an escapee from captivity or a true reverse migrant hopelessly lost and well out of its normal distribution range? I …
Atlasville, 17 Jun 2007 I arrived at Marievale this morning to find that some 60-70% of all the grassland had been burnt to a crisp in a massive veld fire. Even some stands of reeds were just charred stumps at the water’s edge. This is quite early in the winter for this to happen, …
Atlasville, 16 Jun 2007 Got back yesterday from a weekend in Hazyview followed by four nights at Mopani Camp in the Kruger Park, with a trip list of 189, not too shabby for mid-winter. The Hazyview weekend, when we were based in a riverside chalet at Hazyview Cabanas, turned up a few unexpected “goodies”, …
Atlasville, 29 May 2007 Paid 2 very quick visits to the exploration site in the Hotazel area in the past month. First visit was on 30th April, arriving 4pm and leaving the following morning. I timed my departure very well, driving past the main waterhole at 09:45 as +/-40 Burchell’s Sandgrouse flew in for …
Atlasville, 24 May 2007 Just returned from almost 2 weeks working on the project in the Lubumbashi area of the DRC. This time I took the Canon 20D with me, but it was hardly used. The only bird photo opportunity was in the garden of my guest house in Lubumbashi, where I was able to …
Atlasville, 06 May 2007 I went with a fellow birder to Barberspan Nature Reserve in North West province yesterday to hunt for the vagrant Wilson’s Phalarope that had been photographed there a few days ago. We managed to locate a possible candidate, which flew off before we’d really got a good look at it. …
