Today is the Lord’s Day, but also John’s Day, for we have another dollop of themed bird photos from Dr. Avise.. His notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them. I’ll add here that I’m scheduled to go to South Africa in August to visit friends in Capetown and to see the animals at Kruger National Park. I have to see the big “game” before I croak!
South Africa Birds, Part 3
This week’s post is Part 3 of a mini-series on birds I photographed in South Africa during an extended seminar trip in 2007. It shows another dozen or so species from that avian-rich part of the world. All of today’s birds have the word “Cape” in their common name and were photographed in the Cape Town area.
Cape Batis (Batis capensis) female:
Cape Bulbul (Pycnonotus capensis):
Cape Francolin (Pternistis capensis):
Cape Glossy Starling (Lamprotornis nitens):
Cape Grassbird (Sphenoeacus afer):
Cape Gull (Larus dominicanus) (also known as the Kelp Gull):
Cape Robin-chat (Cossypha caffra):
Cape Sparrow (Passer melanurus):
Cape Sugarbird (Promerops cafer) male:
Cape Sugarbird female:
Cape Teal (Anas capensis):
Cape Turtle Dove (Streptopelia capicola):
Cape Wagtail (Motacilla capensis):
Cape Weaver (Ploceus capensis) male:
Ahhh … simply beautiful…
Lovely, lovely birds and photos.
My personal favorite is the Cape Batis.
Thank you!
Spectacular!
Gotta say that the first photo of the Cape Batis makes her look like she’s off to deliver a very professional TED talk somewhere!
Those are some handsome birds…all of them new to me. I love how you captured the Glossy Starling’s “gloss”.
Thanks for another beautiful themed set, John.
What amazingly cool birds, and as a fave, I’ll have to vote for that dashing Sugarbird that looks like it might be the pollinator of the Proteas it’s sitting on.
All terrific! Thank you for sharing.
So pretty. Gorgeous photos. Thank you for sharing again
Seeing the big animals is great but PLEASE visit the karoo and its very special vegetation (the Cape is one of the six global Floristic Kingdoms, bursting with endemic indigenous species that grow nowhere else (including the protea)….you’ll walk all over them everywhere so look down!). The other place is in Simonstown, to the south, which houses Boulders Beach, one of the large colonies of what I think is called the Jackass Penguin (maybe Chinstrap..I forget). Right off the main street there are all their nests and you can see them coming into shore. Even the Cape Town main park is extraordinary by any measure, with all the native species growing there naturally so dont miss it!
Yes, as others state above — appreciate the photos.