Yesterday a few of us decided to do a bit of birding at the SAPPI Mill and hide near Stanger. We – Roy Cowgill, Steve Davis, my wife Sally and I – made a leisurely start arriving at 09h00.
Atlassing began as we arrived in the pentad. After a slow drive off the main road to the office we ventured to the hide. We also obtained access to the picnic area to bird and have lunch and eventually departed at 15h00.
In all we observed 94 different bird species. Click here if you wish to look at our bird list. There were also sightings of butterflies, dragonflies, weevils, frogs and most exciting for me anyway an obliging Grey Mongoose – a species I had not seen before. You may have noticed from the list that we had no sightings of Fork-tailed Drongos nor Southern Black Flycatchers.
Some of the bird excitement we enjoyed included the sighting of a Marsh Warbler, several Namaqua Doves, a Booted Eagle, a female Southern Pochard and a Cape Shoveler. Here are some of the photos taken:
Paul Bartho
Not a weevil but a Lantern bug. I took a photo of the same one at Sappi hide and had it ID’d on the Facebook Bugs group.(Family – Fulgoridae) See page 148 Mike Picker’s Insect Guide.
The first butterfly is a Layman and the second one is a White-barred acraea. The dragonfly is a Banded Groundling.