We recently had the pleasure of hosting our
sales and marketing ladies at Tintswalo Safari Lodge. We used this opportunity
to show them what the hype about birding safaris is all about. We met at 05h45.
The aromas coming from the freshly brewed coffee was enough to shake us all out
of our winter slumber and brought attention to the dawn chorus ringing in our
ears. Ground Hornbills were softly booming in the forest across the lodge and a
White Browed Scrub-Robin was singing his morning song. We were torn between heading
out in search of more and the bliss of the morning “sing-a-long”.
We planned to head to the eastern border where
the wide open plains of the Greater Kruger National Park can be viewed from
granite outcrops. Common Ostrich and Brown Headed Parrots frequent the
surrounding bush and we were hoping to get a glimpse of these spectacular
birds. On the way we found a Pearl-Spotted Owlet enjoying his breakfast, a
fresh skink kill, a striking Yellow Throated Longclaw calling “over here” from
the tops of a Guarri bush and a Namaqua dove taking flight from the ground. So
far the morning has been good to us. A little bit further down the road we
found one of our target birds.
The Secretary Bird gets its name from the
Arabic “Saqr-et-tair” which means “hunter bird”. The most incredible thing
about these beautiful birds is the way they use their long legs for leverage to
stomp on prey. They often open their wings to help them balance as they chase
their pray across the ground. They are famous for killing large venomous snakes.
The top five birds of the drive were:
1. Secretary Bird2. Pearl Spotted Owlet
3. Gabar Goshawk (Melanistic form)
4. Little Sparrowhawk
5. Namaqua Dove
After all the excitement of the morning we all
sat reflecting, over another cup of coffee, viewing the beautiful surroundings
from the granite outcrops. This is heaven!
Reference: Carnaby, T. 2008. Beat about the Bush: Birds, Pg 73. Melville: Jacana Media
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