All around me is birdsong. When out on a game drive I often just sit and listen when we have stopped. The lodge is full of little sparrows and swallows and they swoop in and out over our heads, perching on windowsills, lamps, chairs and pecking anything that they can. I often have a little bird perched on a nearby surface and love hearing their chirping whilst working in the office. Amazingly I haven’t been pooped on yet!
I’m woken each morning at just after 4.15 a.m. with their dawn chorus, and there is an extremely loud bird with a wonderful name of Hadeda Ibis. (Pronounced Hah Dee Dah ) It may have a great name and long curved beak, but it sounds like an uglier version of the crow.
I have three favourites here in South Africa – the Lilac breasted roller, the Bee Eaters, and the Purple Crested Turaco. The latter has bright red wings that can only been seen when flying and I haven’t managed to capture the red yet as I’ve only seen one bird so far, perched in a tree a long way away.
We see hundreds of glossy starlings here:
And let’s not forget the vultures:
Then there’s the pretty canary:
I also like the African Hoopoe
The guinea fowl are quite comical as they often forget they can actually fly, and run along the track ahead of our vehicle!
And the numerous birds of prey.
And the dozens of pretty little birds including different types of Kingfisher
And of course the yellow hornbill, AKA Zazu from the Lion King, AKA The Flying Banana!
And the little oxpecker that helps but annoys the wildlife. (It eats the ticks on the animals)
There are a couple of trees at the wonderfully named Ghost Mountain Inn, and they are full of weaver birds nests. The male weaver builds the nest, but if the female doesn’t approve of it she snips it off with her beak, and he has to start all over again!
Many birds around water:
And lastly, the biggest bird of all:)
