This one's for the birds

Aside from mammals, one of the big tourist draw cards for this area are our feathered friends, with many twitchers making their way to this neck of the woods just to get an eyeful of the amazing birdlife.

As per the map to the left, Richards Bay finds itself smack bang in the middle of the Zululand Birding Route, so we are blessed with daily sitings of some rather spectacular feathered arrangements. 

While not birding fanatics, we have been known to travel with our trusty little Field Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa tucked away in the glovey. Simon has also 'invested' in a lovely new set of binoculars, which are so powerful, he can count the ticks on an elephants bum from 2kays. Thus equipped, we have had a small peep (…sorry) into the world of the twitcher.

Not to be confused with your basic birder, twitchers are in fact in a separate category altogether. I have had to refer to the ever faithful wikipedia for some much needed clarity on the subject: 

Birding. A sport and/or hobby in which individuals enjoy the challenge of bird study, listing, or other general activities involving bird life. 

Birder. The acceptable term used to describe the person who seriously pursues the hobby or sport of birding. May be professional or amateur.

Bird-watcher. A rather ambiguous term used to describe the person who watches birds for any reason at all, and should not be used to refer to the serious birder.

Twitching.  A British term used to mean "the pursuit of a previously located rare bird."

Twitcher.  Sometimes misapplied as a synonym for birder, is reserved for those who travel long distances to see a rare bird that would then be ticked, or counted on a list.

Not so long ago, we had the pleasure of sitting next to some real ones at breakfast (twitchers, that is). A twitcher breakfast, is no relaxing chat over bacon and eggs, no quiet rumination with a fresh orange juice and muesli. No, the guy in charge (Lord of the Twitchers) had a rather large sheaf of papers printed with some kind of official birding spreadsheet. As he called out bird's names, his fellow twitchers (all dressed in various shades of khaki) would report if and where each bird had been sighted, with the bird then being duly 'ticked off' the list. Lord of the Twitchers was later heard complaining to one of the staff that they had wasted half the morning's game drive following a male lion and hadn't managed to spot a single new bird species...

Different strokes.

That being said, there are some amazingly beautiful birds out there, although if given the choice, you can give me a male lion to watch any day.

Here are some bird shots we've taken...

Dark Capped Bulbul

Spotted Thick-Knee - nocturnal, hence the boggly eyes; not entirely sure what
explains the thick knees though? Carpet layer? Particularly prayerful? Ex-footy player?

Cape Wagtail (yawn)

Red-Billed Oxpecker (usually found as pictured here,
on an animal, eating ticks…eugh)

Southern Red Bishop

White-backed Vultures on their nest in Hluhluwe.

African Fish Eagle in St Lucia - totally awesome creature!

Cattle Egret - these usually hang out with the Cape Buffalo herds, so
so are a good pointer when looking for buffalo on safari.

Giant Kingfisher at St Lucia

Scarlet-Chested Sunbird at Thula Thula

Yellow Billed Kite...

…and another one.

Helmeted Guineafowl

Sabota Lark

Village Weaver - the male weaves this amazing nest which hangs
from the tree branches. If the nest construction is not up to scratch, the female
hops along the branch and pecks at the fixings until the thing
drops to the ground. Back to the drawing board for poor old dad!

Grey Heron

Long-Crested Eagle - we see these on the drive to work every
morning, but this shot is in Tembe.

White-Fronted Bee-Eater

African Hoopoe

Yummy…medium rare with dijon mustard on the side.

Goliath Heron - just prior to choking on a massive eel he caught!

Speckled Mousebird on William's head - they are very cuddly and
make great pets (apparently)

Cape Glossy Starling - we think they're amazing, but the 
locals tell us they are common as muck.

Pin-Tailed Whydah

A Lappet-Faced Vulture cleaning up after a zebra kill

Greater Double-Collared Sunbird in Botanical Gardens in Cape Town

And so…

…who would have thought we had taken so many bird shots? Just goes to show what can happen when you're not really paying attention - you inadvertently become a bird watcher, that's what!

Unlike some however, we haven't progressed so far into the birding world as to require a car sticker advising fellow motorists of the cause of our erratic driving. We're still trying to work out what every other driver's excuse is...