Another new bird has turned up at The Cavern – the Dark-crowned Yellow Warbler. It’s probably been here all along because it’s typical of scruffy vegetation in the Mistbelt and berg foothills, but is uncommon and fairly secretive. The predicted heavy rain mercifully fell only at night – no interruptions to our outings. The kingfishers […]
It’s that time of year when snakes awake with romance in mind. A green “creeper” in a Buddleja salviifolia bush slithered to the ground and set off through short grass in the direction of we birders. It was a Natal Green Snake on a mission. This is not usual behaviour. A few moments later another
The aloes were at their best, and so were the Gurney’s Sugarbirds and Greater Double-collared Sunbirds. Nearly all the latter were males. Where were the girls? Amethyst Sunbirds were notable for their absence, these are certainly altitudinal migrants here.
Pre-breakfast walks are never the same. We may walk roughly the same short routes, but birds move around, there’s always the hope of something different. Of course, there are favourite spots never to be missed out. Number one is “Sunshine Corner”. No sign-board tells you where it is, but it’s at the top of the
It’s not always what you see that is interesting – sometimes it’s what you don’t see, or don’t hear in this case! Up at the Cavern last weekend the Red-chested Cuckoo (Piet-my-vrou) was so conspicuous by its absence (if that makes sense?); not a peep out of it, not a single glimpse of it among
We don’t look just at birds. All sorts of little creatures lurk underfoot. Bibron’s Blind Snake is one such. It’s quite common, but lives almost entirely underground, in burrows searching for small prey – especially termites. It’s completely blind, the greatly reduced eyes being covered with scales. The head is virtually identical to the tail,
A visit to the Silent Woman is always interesting, recounting the story of Willie Chalmers to newcomers. But today there was an added attraction. A small tree on the edge of the picnic site clearing was covered in bunches of white flowers. The display can be so profuse as to lead to the common name
Lots of action in the insect world in the Drakesberg. While looking at flowers we noticed that nearly every Haplocarpha scaposa had beetles, sometimes a dozen or more, heads down, munching at pollen and nectar. The few flowers without beetles showed signs of their ravages. These beetles are scarabs, related to dung beetles and the
The high spot was finding a new bird for the Cavern list. Not so easy with such a well-watched place thronged for some years now by keen birders. The “first” was a Black-crowned Night Heron perched right out in the open in the gums overlooking the lower pond. It’s actually one of the most widespread
This is the time of year when swifts and swallows are most busy. As a generalisation, swifts fly high and faster, swallows lower, slower, and are more manoeuvrable. This is very obvious at The Cavern. First thing in the morning – first light on sunny days – both the White-rumped Swifts and Greater Striped Swallows
