Bhoops

Easter Monday began as a bright sunny day here in Cape Town, only to turn dismally cloudy and rainy as the day progressed. This is bad news for the birder as the objects of our interest disappear with every darkening shade of the sky. The birding at Intaka Island on Easter Monday was slow. The herons, a purple, night and grey heron and the noisy hadeda ibises occupied my attention. The smaller birds were around and made their occasional appearance. The day was saved by the visit of the black shouldered kite. It landed on the tree between ponds 4 and 5 just when I was ready to call it a day. This is indeed an awesome example of the species.     The starlings were there in numbers to harass(?) the visitor, despite it showing the least bit of interest in them. I notice that the starlings regularly interact/ interfere with the pair of crows that have taken up resident in the buildings adjacent to Intaka Island. I wonder what is the relationship between them and the big birds. The

The resident Malachite Kingfishers recently added a pair of juvenile kingfishers to their family. It is no secret that most birders frequent Intaka Island, a bird sanctuary nestled amongst the concrete edifices of Century City to get a glimpse of the malachite kingfishers. A visit to Intaka island without spotting the malachite kingfishers is fraught with disappointment even if the numerous other birds residing or making an appearance there satisfies one's birding addiction. Here then are the newly arrived pair: Like any other parents the babies were duly introduced to the world, taught to fly, feed and fend for themselves. I visited the island a month after these photos were taken and can report that the babies are growing steadily into fully fledged malachites who are able to fend for themselves. I am most intrigued at how they have grown in such a short period of time. The parents, or more specifically the mother kingfisher duly caught fish and fed the babies. The bo

The Easter holiday weekend is upon us. Many would look to spend the time with family and friends. The practice in Cape Town is to spend much of the holidays outdoors at one of the many attractions that has made this city famous. One of them is the national botanical gardens at Kirstenbosch.   Thus apart from the serious horticultural and scientific work that goes on at the Kirstenbosch Gardens, the venue is a tourist haven, fitness fanatics place of exercising, family picnic site, butterfly collectors and birders place of interest. The gardens are abuzz with the sounds of juvenile birds at this time of the year, including the sunbirds and sugarbirds.   The one factor that can throw the proverbial spanner in the works of a well planned visit to the gardens is the seasonal rains that begin about this time in Cape Town. My visit to the Gardens on the 20th April 2011 was indeed dampened by the downpours that affect the Kirstenbosch area in particular. The Table mountain range a

I often wonder what I did during the hours that I spend birding in the past prior to this hobby becoming almost an addiction to date. I do recall that I spend far less time wandering around shopping malls or aimlessly googling my life away. Speaking of shopping malls reminds me that the Intaka Island bird sanctuary is part of the Century City Canal Walk shopping mall precinct. The bird sanctuary is accessible by boat from the shopping centre through the system of canals built around Canal Walk. There is off course the other way, i.e by car that brings you right to the doorstep of the reception area and education centre of Intaka Island. Returning to this talk of addictive bird watching, the convenience of taking an hour or two off a days schedule, the safety of and the design and layout of Intaka Island has undoubtedly facilitated this process. The variety of bird species and the fascination of watching waterbirds mainly helps as well. On Friday 15th April 2011 I feasted my vi