Marievale - December 2018

Marievale is always a great place to visit to catch up on your waders for the year. I went there on the 19th December after our country had experienced quite a serious drought for a few years and had just had some rain the night before. There hadn't been much rain and the water levels were very low which is normally good for the waders. Oh, and did I mention that a rare Black-tailed Godwit had also been seen here...not that I am a twitcher by any means.

I don't often see Pied Avocet here but conditions must have been perfect for them as there were quite a number, wading belly deep and picking up insects in the mud..

Pied Avocet (2)

The open areas allowed some good views of the other birds as well. Glossy Ibis foraged fairly close to the road and proved friendly enough to pose for a photo.

Glossy Ibis

The rain had left a few puddles next to the road which made a nice bath for some of the smaller passerines. Here a Red Bishop was busy cleaning himself up for some serious displaying..

Southern Red Bishop enjoying a puddle bath

There were nice Palearctic waders around, the usual Ruff and Little stint and a local in the form of a Kittlitzs Plover which are always nice birds to photograph as they stick around for a quick pic. Not like the others that are always on the move..

Ruff or it it a Reeve on the rough road

Ruff in breeding plumage

Kittlitz's Plover

Little Stint

Blackwinged Stilts were also around in smaller numbers with their bright pink legs and pied plumage.

Black-winged Stilt

At the Kingfisher Hide next to the picnic site we heard the raspy call of an African Reed -warbler and with a bit of patience, got to see it and get a dodgy photograph for the record.

African Reed Warbler

Squacco Herons are always quite common here as they stand out in the open waiting for prey to make a mistake and show themselves within striking distance. You can see they are so successful, as they face towards you the profile is extremely narrow and probably hard to see from under the water.

Squacco Heron

Finally into the gated area, with some nice wader habitat to the left of the road. We searched for the Black-tailed Godwit and luckily enough got to see it at a distance. It wasn't going to come any closer so I had to get out the longer lens and get some record shots..

Black-tailed Godwit with Ruff for size comparison

Black-tailed Godwit

My last photographed bird for the day and a new tick for the year, this Great Crested Grebe is always a nice bird to see..

Great Crested Grebe

With that in the bag and total list of 96 species for the morning, we headed the 100km back home to Pretoria feeling rather satisfied with having the rare Blackwit on the year list!