Rietvlei is another great place to visit. Not only can one see 100 plus species of bird in one day in summer and 80 plus species in winter but there are a number of mammals as well. They have large herds of antelope and zebra as well as bushpig and small predators like serval and genet to see.
 |
| Zebra foals at play |
These zebra foals were quite tame and allowed me to pass quite close to them, I couldn't resist touching one only to find that his baby fur was full of static and instead of being soft and fluffy, felt like a thousand pins pricking my fingers. Quite a disappointment.
 |
| Cape Buffalo with Blesbok in the background |
There is a large herd of about 70 buffalo on the reserve, but it is amazing how elusive they can be and remain hidden most of the time. It took me a while to see my first one but once you know their movements they can be found quite often. They mainly move along the dam inflow and sometimes appear at the Otter Bridge especially late in the afternoon.
Otter Bridge is a great place to sit and watch birds, mainly ducks and other water related birds. On this particular day, I found a small flock of Whitefronted Bee-eaters and spent hours trying to get shots of them in flight or with wings flared to land.....needless to say...I failed..
 |
| Egyptian Geese |
 |
| Yellow-billed duck enjoying the last rays of sunlight |
 |
| Black-winged Kite |
 |
| Close up of a Speckled Mousebird |
 |
| White-fronted Bee-eaters (4), last one with a captured Honey Bee |
 |
| Pied Starlings silhouetted against the golden sunlight |
And so ended the day! Winter offers the chance of heading to the gate after sunset and so the chance of an owl or nightjar on the road...
 |
| Marsh Owl |
Stay healthy everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment