February was an extremely hot month here with the average daily maximum for the month being 33.5oC: except for a few days, March has been every bit as warm. The heat and lack of rain have led to the water that was so freely available in the bush after the January floods drying up: as a result we are seeing more and more animals visiting the lodge waterhole, notably impala herds and giraffes. However, it is the birds that have given us some excellent sightings over the last week or two.
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| Long-tailed paradise-whydah (male) |
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| Green-winged pytitlia |
A male long-tailed paradise-whydah (Vidua paradisaea) has been resident in the valley behind the waterhole: these birds, with their bright red and yellow chest and neck, have extraordinarily long tails when in their breeding plumage. The females are a drab brown and the species is a brood parasite of a small local bird, the green-winged pytilia (Pytilia melba).
Keeping company with the paradise-whydah was a purple indigo bird (Vidua purpurascens); as the name suggests, it is a uniform dark colour, except for pale wing panels and under-tail, with whitish beak and legs.
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| Purple indigo bird (male) |
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| Shikra |
Twice in the last week we have had a shikra, formerly known as the little banded goshawk (Accipiter badius), perching in a dead tree just outside the lodge. This bird has a banded chest and a striking cherry-red eye that contrasts with its yellow cere (the plate at the base of the beak.) Many other bird species have been active around the lodge as well, notably green wood-hoopoes and arrow-marked babblers.
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| Escarpment silhouette with setting sun behind clouds, 5th March 2012 |
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