The public holiday & long weekend situation which arose in April presented many opportunities to continue with production of input for Sabap2.
Hilary & I were collectively able to atlas in 8 pentads - locally 2605_2805; 2605_2800; 2550_2755; and a further 5 in NW province, viz: 2525_2700; 2525_2710;2515_2705; 2520_2705 & 2525_2705 .
The local pentads were our home pentad and an adjacent one, as well as a visit to Northern Farm in pentad 2550_2755, after putting Craig on his return flight to Cape Town from Lanseria
The 5 NW pentads were atlassed over the weekend 10/4 - 13/4, with the list produced for the north-eastern corner of pentad 2525_2700 giving us 66 species, of which the following were some of the highlights: Crimson-breasted Shrike; Marico Sunbird; White-browed Scrub Robin; Paradise Whydah; Cardinal, Bearded & Goldentailed Woodpeckers; Grey-backed Cameroptera & Southern Pied Babbler.
During an afternoon drive through the Pilanesberg Game Reserve on 11/4, we were able to atlas 3 of the above pentads, and the lists produced included among many others the following: White-throated Robin-chat; Black-throated & Yellow-fronted Canary; Lilac Breasted Roller; Little, Yellowbilled & Great White Egrets & Kalahari Scrub Robin.
Sunday 12/4 saw us atlassing parts of the Sun City pentad 2520_2705, with a walk through the Cascades gardens producing a lovely range of birds, including: Meyer's Parrot and a pair of Little Sparrowhawk. We also witnessed interaction between obvious escapees Senegal Parrot and Rosy-faced Lovebird. Refer to the account of this on Stuart's blog (http://stuartgroom.blogspot.com/) . Following on this walk, we then went in search of the Yellow -throated Sandgrouse, on which we unfortunately dipped on this occasion, but did get to add the following among others to our list: Sabota Lark; Violet-earred Waxbill; Brown Crowned Tchagra & Scaly-feathered Finch.
Monday 13/4 being the last day of the long weekend saw us atlassing in pentad 2525_2705. It was a late afternoon drive, and we were able to list some very nice species in this pentad. These included: White-backed Mousebird; Yellow Canary; Gabar Goshawk; Chestnut-backed Finchlark; plenty of Namaqua Dove; Marsh Owl (unfortunately an out of range roadkill - subsequently accepted as a record), and of course Yellow-throated Sandgrouse. All the sightings we had of this species on the day, were overflying, and we recorded upwards of 60 birds in groups varying from a single bird to 8-10 flying together.
On Thursday the 23/4, after putting our crosses on the ballot papers the previous day, we again headed off to NW province for a family long weekend with Stuart and the girls. Once again we were able to atlas the immediate area around their home at Sundown Ranch in pentad 2525_2700. This list produced over the weekend, was basically a 'Garden' list, and we recorded 63 species. I stand corrected, but I think Stuart's garden list currently stands at around 115 species. Some specials recorded included: Resident Barn Owl and Southern Black Flycatcher, Orange-breasted & Grey-headed Bushshrikes, Long-billed Crombec; Chestnut-vented Titbabbler & Brubru. I was very pleasantly surprised early one morning while enjoying my 'cuppa'. I looked upwards, to see a regional rarity in the form of 4 Pink-backed Pelicans, flying overhead in the direction of Pilanesberg Game Reserve. The sighting was subsequently accepted into the Sabap database, and was a nice addition to a bushveld garden list.
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