May Atlassing - Cooler weather, fewer birds

Our atlassing month started of with the function arranged by Ernst Retief at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, attended by at least 40 atlassers, mainly Gauteng based, but with representation from both North West & Mpumalanga provinces. As far as I am aware. almost 20 lists were submitted by atlassers who attend the day. A very enjoyable braai was held at the end of the day in the new lapa, followed by a very informative discussion with Les Underhill about progess to date, and how the data submitted nationally is already bringing forth data in respect of expanded distributions etc.
Hilary & I were fortunate to be able to accomodate Les in our home after the function.
Our atlassing on the day was 7 hours, and provided us with a very enjoyable bird watching day.
Some of the highlights in our 76 species were: Bokmakerie, Giant Kingfisher, Green-backed Heron, Black-chested Snake Eagle, Orange River Francolin, Temmink's Courser, Greater Kestrel, African Black Duck and Marsh Owl.

For our home pentad (2605_2805) during the month 4 lists were generated, with a lot of the usual urban species although fewer because of the season, were recorded. 2 lists were also generated for for an adjacent pentad (2605_2800) during May

On 23rd May, together with some non atlassing friends, we visited the Pretoria Botanical Gardens (2540_2815). Our atlas list for the day comprised 45 species, with some of the highlights observed were: Black-backed Puffback, Thick-billed Weaver, Chinspot Batis, Long-billed Crombec, Black-headed Oriole, Bronze Mannikin, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Lesser Honeyguide & Crimson-breasted Shrike.

The last day of May saw us taking a day drive out to Alison, Stuart & the girls at Sundown Ranch (Pentad 2525_2700), and the days atlassing in the garden, produced 42 species, including the following: Crimson-breasted Shrike, Long-billed Crombec, Black-headed Oriole, Southern Black Flycatcher, Grey-backed Cameroptera, White-browed Scrub Robin, Marico Sunbird, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Ground-scraper Thrush and Red-billed Oxpecker.