Birds may be the hardest animals to photograph. Not only do they fly away when the shot is ready to be taken, they jump, they turn their heads, they turn their back to the camera and other frustrating normal bird behaviors. No problem, it makes the successes even sweeter. Above was a group of swallows that were getting mud for their nests from a mud wallow. The tails are forked and the blue is very brilliant when the sun hits the feathers. We saw the largest of birds, Ostriches, solitary males. There may have been females that we did not see. The females are a lighter color and will blend in and look like a termite mound. The female sits on the nest in the day time and the male sits on the eggs at night. We saw a pair of Mouse Birds that had very long tail feathers, but I was unable to get a picture.
Helmeted Guinea Fowl on the run
One of several ostriches we saw. This one is a male.
The males are black and they sit on the nest at night. The black blends in better at night
Ant Eating Chat has white patched on the wings that can be seen as it flies
Robin Chat with her breakfast
Three pearl breasted swallows
and a greater striped swallow with the red head
The Black Headed Heron has evolved so that they are no longer tied to the water like all other herons. These herons roam the grassy areas and the low scrub getting bugs, small reptiles and other tasty morsels
The telephone bird has many calls. One call sounds like a phone ringing
The locals call it a Bokmakerie and they call out and reply to each other
The Rainbird or Yellow Billed Kite is a migratory bird that show up at the start of the rainy season
Cape Long Claw
Glossy Cape Starling is striking in its appearance
The Southern fiscal
It is also known as the butcher bird as it will impale its kills on thorns to let them soften up before eating
It has been 115 days since we began our Migration
