Birding weekly 20140616

Golden Gate National Park and the moon rise

With a postponed trip to Kruger, I thought it fitting to get out of Johannesburg none-the-less and headed to Golden Gate in the Free State. There were a few Drakensberg bird special I still need to get under my belt. Knowing that I wouldn't be in the heart of berg I went to see what was flying around.

Speckled Pigeon (Columba guinea) in Echo Ravine

With great excitement I spotted a pair of Bearded Vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) flying together over the Brandweg Buttress. on the top of the Buttress it was great to look down on a dogfight between a Jackal Buzzard (Buteo rufofuscus) and Rock Kestrel (Falco Rupicolus). The fight seemed one sided as the Kestrel would dive bomb the Buzzard as the Buzzard soared effortlessly out of the the Rock Kestrels territory. Within some of the Riverines we walk through Chorister Robin-chats (Cossypha dichroa) fluttered away and Speckled Pigeons (Columba guinea) look down as they called from above.

Walking up Echo Ravine we surprised a sleeping Black-backed Jackal that ran up the ravine. Walking up there not knowing what to expect I heard yelps echo and a crushing like noise echoed along with it. As we got closer the Jackal re-appeared looking down at us... seeing the waterfall behind it the Jackal slowly moved closer to us. He slinked closer and closer to us hugging the rock-face. Eventually as he got past us he ran-off. In getting to the waterfall and looking at the rock where the jackal stood looking at us I found the wet paws marks and strangely, blood. Thinking that jackals being scavengers by nature I wondered what was happening. However the tracks told the story. The ravine ended and the only way out was to go back down explaining why the jackal came back past us. Looking around there was ice on the rocks and a small pool with frozen ice looking like broken glass. Stamping my foot in the pool, the crushing sound echoed down the ravine similar to what I had heard earlier with the yelp. I realized that the Jackal was trapped in the ravine and had looked for an escape. in doing so stepped on the iced pool cutting its foot open. One could then track where the jackal had walked around trying to find a way out without having to come back past me. The cold climate in the Drakensberg and froze the water. When the jackal stepped in the partially frozen pool he broke the ice cutting his foot causing his foot to bleed. He then ran around the top of the ravine to find a way out before he braved an escape past us.

Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus)
Pylon roost

Driving back to friends through the park I came across a Black Harrier (Circus maurus). The Harrier was making its rounds over the open grasslands before the sun had set completely. It wasn't long before it was out of site, hovering and dipping over the grasslands like a Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis) searching the shallows of a dam for fish. Not long after I saw my first Southern Bald Ibis (Geronticus calvus) heading back to its roosting site. Thinking this was a great sighting I stop later for two flying over the road. watching them pass over I followed the into a flock of Bald Ibis' roosting for the night on the power-line pylon. With the excitement of birding a new we closed up for the day.

Bearded Vultures (Gypaetus barbatus): Having a restricted distribution range to the cliff faces of the Drakensberg the only other place the occur in Africa is the Atlas mountains in Morrocco and Ethiopian highlands. The survival of these species is in question as they are slow breeders.

Other Species: Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio)

Pied Starling (Lamprotornis bicolor)

Bokmakerie (Telophorus zeylonus)

Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio)