Today our guide drove us to the Cape of Good Hope. It was originally aptly named the Cape of Storms, but King John II said that no one would travel there if it was called that.
Flowers
Even though it is raining, we entered the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens at the end of the day. We understood that it was a DO NOT MISS attraction. Protea flowers change shape and form wild in the mountains. More flower species exist on one mountain in South Africa than all of the UK.
The protea is the national flower. This flower is only found in South Africa. We are in luck as they bloom in the spring which is the current time of year in South Africa.
Birds
There are so many fascinating birds. For some we have pictures; some we have names. We will sort them out as we go and continually update this post.
I was in a gift shop and was looking at books about animals of Botswana. One was titled LBJs. Hmmm. A following of the past American president, Lyndon B. Johnson? No! LBJs are a term for the over 600 little brown birds that birders call Little Brown Jobs.
Eagles
Martial Eagle is the largest.
Bateleur Eagle has an orange bill and distinctive white bars in his wings.
Penguins
African or Jackass Penguins have a colony on Boulders Beach south of Cape Town. They make noises like a braying donkey. Scientists think that they originated here from Antarctica and somehow were off course and then decided that it was cold enough to stay.
White-Browed Sparrow Weavers live in colonies and are very noisy during mating season. They build nests on the western side of the tree since rain and wind come from the east. It is also cooler. There are an entrance and exit. Humans can benefit from this fact and use it for navigation if one gets lost.
Grey Lourie is constantly saying “Goaway” in a nasal sound. He will warn others of a nearby leopard.
Red-billed hornbill has a thin red bill that gives him the moniker of “flying chili pepper”. The female makes her nest in the hollow of a tree. She picks off all her feathers to make a nest. Then she closes off the opening except for a small hole for the male to bring her food since she can’t fly until her feathers grow back. If her mate dies, she will call out and another male will bring her food as well as his own mate.
The grey hornbill doesn’t have a nickname but has does have a definite flight pattern of flap flap glide.
Yellow billed kite picks up road kill. There is no competition for this “fast food’.
Pied Kingfishers hover over the water and dive in. The male can be determined by its bowtie.
Crested frankolin
Magpie shrike
Village Musket Weaver male is very fastidious about making the best nest. A female inspects. If she doesn’t like the nest, she will knock it down and he will have to start over. It has been condemned!! He will either build another nest for her or move on to a less picky female. The couple can occupy a nest from a previous year but she might reject it. He builds a new nest during the rain.
Sacred ibis is similar to the bin chicken in Australia. Sacred ibis is a little egret with black legs, yellow feet and black bill.
Hadada ibis has a bright green iridescent wing.
Blacksmith Lapwing squeaks with every beat of his wings like a squeaky toy.
Ground scraper thrush
Pied crow
The oxpecker is always on an animal or on the tree and never found on the ground.
Verreaux’s Eagle-owl is the largest owl in Africa. It will lean against the branch to sleep during the day like a leopard.
African Hoopoe is stunningly beautiful but too fast for me to capture on my camera.
Wattled crane is a threatened species. The female lays her eggs on the ground and predators such as a water monitor will eat them. Also, when the chicks are born, they kill each other as they compete for food.
I don’t see a green wood hoopoe but he is making a lot of racket.
The African jacana walks on top of water lilies looking for insects and small fish. It has a highly unusually polyandrous mating system, meaning that one female mates with multiple males during the breeding season. She lays the eggs and the male alone cares for the chicks. Females form harems of males!!
Slaty egret has bright yellow legs.
Coppery tailed Coucal will raid the nest of others and kill and eat baby chicks.
Squacco heron migrates through Botswana
Saddled bill stork eats fish and frogs. He has yellow between the eyes.
Spur winged goose can fly up to a tree.
Carmine nest on the ground. They come in flocks during this time when looking for a mate.
Brown snake eagle
Black kite has feathers on its legs?
Long toed Lapwing walks on the water like the African jacana.
African Openbill
Southern Ground Hornbill eats snakes, tortoise and beetles.
African darter or sometimes called a snake bird is related to cormorant.
Guinea Fowl is hunted by a lot of predators.
Reed cormorant
The lesser striped swallow built nest on top of the boat that we were travelling on the river. They are made and concerned about their chicks since we are taking their house away…but we always come back.
These birds were seen in Zimbabwe:
Green-backed camaroptera
Trumpeter hornbill
White browed Robin chat
Booboo hard to see but I hear them. They live in the bushes.
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