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Last Wednesday, 25th October we took a walking tour through the Estate to have a look at what birds were about.
In particular we were interested in the migrants which had arrived in October. The migrants make the long flight from the northern hemisphere annually to arrive in Summer when force sources become available. Amongst the species that migrate to our area are Greater Striped Swallow, Amur Falcon, White-Rumped Swift, White Stork, Pygmy Kingfisher, Yellow-Billed Kite, Lesser Kestrel, Honey Buzzard, Red-Chested Cuckoo and Black Cuckoo.
Interestingly the Amur Falcon flies between Russia and South Africa and is considered to be one of the longest travelled migrants in the world (28.000km round trip).
We picked up the following migrants during the October walk (photos thanks to Mike Bridgeford)
Red Chested Cuckoo
Lesser Striped Swallow
Diederik Cuckoo
We also came across many of the old favourites such as the double collared sunbird which is resident on the Estate:
In total we recorded 33 species.
| Species primary name |
| Pin-tailed Whydah |
| Cape Robin-Chat |
| Cape Bulbul |
| Common Starling |
| Lesser Striped Swallow |
| Cape Bulbul |
| Red-eyed Dove |
| Ring-necked Dove |
| Speckled Pigeon |
| Cape Batis |
| Karoo Prinia |
| Common Starling |
| Yellow Bishop |
| Black Saw-wing |
| Pied Crow |
| Cape Weaver |
| Helmeted Guineafowl |
| Lesser Striped Swallow |
| Amethyst Sunbird |
| Knysna Turaco |
| White-necked Raven |
| Burchell’s Coucal |
| Egyptian Goose |
| Yellow Canary |
| Southern Fiscal |
| Fork-tailed Drongo |
| Red-chested Cuckoo |
| Cape White-eye |
| Common Buzzard |
| Sombre Greenbul |
| Horus Swift |
| Common Waxbill |
| Southern Grey-headed Sparrow |
| Speckled Mousebird |
| Pin-tailed Whydah |
| Western Cattle Egret |
| African Sacred Ibis |
Finally look out for the Black Sparrowhawk which has been seen flying near the back entrance a couple of times. This is a real special which is retiring and difficult to see. Black Sparrowhawks are rapacious hunters, intensely powerful and are much favoured by falconers able to take birds as big as a guineafowl.
Black Sparrowhawk are identified as a black and white bird with long legs and a long tail with rounded wings. It is often seen flying between trees such as in the forest area at the back gate.
Looking forward to our November birding walk on the Greenridge!
Grahame Fogel
Greenridge Birders Group – Convenor