There it was – unmistakable with its pink eyelids and fluffy ear tufts. That was all that could be seen of the Verreaux’s Eagle-Owl on the nest, but it was a dead giveaway of this huge species, considered Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. An old Wahlberg’s Eagle nest positioned securely in the fork of a marula tree had been utilised by this pair of owls. As we approached the nest from across the river, the two adults stopped their booming calls in a bid to not reveal the nest, the sitting bird and, potentially, the eggs.
For owls that have such a large home range (approximately 7000 hectares per pair in Limpopo; more research is required for KwaZulu-Natal), I was surprised that the birds would position their nest in such close proximity to human activity.
For the next few months I observed the nest as often as I could. I wanted to see when the chicks hatched, to hopefully witness their first flight and maybe even see when their adult plumage began to appear. Many times on my approach to the area, I would first encounter one of the adults and a subadult (the pair’s previous offspring). The two were always sitting in one of three trees, watching, guarding the nest from unwanted visitors. If I went early enough in the morning or later in the evening, I would again hear their contact calls, which were audible from more than two kilometres away. On one occasion I saw a giraffe and the incubating bird were suddenly eye to eye, neither apparently bothered by the encounter, although the giraffe definitely seemed to stare for a few minutes, perhaps somewhat bemused and assessing what it was looking at.
Denne historien er fra March/April 2021-utgaven av African Birdlife.
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Denne historien er fra March/April 2021-utgaven av African Birdlife.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
