SA Rare Bird News Report - 25 June 2015

[Trevor Hardaker]

 

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This is the Southern African Rare Bird News Report issued at 20h00 on Thursday, 25 June 2015. Information has been gleaned from various websites, email groups as well as from individual observers who have passed on their sightings. This report cannot be taken as being totally comprehensive as it is based only on information made available at the time of writing. All bird sightings reported here are reported in good faith based on information as provided by the observers. Any inaccuracies are totally unintentional and the writer cannot be held liable for these. For those who may have only joined the group recently and are interested in finding out what has been seen in the past, previous reports can be viewed at http://groups.google.co.za/group/sa-rarebirdnews
Starting in the Western Cape, the SNOWY EGRET continues to hog most of the attention and has entertained the onlookers throughout the week so far. Now in its 18th day on site, an incredible 1052 people have already been to see it (well, those are just the names that I have already been sent so far!) and, if it stays on and performs as reliably as it has, it looks set to pin down a record twitch that is probably going to take a very long time to match or beat!   Elsewhere in the province, the LESSER SAND PLOVER remained on view at Seeberg in the West Coast National Park until at least Tuesday.
Snowy Egret along the Black River © Cliff Dorse		Snowy Egret along the Black River © John Graham
Snowy Egret along the Black River © Gielie Swart		Snowy Egret along the Black River © Gerrit Wyma
Snowy Egret along the Black River © Heide Wetmore		Snowy Egret along the Black River © Mike Buckham
Snowy Egret  (centre) along the Black River © Patrick Cardwell
Up in the Northern Cape, an EMERALD-SPOTTED WOOD DOVE was located at the waterhole about 5km north of Twee Rivieren camp in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on Friday, an unusual species for this part of the province, well west of where they are normally recorded.   Over in the Eastern Cape, a GREEN-BACKED HERON was located again yesterday at Port Alfred, still a fairly uncommon species in the province and it even caused a couple of provincial listers to twitch it late yesterday afternoon.
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove near Twee Rivieren © Tiaan Steynberg		Green-backed Heron in Port Alfred © Lynette Rudman
Up the coast into Kwazulu Natal, there was some confusion when both a young probable PALE CHANTING GOSHAWK and an immature GREATER KESTREL were located on Tuesday in Camperdown in veld opposite the African Bird of Prey Sanctuary, the goshawk seen in the morning and the kestrel seen later on in the afternoon. Whilst the initial suspicions for these out-of-range species were that they had escaped from the Sanctuary, the Sanctuary has confirmed that these birds do not originate from them at all.   Across the border into Mpumalanga, at least one CAPPED WHEATEAR was also still present near Mjejane yesterday   Moving up into Limpopo Province, a group of 8 CAPE TEAL were reported yesterday along the Shingwedzi River about 400m upstream of Shingwedzi rest camp in the Kruger National Park, an unusual record for this area.   And finally, in Namibia, a possible adult EGYPTIAN VULTURE was seen between Mariental and Keetmanshoop on Tuesday. Although the bird was not photographed, the description sounds reasonable for this species, and would be quite a southerly record for this species in the country.
Probable Pale Chanting Goshawk near Camperdown © Shannon Hoffmann		Greater Kestrel near Camperdown © Shannon Hoffmann
Thank you to all observers who have contributed their records. Please continue to send through any reports of odd birds as well as continued updates on the presence of rarities already previously reported, no matter how mundane you think they may be. Even if you think someone else has probably sent in a report, rather send the report yourself as well. The only way to improve this service and to make it as useful as possible to everyone is if it can be as comprehensive as possible.   Kind regards Trevor -----------------------------------------------------------------------   TREVOR HARDAKER Cape Town, South Africa     Follow our local exploits in the field at: http://hardakerwildlife.wordpress.com/   See our photos and trip reports at: www.hardaker.co.za     ZEST for BIRDS Pelagics, rarity photos, listing clubs and more: www.zestforbirds.co.za     SA RARE BIRD NEWS Get the latest rarity news by joining at: http://groups.google.co.za/group/sa-rarebirdnews     SOUTHERN AFRICAN RARITIES Online database of all SA rarities www.rarities.co.za -------------------------------------------------------------