Boksburg ho

 Birding wise, November was a good month and featured two species that I'd never seen before or lifers.  The first was the 30th record of a golden pipit in the southern African region.  A native of eastern Africa mainly Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and only a rare vagrant this far south.  What a magnificent creature though and probably the easiest rarity I've ever found.  Google maps lead me straight the spot he had chosen near Albert Falls and he was doing his level best to attract a lady........

....with an impressive song and aerial display.  Had to feel sorry for the little guy as there was absolutely zero chance of that happening.

Down in the Point area of Durban a massive cruise ship terminal has materialized within the last year or so

Particularly noticeable were the pom pom trees Dais cotinifolia which were absolutely smothered in flowers.

The second lifer was found after a long search at the ponds near Sappi's Stanger factory.  Apologies for the quality but the bird was so far away it was impossible to see with binoculars and a positive ID could only be obtained by using the camera and enlarging the pictures.  I'm happy to admit that had the minute differences not been pointed out by an expert, I would never have been able to differentiate a white-rumped sandpiper from the many little stint that accompanied it.  I wont bore you with the details but the bird in the foreground is the sandpiper and the one behind a stint. 

A pity that they gave the job of making this sign to someone who knew absolutely nothing about the subject.  The bird shown, a willow tit, only occurs in the northern hemisphere!

Having a sundowner with the Turners one evening, we were privileged to see a little tambourine dove foraging in the garden - which gives an indication of not only how well treed the garden is, but also how indigenous.

Another visit to the Inanda Dam, seen here from a small reserve in Crestholme......

........provided, as usual, a good variety of birds, including this young Diederik cuckoo.......

.........and flowers like this twisted-petal orchid Eulophia streopetala (thanks Richard).

The drive back to Kloof provided another view of the dam near the wall.

On a favourite walk in the Everton section of the Kloof Gorge the birds were quiet but a light mist made the forest quite eerie.

The almost continuous rain brought out the millipedes including this monster which was at least 150 mm long.

With Christmas around the corner it was time to head back to the 'Berg to put the Beast into storage and make the pilgrimage to Boksburg.  An indication of just how much rain has been falling was the Waggondrift Dam which not only had the floodgate open but was spilling as well, something I don't recall ever experiencing.

Hlahlanathi is to my mind the most outstanding caravan park in the southern 'Berg and it's situated close to Oliviershoek Pass, motorcycle Nirvana if ever there was.  On an overcast day, a sudden break in the clouds highlighted this hill with it's row of rock outcrops that must surely have sheltered the San bushmen in days past.

More evidence of unusual amount of precipitation was evident at the top of the pass where the Sterkfontain Dam was back-filling the header dam for the pumped storage scheme.

Not quite west coast profusion but plenty of flowers on show.........................

...............and Sterkfonein itself with it's startlingly blue water.

The site I was on looked directly up the valley to the majestic Amphitheatre................ 

........................but it was rarely visible.

Back in Boksburg, Marievale Bird Sanctuary is but a pleasant 30 km drive away and though the water levels were extremely high there was plenty to see.  This weaver caused a bit of head scratching because it is supposed to have red eyes.  The only dark faced weaver that has yellow eyes is the lesser masked, but they are smaller and the black extends up on to the crown, so this is an aberrant southern masked.

There are a number of solanum species that occur locally but the most famous of the group worldwide is the humble potato.  Most of the African species have toxic fruits but the flowers are rather pretty.

Considered a pest in many parts of Africa, the red-billed quelea males come in two colour variations, the red faced and the much rarer yellow.

As for these little bandits, even with a name like common waxbills, they are terribly endearing, but their hyperactivity makes for difficult photography.

Often generically referred to as snake birds the anhingas or darters lack preen glands to oil their feathers and are less buoyant, so only their head and neck are visible when swimming.

Though not endangered, the southern pochard is not often seen and this one had just surfaced from a dabble when I caught it with the "runny" nose!

Might have mentioned before that I wouldn't mind being reincarnated as a white-throated swallow, but this one was a long way from where the me version would prefer to live - the Msikaba Gorge on the Wild Coast.

They used to be Hottentot teal, presumably because of their diminutive size, but they are now blue-billed teal, which is a pity, but nevertheless descriptive.

Enter the jewel.  A malachite kingfisher, this one a juvenile with black beak and feet which will turn red in adulthood.

And with year end festivities under way I can only say "Bottoms up".