Bustards before breakfast
Great birds in open farmland. We arrived unannounced last night at Smithfield Guest House but despite this were very kindly welcomed with open arms by Malcolm and Gail Gemmell, who spoiled us with a delicious supper and good company. We were made to feel very much at home. This morning Malcolm, who runs local bird tour company Button Birding, took us out birding at first light, and with his excellent local knowledge showed us some of the particular specialities of the area. Great views of Denham’s Bustard, where a proud male displayed to proclaim his territory. Turning himself almost inside-out, his white display feathers showed up from a great distance as he strutted about. Red-winged Francolin showed well in a short grassland field, a bird we’d heard but not managed to see before. We also watched three delicate Oribi, a pretty rare species of buck, but one that has adapted to the farmland habitat around here and is doing well in this area. In the long grassland beside the road we saw Blue-billed Firefinch, Common Waxbills and a small flock of Red-billed Quelia. Unfortunately our birding time here has been limited as we’ve many miles to cover today, but in just a couple of hours, we enjoyed great birding with Malcolm in this stunning rural landscape. Definitely somewhere to come back to at more leisure. For more details, check out www.buttonbirding.com.
Posted before breakfast, 2nd September, Creighton, South Africa