I have finally added some more photo's.......

New bird pictures posted. More to follow...

While waiting for guests to complete an activity this afternoon, I had a small bird party catch my attention.



A Longbilled Crombec, a Grey-backed Camaroptera, a White-browed Scrub-Robin and a few Chinspot Batis' were very busy alerting the world to something in the grass below them.



In the 5 minutes I watched them, only the female Chinspot Batis felt it was safe to pose in the open, while the others all skulked out of range of my camera.

Stunning little critters!!!

Booted Eagle's "landing lights"

One of the ID features that can be used on Booted Eagles is the two white shoulder patches. These are normally fairly easy to see, but I tried nonetheless to capture it in a photo for my "records". The sun had finally sneaked through the intense cloud we have been experiencing, just in time to highlight these "landing lights"

Booted Eagle - 04/05/2010 Robega Fields, North West Stuart Groom

Booted Eagle - 04/05/2010 Robega fields, North West Stuart Groom

Beautiful start to the day!!

Since starting my new job as Ops Manager for Airtrackers, a Hot Air Balloon operator, I have been going into Pilanesberg Nat Park on a number of mornings before sunrise. This is personally the best time of the day, with good sightings and great sunrises.

Recently, a band of mist was lying thickly in all the valleys of Pilanesberg, presenting this beautiful image:

And a slightly more eerie one:

And naturally, being creative is always fun:

Nature in all its glory:

What a way to start my day!!

Amazing images

I received this email this morning, and am not sure how long it has been going around.

Nonetheless, the images really tell a story, particularly the last one.



"Photographer Michel Denis-Huot, who captured these amazing pictures on safari in Kenya's Masai Mara in October last year, said he was astounded by what he saw:

“These three brothers have been living together since they left their mother at about 18 months old,' he said. 'On the morning we saw them, they seemed not to be hungry, walking quickly but stopping sometimes to play together. 'At one point, they met a group of impala who ran away. But one youngster was not quick enough and the brothers caught it easily'”.

These extraordinary scenes followed, as the cheetahs played with the young impala the way a domestic cat might play with a ball of string. The impala escaped unharmed…

Spider ID

I posted a request on the SA Birdnet regarding the ID of the 2 spiders.

I have had a great response from numerous people, many providing good contacts to assist with the ID.

At this stage, regarding the second image, I have had 2 names put forward:

1 - Pisauridae family
2 - Long-jawed water Orb-web spider

This still requires confirmation, as I am not fully convinced yet.

The third and fourth image has turned out to be a female Orb-Web Spider of the Neoscona Spp,or the Hairy Field Spider to us laymen.

I will post a confirmation on the second image when I have an answer!

Thank you to all the responses from everyone!!

Have a look!!

I have decided to start posting some of my images, collected over the last few years, on this blog for all to see. Please feel free to browse through the pages.

If you have a chance to look under the Spiders page, take a moment to assist me with an ID of the two species I haven't put a name to, as I cannot find them in my field guide.

I believe the second unidentified species is a Bark Spider of the Cearostris spp.

I would appreciate your input.

Stuart