Birding in Your Own Neighbourhood Update (Val de Vie)

In October I published my first post for the everyday birder blog. The blog was about birding in your own neighberhood, and in my case it is specifically Val de Vie Winelands Estate. see the post here.

The list of birds I have photographed then at Val de Vie was: Reed Cormorant, African Darter*, Black-Headed Heron, Cattle Egret, Hadeda Ibis, Egyptian Goose, Yellow-billed Duck, Jackal Buzzard*, Cape Spurfowl, Helmeted Guineafowl, Crowned Lapwing, Blacksmith Lapwing, Spotted Thick-Knee, Speckled Pigeon, Spotted Eagle-Owl*, Speckled Mousebird, African Hoopoe, Greater Striped Swallow*, Cape Robin Chat, Karoo Prinia, African Dusky Flycatcher, Fiscal Flycatcher, Cape Wagtail, African Pipit, Common Fiscal, Bokmakierie*, Common Starling, Malachite Sunbird, Southern Double-Collared Sunbird*,Cape Weaver, Yellow Bishop, Swee Waxbill, Cape Canary, Common Peacock.

(Please check out the highlighted bird names in the list as these link to blog entries specific to those bird species.)

I have recently went for a long early morning stroll in the estate where I stay, and armed with a camera was able to extend the list of photographed birds: Sacred Ibis, African Black Duck, Yellow Billed Kite, Red Eyed Dove, Malachite Kingfisher, Pied Crow, Cape Bulbul, Levaillant's Cisticola, Cape Sugarbird, Cape Sparrow, Grey Headed Sparrow, Southern Masked Weaver.

These Yellow Billed Kites are spotted regularly gliding through the air above Val de Vie.

I was lucky to find this grey headed sparrow next to the Bergriver at Val de Vie, since I think this is probably at the perimeter of their distribution.

A Levaillant's Cisticola is one of many, the Levaillant's Cisticolas seems to be the most prominent cisticola species of the few that would normally occur in this region.

The last time I scored the whole idea of birding in your neighberhood a C as a birding outing, but I think I should rather update it to an A. The more people become aware of the natural world surrounding them in their own neighbourhoods the more people will be carefull not to trample and destroy this secret world surrounding them.