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| Black-shouldered Kite. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/2500s, F/7.1, ISO-400. |
Article and Photographs by Denni Raubenheimer.
Click on image to view larger version.
Last week I was fortunate to have an early
weekday morning open to do some wildlife photography. I had planned to visit
Roodeplaat Dam Nature Reserve for a mix of photography and bird-watching.
However, with economic crunches and an income that fluctuates from
month-to-month I decided to rather opt for Fearie Glen Nature Reserve, which is
much closer to our home. My disappointment at not being able to visit
Roodeplaat would luckily be replaced by thankfulness.
I reckon that as I got my gear ready the
night prior to going I started leaning towards focusing on photography, in
stead of combining it with a bird atlas list at the reserve. After all,
together with my wife I had already made multiple bird atlas lists at the
reserve, but never before gone solely for bird photography. I knew a good spot
in the reserve for morning photography of nest-building weavers. Here, two less
common species (for Pretoria) actively breed and nest during spring and summer,
with nest-building starting in late winter.
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| Female Southern Masked-Weaver. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/800s, F/5.6, ISO-250. |
Click on image to view larger version.
So I found myself at the reserve at roughly
07h00 and slowly started towards the weaver colony before the sun had started
to peek over the Bronberg range. Nevertheless, with the Nikon D800’s great low-light
performance I kept my eyes and fingers ready for any nice photo-ops. About a
hundred metres from the colony there is a cluster of reeds right next to the
trail where Southern Red Bishops are always active during early summer. Here I
got one decent photo of a common Southern Masked-Weaver female in very early
sunlight. Even though bird-photography on-foot is arguably not ideal, the birds
in the reserve are relatively trusting of people walking by – especially where
trails pass closely by natural bird hotspots.
When I reached the weaver nests I
didn’t spent time looking for the best spot, but went with memory and settled
in a spot close to newly weaved nests that were desirably located. I noticed
the birds were slightly agitated by my presence, so I got out a very high-tech
piece of camouflage - a brownish-yellow table cloth. Deciding to give the birds
time to accept my presence, I waited and checked my settings, making initial
adjustments to exposure after some test shots. The first species that I noticed
and which gave me some nice displays was the Cape Weaver – which has a lot of
attitude. After the first territorial displays at a nest, the other weavers
started to ignore me and thinking (on some instinctual level) of preserving
good chances of procreating. It turned out that two Cape Weavers had nests
within good photo-range and –angle and these two were constantly in battle
through song and display. After some time one or two Village Weavers also
mounted the stage. These seemed to have started their nests later than the
larger Cape Weavers and were not only bullied by the latter, but sometimes
robbed of weaving material. During all the above I was often at a loss to
decide between settings for flight and others more suited for perched birds.
Both these extremes, and some in-between, produced nice photos, though I
obviously missed many shots.
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| Male Cape Weaver. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/3200s, F/5.6, ISO-720. |
Click on image to view larger version.
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| Village Weaver, male. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/3200s, F/6.3, ISO-900. |
Click on image to view larger version.
At about 08h30, shortly before the light
started to get slightly harsh, I was electrified with excitement as a
Black-shouldered Kite (probably the resident kite that I had seen many times
prior) flew in behind the weaver’s willow trees and landed a short stone’s
throw away from me. It seemed to not have noticed me and was initially slightly
hidden behind a willow. Wearing the table-cloth as a hood/cape slowly and trying
to keep my posture more like that of a four-legged creature I slowly moved
towards the raptor (luckily no-one was about to see all of this!). As I neared
it was looking away from me and just before getting out from behind the last
small tree that lay between us I made my final adjustments to settings –
expecting it to take flight once it had seen me. It was probably only one or
two seconds after having my focus points on it that it jumped into flight – my
heart speeding elatedly as I clicked away. Its flight path had been quite
desirable and I quickly looked at my play-back, and smiled.
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| Black-shouldered Kite just after having taken flight. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/2500s, F/7.1, ISO-400. |
Click on image to view larger version.
I stayed close to the spot where I had
photographed the kite, focusing on other weaver nests. There were a few nice
opportunities at the new nests and then the Kite came back – choosing roughly
the same perch! I missed it coming in and the perched and second take-off
photos all came out with too many undesirable elements (mainly twigs and
branches being inconsiderate :P). Nevertheless, I might have found a favourite
perch and will be aiming for the spot when I can go again.
All-in-all, for all the bird-watching that I
have done at Fearie Glen, the reserve surprised me with its photographic
potential. If you look for the seasonal hotspots, are willing to put some
effort into optimizing your chances at good photos and are mindful not to take
your camera gear into remote sections of the reserve where mugging might be a
potential occurrence, then this popular municipal reserve can be a great patch
for bird photography.
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| Male Village Weaver in flight. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/3200s, F/6.3, ISO-1250. |
Click on image to view larger version.
General Info:
For those of you who are not familiar with
Fearie Glen Nature Reserve here is some basic info. As its name suggests this
Pretoria municipal nature reserve lies in the suburb of Fearie Glen. It is
spread along a section of the Moreleta River and includes portions of the Bronberg
range of quartzitic hills. The reserve covers and area of 128 ha and has an extensive network of
hiking trails. It can be regarded as reasonably safe. Criminal elements have
from time-to-time been flushed out of the reserve by police, and at most times
a good number of hikers are about. I would however not recommend that women
hike through the remote portions of the reserve alone and neither would I
recommend taking valuables into these sections if you are not part of a group.
Nevertheless, over the past few years the reserve has probably been safer than
most undeveloped places in Pretoria. Entrance to the reserve is dirt cheap (R5
per adult at the time of writing) and there is a large guarded parking area at
the reserve entrance. At the entrance/office there are toilets and a
drinks-and-snacks vending machine. Dogs on leashes are allowed inside the
reserve (watch your step – Pretoria residents tend not to remove their dogs’
landmines from parks and trails), but apart from these the only facilities are
the hiking trails, benches and a wooden platform along the river that is
wrongly called a bird-hide. Gate times are from 6AM to 6PM. The amount of
visitors that the reserve gets on a daily basis is a witness to its natural
beauty that stands in the midst of our capital city’s eastern suburbs.
Wildlife:
Fearie Glen Nature Reserve probably has
most to offer bird watchers in terms of wildlife. It has a nice variety of
typical resident species which is augmented through the seasons by nomadic and
migratory species. Some of the common species in the reserve that I am quite
found of are Red-throated Wryneck, Rock Martin,
Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler, Red-headed Finch, Cape Grassbird and African Black
Duck. Look out for Giant Kingfisher and Black-shouldered Kite. In summer a host
of weavers and allied species put on their summer displays, including
White-winged and Red-collared widowbirds, Thick-billed Weaver and Southern Red
Bishops. Smaller seedeaters abound – Yellow-fronted, Streaky-headed, and
Black-throated canaries, Common Waxbill, Jameson’s Firefinch (uncommon) and
Cut-throat Finch to name a few. When up on the hills keep your eyes open for
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting (nomadic), Striped Pipit, Dark-capped Yellow-Warbler (summer),
Amur Falcon (summer) and Fairy Flycatcher (winter). Other species that might be
encountered in the reserve are Common Scimitarbill (uncommon), Spotted
Eagle-Owl (not uncommon), Verreaux’s Eagle (uncommon), Brown-backed Honeybird and
Lesser Honeyguide (common).
The reserve's once-abundant larger mammals, or rather small game, have
at times suffered poaching, nevertheless interesting species persist under the
radar. Rock hyrax are common on the highest hills, Vleirats occur in along the river,
Bushpig have been encountered and Small spotted genet, Porcupine and Hedgehog are present, to name a few. I believe that Caracal are present in the reserve, as they are often
seen on the nearby and quite developed CSIR kopje. Plans are currently in place
to re-introduce some small game into the reserve. This will hopefully make the
reserve’s ecosystem more balanced.
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| Cape Weaver male displaying near its new nests. Nikon D800, Nikkor 300mm F/4D, TC-14EII. 1/2000s, F/5.6, ISO-500. |
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Click on photo to view larger version.
