Remote birding

  23.10.2013 I will stay now at  Tembe  /  Nkorho Pan  /  Idube  /  Elephant Plains  and  Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden , South Africa plus excellent  Pete's Pond  at Botswana for few days and try to identify all the birds I hear and see there. I opened the window to Nkorho Pan at 18:30. Lot's of bird sounds, many familiar to me but can't remember all the species anymore... But, at least some identifications: 1) Water Thick-knee  (Burhinus vermiculatus)  - at Nkorho Pan, new species, #81, for me, good start! 2) Egyptian Goose  (Alopochen aegyptiacus)  - two in the pond at Nkorho Pan 3) Common Swift  (Apus apus)  - flight calls at Walter Sisulu Botanical Garden, Roodeport, #82 Water Thick-knee in front and two Egyptian Geese 3) Helmeted Guineafowl  (Numida meleagris)  - calling loud somewhere close at Idube, new species, #83 4) African Scops Owl  (Otus senegalensis)  - calling f...

Pullus Verraux's Eagle Windy and rainy weather out there, here in Finland. Good excuse to practice some remote birding. I decided to go to South Africa this time. See what I found :) Pullus Verreaux's Eagle ( Aquila verreauxii )! And bit later an adult arrived to nest too. In addition to those, some unidentfied bird sounds... At least some Swift, sounded like Eurasian Swift  (Apus apus) , but I can't be sure about it yet. Also sounds that reminded me of Starling and many odd sounds... Adult Verreaux's Eagle The online camera link:   http://www.africam.com/wildlife/black_eagle_webcam?ch=alert&src=desktop&id=167064# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Olli Haukkovaara email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me Valkeakoski, Finland

It's again winter up here and days are short so I have time for remote birding. Got three "lifers" today from  Luciano Breves's cameras : Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sedentarius) (USA) Pale-breasted Thrush (Turdus leucomelas) Female Blue Dacnis (Dacnis cayana) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Olli Haukkovaara email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me Valkeakoski, Finland

During last days I've been lurking and peeking several webcams in South America and South Africa. Itamambuca Eco Resort webcam in South Brazil gave me two new species: Golden-chevroned Tanager  (Thraupis ornata ) and Half-collared Sparrow  (Arremon semitorquatus) . Both of these species were "awards" from persistent waiting - Itamambuca feeder is really quiet place... Backyard of Luciano Breves, also in South Brazil, instead is a heaven for remote birder - lot's of birds all day round. New species from Luciano's feeders are all Hummingbirds: Festive Coquette  (Lophornis chalybeus) , White-throated Hummingbird  (Leucochloris albicollis) , Swallow-tailed Hummingbird  (Eupetomena macroura)  and Saw-billed Hermit  (Ramphodon naevius) . Very nice hummers all! Long-tailed Sylph  (Aglaiocercus kingii) , yet another nice hummingbird, visited the feeder at Buenaventura Reserve in Ecuador. There I have seen also almost every day two big unidentified humming...

 Africam Elephant Plains camera is again up and running and it offered me today two new species: Natal Spurfowl  (Pternistis natalensis)  and Red-eyed Dove  (Streptopelia semitorquata) . Naturally there were many birds that I had identified also earlier, like Burchell's Coucals  (Centropus burchellii)  and many more. Nkorho Pan webcam instead surprised me with Yellow Wagtail  (Motacilla flava) , which was calling long time close to microphone. Surprise was also Common Buzzard  (Buteo buteo) . Both are summer visitors in South Africa. And below finally a decent photo of Red-billed Oxpecker  (Buphagus erythrorhynchus)  in the back of Impala Antelope. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Olli Haukkovaara email: olli.haukkovaara @ proton.me Valkeakoski, Finland

  Quick visit to  http://www.africam.com/wildlife/index.php  this morning gave me four new species: Pied Crow  (Corvus albus)  and Great White Egret  (Egretta alba)  in Tembe and Wood Sandpiper  (Tringa glareola)  and White-throated Swallow  (Hirundo albigularis)  in Nkorho. I have suspected White-throated Swallows many times in Nkorho, but only now I saw few birds well enough to confirm the identification. In addition to birds above, there was possibly a Guineafowl this morning in Nkorho, but I saw the bird too short time to confirm the identification. In addition to birds there were many interesting mammals this morning in those webcams: 2 Elephants, Rhino, about 10 Wildebeests, 1 Warthog and some 25 Impalas. To put it short: my best visit to  Africam.com  so far! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Author Olli Haukkovaara email: ol...