Fiery-necked Nightjar v. Boomslang
The following must rate as my best sighting ever at Kirstenbosch....
I entered at the Rycroft Gate and marched my way uphill at a rapid rate. I was almost at the top when I noticed a bird land in the pathway. It was fluttering and flapping but the very destinctive shape of the bird made me realise that it was a Nightjar. A Nightjar fluttering in front of me at 9h30 in the morning had my heart racing. How special is this...
But why was this bird fluttering around so much? Was it a juvenile learning to fly...before I could get any closer it flew off into the nearby bush. I followed not expecting to see it again but happily I did.
It was very difficult to see though because of the dense bush. I think I may have seen two Nightjars fluttering around. I was intrigued..mating dance ???? But then my eye caught glimpse of the following....
A Boomslang
( I think) was the cause of the fluttering and flapping. It was really difficult to see what was going on and eventually I could neither see the birds nor the snake. Oh well I thought that was exciting.
I sat down on a nearby bench to view my photos...I was quite pleased that I had another tick for my 2012 bird challenge. Before moving on I decided to have one more look...I walked up and down the pathway but all seemed to be quite......
BUT then to my horror I saw the snake coming right for me
...I back tracked but at the same time I was trying to take a photo....the snake was on a mission and was coming towards me at a rapid rate.
At the last minute I noticed that the snake was not actually heading for my toes but for a poor Nightjar chick that I had not even seen...
Well the rest is history..poor chick. It did not stand a chance. The Boomslang grabbed the chick and flipped backwards into the bushes..it was all over in a split second
I was elated when I saw the Nightjar in the beginning
...so excited at seeing the interaction between snake and birds
.........scared silly when the snake came for me out of the bushes
and very saddened at the demise of the chick......
I suppose that is nature though.
I was quite please that I had resisted the urge to climb the little stone wall to get a better view of the snake in the first place...
I also wondered what I would have done if I had seen that chick earlier...taken on the Boomslang with a stick ??? That would have been a really stupid thing to do so thank goodness I did not see the chick until it was too late......
flying cheetah
