Africa Wild

Nice pics.

Just a gull-game

Good stuff, Lis!

Very nice , but , errr.... hmmm.... its actually a Lesser Black backed gull , not a Lesser Back backed gull

Corrected

The African skimmer (Rynchops flavirostris) is a near-threatened species of bird belonging to the skimmer genus Rynchops in the family Laridae. It is found along rivers, lakes and lagoons in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Description
African skimmers have long wings, with a black back, hindneck, and crown. The forehead and rest of the body is white, with a bright, long, orange beak that ends with a yellow tip (black tip when immature). Their short forked tail is white, and their legs are bright red. The average size is about 38 cm (15 in) long. Their voice is a sharp "kip-kip". Their bill structure is unique; the lower mandible is much longer than the upper mandible, and is flattened sideways like scissor blades.
Distribution and habitat
The African skimmer is found from Senegal to northern Congo River and southern Nile Valley, southern Tanzania to the Zambezi Valley, and then to KwaZulu-Natal Province (South Africa) and Angola. They live at large tropical rivers with sandbanks for nesting and roosting, lake shores, and coastal lagoons. The African skimmer is generally uncommon and the total populations is estimated at 15,000-25,000 individuals.
Reproduction
African skimmers nest in loose colonies on large sandbanks. The colonies typically consist of less than 50 pairs and each pair lays 2–3 (rarely 4) eggs in a scrape in the sand. Sometimes African skimmer colonies are mixed with those of other sand bank nesting birds such as collared pratincole, pied avocet and white-fronted plover.





Kruger Sightings
‏Verified account @LatestKruger
23h23 hours ago

11:00
African Skimmer playing
H4-1, at Sunset Dam
Near Lower Sabie
Tinged by Drifting Scouts

Spotting African Skimmers
Sep 19, 2016

African skimmers were once permanent residents along the Sabie River and most likely occurred in the Kruger National Park from time to time.

Over recent years they have disappeared from South Africa, but every now and again make an appearance for a lucky few to witness.

This time around, photographer Johannes van Niekerk was one of them. “It was totally by chance,” he explains. The party stopped at Mopani for breakfast and scanned the Pioneer Dam for birds. This is when they spotted it.

“We were very excited about the sighting. Another birder was very thrilled that we confirmed the bird as an African skimmer. He was afraid that nobody else would believe him if he reported it,” explains van Niekerk.

It was perched on a sandbank in the dam and sat unrecognisable for ages before turning sideways.



africa-skimmer-johannes-van-niekerk-www-africanbliss-com

“These birds forage for fish using a unique technique and this was also the final evidence to confirm identification,” says Van Niekerk. “They fly low with their lower bill slicing through the water. If they touch a fish, their bills shut instinctively, capturing the prey.”

While African skimmers used to occur in South Africa, changing conditions might have caused them to move further north. The last breeding pair was recorded in St Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal in 1944, according to Trevor Hardaker of South African Rare Bird News. “The reasons for their local extinction are not known for sure, but it is probably a combination of habitat degradation and human disturbance,” says Hardaker.

They are very particular about their habitat and only breed on open sandbanks free from vegetation when rivers are low. Dam building, fishing and boat activity affect their distribution and as a result, they are currently listed globally as near threatened.

Since their disappearance, there have only been sporadic records across the country, of which two was from the Kruger. Hardaker says that the first was an individual at the Engelhard Dam near Letaba between August 8 and 12, 1995. The second record was of two birds on September 11, 2014 along the Limpopo River in the Makuleke Concession.

According to Hardaker, the latest record is a fantastic one for the park. The occasional sightings of these birds however, do not indicate that they are returning.

“African Skimmers do make short distance migrations as they are dependent on open sandbars in wetland systems to roost on and nest on. In periods when water levels are too high, they will move elsewhere. These are probably displaced birds that have gone further south than they intended to or have gotten lost for whatever reason,” he says.

Written by René de Klerk – SANParks Times Reporter

Pictures: Johannes van Niekerk

Content courtesy of SANParks Times: www.sanparkstimes.co.za


https://www.countrylife.co.za/leisure/b ... n-skimmers

Amazing sighting

How lucky! He even got a photo

I remember that Dewi posted several pics of skimmers, from Botswana I think.