It was a rewarding visit and so was my next one, even though I didn't get a spot at the best hide.Pumbaa wrote:Love the gorgeous swallows, the purple swamphen, the african rail, the malachites and for sure the otter
A more than very rewarding visit
Marievale Bird Sanctuary
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Hunting cannot be considered a sport as all contestants in a sport should know they are playing the game!
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
I wasn't too upset that I didn't get a spot at the hide because it was cloudy until about 09:00! The weather-guessers got it wrong again!
I just went to the other hides!
A Masked Weaver.
A pair of Shellducks.
Malachite Kingfisher. This one was in the reeds at pretty close to minimum focal distance (about 3 metres). There was no light so I tried the camera's pop-up flash and surprisingly it worked, even with the lens at 600mm zoom! Nikon D7200 with Tamron 150-600mm lens @ 600mm zoom 1/160 @ F/8 ISO 800, internal flash fired!
This one was at 1/80 @ F/8, ISO 200, 600mm zoom, flash fired.
At the next hide, the Otters were out of the water having breakfast but were directly into the sun. It took some manipulating to get these images right.
One of them got close to the hide.
I just went to the other hides!
A Masked Weaver.
A pair of Shellducks.
Malachite Kingfisher. This one was in the reeds at pretty close to minimum focal distance (about 3 metres). There was no light so I tried the camera's pop-up flash and surprisingly it worked, even with the lens at 600mm zoom! Nikon D7200 with Tamron 150-600mm lens @ 600mm zoom 1/160 @ F/8 ISO 800, internal flash fired!
This one was at 1/80 @ F/8, ISO 200, 600mm zoom, flash fired.
At the next hide, the Otters were out of the water having breakfast but were directly into the sun. It took some manipulating to get these images right.
One of them got close to the hide.
Hunting cannot be considered a sport as all contestants in a sport should know they are playing the game!
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Hiding in the reeds, an African Snipe.
A Black Shouldered kite with a kill.
A close crop of the kill which appears to be a Shrew of some kind.
Two other BSKs were having a territorial dispute.
A Lesser Swamp Warbler.
Another Malachite.
And lastly, a Cape Wagtail.
A Black Shouldered kite with a kill.
A close crop of the kill which appears to be a Shrew of some kind.
Two other BSKs were having a territorial dispute.
A Lesser Swamp Warbler.
Another Malachite.
And lastly, a Cape Wagtail.
Hunting cannot be considered a sport as all contestants in a sport should know they are playing the game!
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Amoli
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Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Nice sighting BT.
I love the black shouldered kites having a dispute - great pics.
I love the black shouldered kites having a dispute - great pics.
Pretoriuskop
Satara
Shingwedzi
20-30 Dec 2014
Satara
Shingwedzi
20-30 Dec 2014
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Cool close-ups of the otter 
The snipe is obviously a regular sight there, love it nonetheless
and the BSK photos are super nice
The snipe is obviously a regular sight there, love it nonetheless
and the BSK photos are super nice -
Lisbeth
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Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Nice pics of the otters and I love the black-shouldered kites 
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
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nan
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Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Otter, Snipe, "king" Malachite, BSK with a Shrew 
well done
well done
Kgalagadi lover… for ever
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https://safrounet.piwigo.com/
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
WoW BluTuna,
now not only magnificent pictures you took and sighting you had of the birds you got also to see an otter and even so brilliantly
now not only magnificent pictures you took and sighting you had of the birds you got also to see an otter and even so brilliantly
PuMbAa
Please visit our website: www.photomaniacs.de
Please visit our website: www.photomaniacs.de
Re: Marievale Bird Sanctuary *
Thanks everyone! It appears that I'm the only one who's reporting on Marievale these days.
Marievale is one of my favourite places to go for birding and photography even though it's 60mins / 100kms from my house, there's plenty of activity and a wide variety of birds even in the winter. There are plenty of other people around at weekends and they have closed the north gate so unsavoury characters can't take a shortcut through the reserve. The Hadeda Hide is one of the best hides I've seen in my travels, the birds are very close and there are plenty of perches within 400mm (crop sensor) range. Malachite Kingfishers are commonly seen on these perches. I met a UK visitor in the Hadeda hide a couple of weeks ago; he told me that there was nothing like it in the UK!
Marievale is one of my favourite places to go for birding and photography even though it's 60mins / 100kms from my house, there's plenty of activity and a wide variety of birds even in the winter. There are plenty of other people around at weekends and they have closed the north gate so unsavoury characters can't take a shortcut through the reserve. The Hadeda Hide is one of the best hides I've seen in my travels, the birds are very close and there are plenty of perches within 400mm (crop sensor) range. Malachite Kingfishers are commonly seen on these perches. I met a UK visitor in the Hadeda hide a couple of weeks ago; he told me that there was nothing like it in the UK!
Hunting cannot be considered a sport as all contestants in a sport should know they are playing the game!