A Squacco Heron had been reported recently from the temporary wetlands in the Phillipi area and, because it is a very rare bird in our area and we desperately wanted to nail it for the challenge list, several attempts during the last 2 weeks had already been made, but all were unsuccessful. So, when Trevor received a phone call from Shaun Overmeyer at just before 8am today to say that he was currently watching the bird, there was no choice but to quickly jump in the car and head out there.
Arriving on site, the bird was located almost instantly, although it was a little distant. Initially, several long range photos were taken but then, suddenly, the bird took flight and flew right past the camera allowing slightly better shots. Unfortunately, it just carried on flying until eventually lost out of view and was never able to be relocated! But at least it had been bagged for the challenge...
With a bit of time to spare, the area was worked hard and two further species were photographed for the challenge - House Crow and Wood Sandpiper (although the latter is in definite need of improvement in terms of photographic quality!). It was also particularly pleasing to get the House Crow as there has been a serious eradication programme on the go recently and their numbers have dropped off drastically, making it more and more difficult to find an individual to photograph.
There was also still good numbers of White-faced Duck and a few Fulvous Ducks around, both still fairly uncommon species in the Cape area. Apart from that, there was nothing else too exciting, but just good numbers of the more common water birds. After trying to get a few more photos, and with the wind steadily starting to get stronger, it was eventually time to call it quits and head back home.
