Some Flamingos on show.
A first time for me to see spoon bill birds and flamingos together.
The five white birds at the front are African Spoonbills (Plataled alba), and the six white birds at the back are Greater Flamingos (Phoenicopterus roseus).
We visited our local lake, and I have some good news to share. 75 hectares of this site will be declared as a nature reserve. It has already been endorsed, but there are still some processes that have to take place. No one is allowed to build anything in a nature reserve, and it was a great relief that I heard about this. We signed a petition some time back to prevent developers from turning the place into a residential and commercial space. Now, at last, the perfect solution has been found as a nature reserve with free nature lover's entry, will be great to visit.
We know that the place would be a goldmine for developers, but sanity has prevailed as nature is more important, in our book at least, and there are many that think the same way like us. Especially the early morning runners around the lake, and the birders like us. So, a big fight has at last been won and I also heard that the Park's Board is going to install some bird hides and will also organise guided tours of the property. There is much to see there.
This picture above shows where I was standing to take the shots, and my zoom did the work to get the birds as they were far away you can see the white lines on the water below the reeds.
Right, let's take a closer look at the birds, and this was the first one.
And then there were three flamingos.
Just a break to show you what was sitting close to me on this side of the water.
Hello, Mister Spotted Thick-knee (Burhinus capensis), and look what was passing underneath the big bird. A little Charadrius Plover.
Just look at the difference of their sizes.
Right, now we are back with the flamingos.
If you think that they were only with a few birds here, have a look at the photos below. Too many species to mention, as we could see Yellow-billed ducks, a lot of Coots and Cormorants, and also some Black Swans, Stilts, and Lapwings.
I will show you the bird species charts that are present here, in another post.
I hope that you are also happy about the successful outcome of the fight to keep this area protected for future enjoyment by the public. I think that the birds are also clapping their hands (wings) about the outcome. It is indeed a very nice area of peace and quiet. A place for meditation for some souls, and the big space around the lake is currently used for runners to exercise. I did, once before, get some shots of Springboks (South African buck) here at the lake, but this time around they were not here. Maybe next time.
Such is life.
I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
Thank you kindly for supporting this post.
I’m sure those birds appreciate that people are making an effort to preserve the place. It’s comforting to know many people still care about it. Lovely shots, btw!
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The birds will now be there for future generations to come, and we are happy with the outcomes. There are many nature lovers in the area. Thank you, btw :)
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I'm glad to hear that it looks like it will be saved from those developers. They are money hungry everywhere in the world and will build anything they can without thinking twice about the natural environment. They tend to be a greedy bunch...
Such beautiful birds! So much variety of species all gathered in one spot. Flamingos have the same look pretty much around the world don't they? The American Flamingos are of course pink rather than white but look very similar. They used to be abundant in Florida but were hunted into extinction there. Fortunately, in Central and South America they are still abundant, even in the Caribbean. Every now and again you can see some returning to Florida, it was a shame that hunters were allowed to do that.
I love those shots, spoon bills and flamingos, and even tiny birds as well. I'm glad to hear that nature preserve will be coming into effect to protect that spot indefinitely!
!BEER
!PIZZA
Profit might be a part of it, but there are also other factors to consider. People are streaming into the province, and they all want a home to live in. Space is minimal for developments, and it's very expensive to build new roads and infrastructure, before the houses can be built.
The flamingos here come down from other northern countries in Africa. They come here to breed during our spring and summer seasons. As soon as our summer moves into Autumn, they will all go back up north as it's hotter there. I think the ones in the post is from the last breed, and they will also be gone soon when they are ready to fly. So sad to see that they were hunted into extinction in Florida, and I wonder why they were hunted.
Thank you, and I was so glad to see that it was spoon bills when I downloaded the camera. Once that the lake is filled again by the winter rains, there will be hundreds of bird species more to be seen during the spring season :)
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!BEER
The sad part is that the hunting was mainly for sport. But 100 years ago people worried less about the environment that we do today. They nearly hunted the American bison into extinction as well back in the 1800's!
Yeah, they called it sport, and today it's frowned upon. One needs a permit to hunt over here, but we have a big problem with poachers.
interesting mix of birds. Great news about reserve!