Grey-Headed Kingfisher

English Name Grey-Headed Kingfisher Afrikaans Name Gryskopvisvanger Photographer Pierre Louw Location Lumwana Mine Lease Elna’s Notes The grey head and chestnut belly are diagnostic. Their size is 20-21 cm and sexes are alike. They are a locally common resident breeding intra-African migrant. They frequent well developed broad-leafed woodland and savanna, usually near water but are non-aquatic. They are either solitary or in pairs and would perch for long periods on a branch, scanning the ground below. They beat large prey on the perch before swallowing it. They migrate at night and are often killed by flying into buildings. They eat insects and lizards. Nestlings are fed by both parents. We found this one last September when we went for a drive on the mine lease. He sat quietly for a long time so we could really get a good look at him.

Purple Praying Mantis

English Name ??? Purple Praying Mantis ??? Afrikaans Name Hottentotsgot of Bidsprinkaan??? Photographer Tanya Carmine Location House 2, Cons Camp Elna’s Notes The Wolfenden kids found this beautiful Praying Mantis in their garden a few days ago. Can anyone tell us more about it? I've searched the internet but cannot seem to find anything like it.

Verreaux's (Giant) Eagle-Owl

English Name Verreaux’s (Giant) Eagle-Owl Afrikaans Name Reuse Oor-uil Photographer Melinda Michael Location House 4, Cons Camp Elna’s Notes They are quite large owls (58 to 66 cm). At close range, the pink eyelids and dark brown eyes (not yellow/orange like other eagle owls) are distinctive. They are usually either solitary or in pairs or in family groups of 3 birds. They can apparently become tame. They eat a variety of prey eg mammals, birds (even birds roosting in trees), reptiles, frogs, fish and insects in flight. They prefer areas with tall trees. Pairs breed solitarily and are very widely spaced – seldom closer than 4km to one another. They nest in other birds’ nests, often taking over an occupied nest by forcing the occupants out. The pair calls frequently at night in the vicinity of the nest before laying but once incubation begins, they become relatively silent. They usually lay two eggs but only one young is raised at a time. The youngster remains with the parents until the next breeding season. Pairs do not breed every year. They make a grunting “pig like” sound. I heard two of them last night – in duet near our and Melinda’s house - probably in the same area where this photo was taken in May 2007.

Bar-winged Weaver

English Name Bar-winged Weaver Photographers Sally Fuhri/Elna Louw Location In Captivity at House 5, Cons Camp – see notes on Cherpy below. Elna’s General Notes Not much is known about Bar-winged Weavers. They are endemic to South Central Africa and only found in Zambia, Angola and far southern DRC. They belong to the Bird Species Ploceus angolensis and the Bird Family Ploceidae which includes Weavers, Malimbes, Bishops, Widowbirds and Fodies. They are mainly dark brown and white with diagnostic white wing bars, a creamy coloured mantle, yellow rump and white undertparts. Sexes are alike. Their habitat is Miombo woodland and dry riverine forest. They creep along branches, much like a nuthatch (who can creep upside down) looking for food by probing the bark. Their status is “Uncommon”.

Elna’s Notes on Cherpy Cherpy was a survivor from a fallen tree at the Lumwana Cons Camp. He was still a baby. He spent his first couple of weeks at the Fuhri's and then came to us. He was identified by Jez Simms as a Bar-winged Weaver. Jez was very excited when he first saw Cherpy at our house because they are not very common and very little is known about them. I fed Cherpy on Pro‑Nutro cereal (mixed with a little water) - (Wholewheat & Apple was his favourite flavour – also the wholewheat is good in aiding digestion), fruit, little bits of jam, flying ants and moths. In the beginning we fed him with our finger by pushing the cereal down his beak but he soon started wanting to pick it from your finger so that didn’t work too well anymore as he wasn’t getting enough in to satisfy his hunger. I then started feeding him by putting the cereal into a syringe and pushing that down his beak. It was very time consuming as he wanted to eat about every 90 minutes. Luckily he called when he was hungry and I could then just go and feed him. During the last two months, he started feeding himself totally so I could leave the cereal in his cage with his other snacks and only needed to check on his food a few times a day. He went off the cereal and fruit/jam completely about a month ago and only wanted the flying ants and moths. Every time there were some flying ants around, Piérre, myself, the gardeners and the Wolfenden kids would run about outside, catching flying ants. I would then freeze the “left overs” if we had too many for that day so I could use them on the days when none were available. Cherpy used to eat them straight from the freezer. I called it his “ice lollies”. Finding moths were much easier as we have a big light outside in the back yard to which hundreds of moths are attracted every night so I just went outside around 06h00 every morning and caught enough moths to feed him for the day. The last couple of weeks he consumed at least around 30 moths and about 20 flying ants per day. He has a healthy appetite! It was always interesting (and a bit gory) watching him eating a moth. He would grab it (it had to be a live one – he was not interested in dead moths) and hold it down with one claw while perched on a branch or the cage perch. He would then start eating the moth from its backside – pulling out the insides in long strings – how gross is that! He would then discard the wings and head. I only once saw him swallowing a wing – maybe he does that every so often to aid digestion. The flying ants he would usually turn around and swallow it whole, backside first – never head first. Probably doesn’t like the eyes looking at him! When he still used to eat the fruit and jam, he never drank any water. He only started drinking small amounts of water once he went off the fruit – probably because he didn’t get the moisture from the fruit juices anymore. He also liked to take the occasional bath – usually inside his drinking water bowl. When I started releasing his moths on the verandah for him to catch by himself, he often seemed to try and catch them in flight – usually not succeeding but I’m sure that will come with practice out in the wild.

He is like a little “Jack‑in‑the‑Box” – always moving, moving, moving. He only sat still when he was sleeping. He is a very curios and inquisitive little fellow, not scared of anything new you put in the cage – immediately checking it out. I was sitting down one day writing and he jumped onto the pen, sitting there checking out what I was doing from the top of the pen. He would hang upside down to check things out from underneath and sometimes turn his head upside down looking in under something. He also liked to hang from the clothes line on the verandah and probed everything in sight. His beak is his best tool. He uses his beak very interestingly – he would try and open things with his beak – not only probing but literally “wedging” things apart. For instance, if you held your thumb and forefinger together he would put his beak in between your finger tips and try to force them apart. He did that with everything – lifting the newspaper at the bottom of his cage, lifting the items I put in his cage to keep him busy, etc. I used to hide some of his flying ants under a piece of newspaper, tree bark or inside a little cup or something for him to find (it kept him busy and taught him to find his own food).

The most obvious physical attributes must be the diagnostic bars on the wings and his long toes and nails. He obviously needs those to be able to hang upside down and run downwards on tree trunks. Physical changes over the 3 months he spent with us included starting to fly (he’s a very strong and quick flyer), growing slightly in size, the beak becoming slightly longer and a little bit more downward curved and the beak and feet starting to colour slightly towards black during the last 3 weeks - it was always just a buffy/pinkish colour. Plumage colours have not changed at all – he is the same colouring as he was when he first arrived. My guess is that he must be between 5 and 6 months old now. He does however still have that little “fluffy bits” on his wings but that could be because his diet when staying with us was not 100% correct. He would also during the last week or so sometimes still ask for food (like he did as a baby) but I thought it also might have been because his diet here with us was inadequate for his needs. The flying ants did seem to fill him up more than the moths thought. Cherpy arrived on 19 September 2007 and was released on 16 December 2007. It has now been just over a week since his release and unfortunately we haven’t seen him again.

Pied Kingfisher

English Name Pied Kingfisher Afrikaans Name Bontvisvanger Photographer Henk Diederichs Location Diversion Channel DD1/1 Elna's Notes They are found over most of Africa and habitats include different water sources such as fresh water, coastal lagoons and tidal pools. They perch or hover over the water with its body almost vertical and the head and beak pointed downwards. They eat mostly fish but also crustaceans and insects. They are known to hunt up to 5km from water sources. They are the only black and white kingfisher in the region. Their status is "Common". We have quite a few of them around, especially at the dam area on site.

Bateleur

English Name Bateleur Afrikaans Name Berghaan Photographer Stan Jacobs Location Diversion Channel about 150m East of Diversion Dam 1-2 Stan's Notes It seems to be a favoured place for her. She seemed to be picking up some form of insect and wasn't at all concerned by the bakkie. I have often seen her there and when we were building the dam she actually paid a routine daily visit to the site. One day she picked up a snake that had somehow found its way into the middle of the cleared area and sat in a tree opposite and enjoyed a good breakfast. When we first arrived here (May 2006) she and her mate very quickly learned that wherever the bull dozers were clearing there was a certainty of a "take away". They very soon developed a routine and at times you could almost guarantee they would be at a certain site at a certain time. Last year I saw a juvenile at the road coming into the Process Plant but that was the only time. I was beginning to despair but Mike Sprott from WBHO saw it again at Basalt Hill in early November this year. I really enjoy the bataleurs - they are such good fliers, once into the lift zone they just go without any effort, they must be one of the most efficient fliers the world has ever seen. Elna's Notes Red data book status in S Africa: Vulnerable.

Cattle Egret

English Name Cattle Egret Afrikaans Name Veereier Photographer Elna Louw Location In my back garden (House 5, Cons Camp) Elna's Notes They like to frequent our gardens in the Cons Camp area during the rainy season. They are usually in large flocks, feeding from early morning on the numerous insects attracted by the lights in the camp during the night before. During the heat of the day they often sit around basking in the sun. Breeding males have a pinkish buff colouring on crown, back and breast.