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Hi other netters interested in the Shipandani WBNHs

The WBNHs (yes, plural...) were seen on 23 and 24 September 2006, at which stage they were sitting on a clutch of 3 eggs. Directly in front of the hide on the far side of the river is a solitary palm tree / bush growing out of / on the river bank - the nest was situated in overhanging vegetation directly below and slightly to the left of the palm (if you were to draw an imaginary square over the palm, the nest was in the bottom left hand corner of the square... if that makes any sense...?).

The best views were probably obtained from the first 3 benches on your left as you enter the hide and, although well camouflaged when sitting still on the nest, the bird was nonetheless visible. Both prospective parents did however come and go at irregular intervals, at which point they'd obligingly pose for saturation scope and binocular views (I hate it when that happens...).

Good luck and let the rest of us know if there are any hatchlings / fledglings around!

WHITE-BACKED NIGHT-HERONS AND OTHER GEMS ON THE LETABA RIVER

I was in the northern Kruger National Park last weekend and stayed at Shimuweni Bush Camp - north-west of Letaba. We enjoyed some terrific birding without even leaving the the camp, with all the usual suspects putting in an appearance. In the late afternoon we decided to go on the 'sunset' drive organised by the camp and our excellent driver-guide Johan took us across a causeway on the Letaba River. As the sun was setting, a glorious female Greater Painted Snipe was seen on the causeway, with a radiant Malachite Kingfisher perched directly behind it, low in the reeds; quite a picture! Also tip-toeing about in the shallows were Greenshank, Wood Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Black Crake and Three-banded Plover. On our return over this same causeway at about 19h15, an adult and immature White-backed Night- Heron were fishing (or frogging?) in the shallow water as it spilled over the road . . . the birds were quite relaxed in the spotlight and provided brilliant views as hundreds of fireflies danced above the inky water (this magical sighting overshadowed the powerful male Leopard we had encountered about ten minutes earlier). Watching a glowing full moon rise above the leafless baobab trees, while an African Scops-Owl chirped nearby, rounded off a memorable evening.

We were lucky to spend the last week in Skukuza while attending a workshop. No work trip would be complete without working some birding into the mix.

With the workshop starting at 08:00 we (Tertius Gous and myself) left camp at 05:30 on Tuesday morning for Lake Panic (and subsequent mornings) to see if we could relocate the White-backed Night-heron I saw 3 weeks ago while on holiday.

We located the bird within 30 minutes and over the 3 mornings and 2 afternoons spend in the hide I observed the birds for close to 10 hours making it easier to relocate it each time. Wednesday morning at 07:40 the one bird (by this time we determined that there were 2) treated us by coming out in the open. As the workshop starts at 08:00 the only logical decission was to be late as we had to get some photographs.

This morning (Thursday) we also located the nest within the thicket the birds keep too and could see the movement of at least one chick on the nest [Jakkalsbessie subsequently informed me that they saw 2 chicks on 6/2/2011]. Those who know Lake Panic will be familiar with the fallen tree across the way and the thicket under which the hippos like to lie. The best place to search from is the extreme left of the hide facing at an angle into the thicket. As the birds sit very still one will have to scan and scan and scan the thicket constantly although round about 07:20 the birds become a bit more “active“ preening feathers and with the sun reaching parts of the thicket they might move into less dense areas.

In addition to the birds above we also on 3 consecutive evenings observed one bird flying upstream (right to left) over the Sabie river in front of Skukuza. All observations were between 18:30 and 18:40. The best position is the benches next to the river beneath the ABSA guest house (facing the river this is to the far left) As the time gets close keep a vigilant look out for the bird down stream as it appears quickly and flies with determination. It keeps about 2m above the water. The times given are when we saw it now but it might be that the bird does not wear a watch and just wait for specific light intensity to show itself so get to the spot just after 18:00 with some liquid refreshment and enjoy the bush sounds while waiting.

Hopefully some of you would be fortunate enough to visit Kruger soon and also connect with these birds if you still need to tick them.