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What will you do without me, Lightroom and Photoshop!?
You sound a bit edgy DD, have some trouble sleeping lately?

How did you know? I will sleep when I am dead.. Time to go do 500 squats... (not even joking about that one)

Ja maybe it's the small-billed race of Sabota Lark haha.
Wow 500 squats, good luck walking this weekend Daan!

Size is everything Matt.. shame poor fellow, no wonder he is hanging around like-sized beaks.

Must have got it on the cheap

After the squats then I pressume...

This one confuses me... It looks a lot like a Lesser Grey Shrike, but the forehead is completely grey (not black like the books show). It was also seen in an area where there were a lot of Red-backed Shrikes, but no rufous on the wings and back.

Taken in Kruger (Central)

What do you think?

Hello all
My son and I are puzzled by this one. Everything (GISS, colouring)about it says Crow, and probably Cape Crow, but the bill is yellowy/reddish as opposed to black. The colouring pattern doesn't sugggest it has been eating anything yellow.The photo was taken at Midmar Dam in October.

Any ideas from the fundis?

Thanks
Pete

Hi PNM, your mystery bird is definitely a Cape Crow. The soil seems to be quite red in the locality and a mole seems to have been quite active. Had it been raining sometime before the photo was taken? The crow had probably been doing some extensive digging looking for food, as the colour of the bill is similar to that of the soil.

Hi Johannes van Niekerk, this is definitely a Lesser Grey Shrike. It appears to be a juvenile coming into adult plumage. If you look closely at the forehead the feathers are slightly barred and the black mask is also only behind the eyes. Also Newman's 1991 states that the front of the mask is often absent between November to early January. A juvenile Lesser Grey Shrike has extensive barring on the head and back, and also to a lesser extent on the flanks. The pinkish/buffish wash on the flanks is a feature of the adult bird. A good picture

Twitchers - help please with this poor quality photo . I found this bird on the open mud flats looking out from the Geelbek hide in the West Coast National Park. My best guess is an immature Blacksmith Lapwing, but I am not sure. Added to this is that the Blacksmith (I believe) will not readily take to these tidal flats. Legs are too long (I think) for Ruddy Turnstone. Any help please?

It's a Grey Plover in transitional plumage.

Hi Scipio, your bird looks like a Little Stint.

Yip, Little Stint.