SANParks.org Forums

Beautiful summer visitor to the Kruger. Most likely to be seen perched at the top of trees.

Richard

more photos and larger versions here

Awesome pics, Richard!

Where exactly did you take them?

At about a 2 o'clock position on the 2nd tree at the 3rd inlet on the Pafuri-Crooks road

Saw them several places - but these were just down the main road from Punda.

Richard

Also the most consitant place I've spot them so far.

BTW great shot and well done at spotting the spider webs, I had to look twice before seeing them

Seen them a few times on the dirt road to Thulamila waterhole found between Punda gate and camp. On 30 Dec 2006 we had 5 of them chasing one another around a tree.

Klopperfontein dam road

Pafuri area.

Mahonie loop.

If I remember correctly, during 2006 HR's birding weekend we only saw one quite a distance away. This year we had far more sightings.

Take a trip to Punda and do the Mahonie loop. Found them there on every visit, sometimes the call gets your attention first

Thanks francoisd, Next time i'm up there I'll keep looping until i find one

Saw this one in the Shingwedzi area - and some in the Punda area too. Nov 2008

Beautiful pics! We saw plenty of them down Richard's Bay way last weekend, on the road heading NE out of the town towards Richard's Bay Minerals' premises and beyond. So whoever lives in that area is bound to see them if you take that road!

We were also luck to have a few sightings of these birds in November….our first ever.
Unfortunately we were not able to get good photos of any of our sightings…actually battled with photos throughout or trip due to the cloudy weather (not complaining tho…the rain was a blessing! )

The first sighting was on the tar road just before Shingwedzi

Larger view

The second was just a short distance from Shingwedzi on the S50 towards Kanniedood….really bad photo, but I’m posting this because if I look at the tree, I think this might be the same birds DB saw? We have noticed they have a specific tree that they normally return to.

Larger view

In Kruger we also had 1 sighting near Punda and two more sightings in the Pafuri. In Mapungubwe we also had two sightings. At the Treetop walk I almost got an in-flight shot…eish, if the light were just a bit better!

Larger view

Got this one just outside of Richards Bay. They were quite plentiful in the area

Hi
After a round of golf at Skukuza on Saturday and sitting in front of the club house having a well deserved beer, we saw 3 Broadbilled Rollers sitting in the dead tree in the dam near the first tee box. As far as I know they would be at the extremities of their distribution here and I have only seen them way up north and at Kosi Bay before.

Found mine in Pafuri and 2 more on the Morhene loop near Puna Maria

I see them from time to time around Tzaneen.

Question on RichardHarris's pics:

Is the bird on the left in the first pic a juvenile? The belly is much more blue than the other one. My guides doesn't indicate a difference between the sexes.