LYCPC

The Durban Country Club is laying new greens on the golf course so the course is closed.  This gave Dad and I the opportunity to do a bit of bird watching along the side of the greens, and for Wren to practice putting in an area that would usually be very busy on a Sunday morning.

It was a lucky outing.

There's a dwarf bittern or juvenile green heron in here.
It thinks its hiding.

Down by the pond under a big leafed tree, we saw a dwarf bittern or juvenile green heron.  We saw it many times - it flew into the reeds, then up to a tree, then reperched itself.  Despite the notoriously short range of the Lumix zoom, I was able to get this passable shot of the bittern.  A dwarf bittern is a secretive and tricky bird.  Dad says that it is not terribly rare but he has only seen one about 6 times in his life.   However, a green heron is more common but also sneaky.  I shall post a super enlarged one below to see if Mum has any opinion on this discussion.

Green heron (j) or Dwarf bittern? 

This is the reflection of leaves in the pond

We also saw some more wooly necked storks, natal robins, sacred ibis, yellow-billed kite, fork-tailed dronga, masked weavers, cisticola, amethyst sunbird and various other small yellow birds Dad calls "canaries".  All this was without binoculars.

There are a startling number of "canaries" in Durban - more than I remembered.  Every time I see a new exciting yellow bird on the ground Dad says "probably canaries".   I am not sure whether Dad is correct or merely lazy with their identification.   They are the new version of the LBB (little brown bugger) - my LYCPC (little yellow critter probably canary).

There was one particular little yellow bird which had a red blush under its chin which I am still trying to identify.  The female was more buff and it was the size of a weaver.  I am guessing (without binoculars) that it was a Cape Weaver.

I also took a picture of a lovely pattern of leaves in the pond.  I was thinking of printing a few larger versions of it to hang on the wall.   I thought Jen would appreciation my meditation in taupe.

Wren enjoyed the outing with us... especially the putting on the practice golf T.  We found some lost balls in the shrubbery and Wren decreed that the florescent yellow ball was The Winners Ball.   Frost remained at home because he said "this one day I am feeling less than half of 1000%.  I am just TIRED!"

Wren sitting in an Erythrina
sucking a nice sour bush plum