Roodepoort is a suburban town of Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, South Africa. The old Witwatersrand Botanical Gardens was renamed the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. The gardens is one of the national botanical gardens of South Africa.
Emoyeni and Thulani are two other legendary names associated with these gardens. They are the names of the breeding pair of Verreaux Eagles nested on the slopes of the waterfall that forms the backdrop to this garden. The tale of Emoyeni and her three mating partners are legend.
Birding at the gardens is always rewarding as the photos below will show.
The crowned lapwing plovers are present in large numbers foraging amongst the picnic baskets of visitors to the gardens in the amphitheatre section of the gardens. A large flock of pied crows inhabits the hills in the area of the waterfall. It would seem that their sole function is to mob the breeding pair of eagles once the latter take to flight. It would also appear apparent that the eagles do their utmost to ignore the crows. I have also witnessed the crows mob other raptors like the jackal buzzard that flies in the area. The burgeoning crow population in South Africa must raise some concerns in the relevant circles.
The thrush, weavers, bulbuls made their customary appearance. The thrush darting in and out of the thick vegetation alongside the river flowing through the garden are always challenging to photograph. The sighting of a crested barbet is always a visual delight. The photograph does not do justice to the colourful appearance of this bird.
The go away bird or lourie when sighted usually means that a rewarding day birding at the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens is drawing to a close until the next time that I venture up north.
Emoyeni and Thulani are two other legendary names associated with these gardens. They are the names of the breeding pair of Verreaux Eagles nested on the slopes of the waterfall that forms the backdrop to this garden. The tale of Emoyeni and her three mating partners are legend.
Birding at the gardens is always rewarding as the photos below will show.
The crowned lapwing plovers are present in large numbers foraging amongst the picnic baskets of visitors to the gardens in the amphitheatre section of the gardens. A large flock of pied crows inhabits the hills in the area of the waterfall. It would seem that their sole function is to mob the breeding pair of eagles once the latter take to flight. It would also appear apparent that the eagles do their utmost to ignore the crows. I have also witnessed the crows mob other raptors like the jackal buzzard that flies in the area. The burgeoning crow population in South Africa must raise some concerns in the relevant circles.
No comments:
Post a Comment