...and sadly I couldn't embrace the duck as I would get wet :)
I have posted the Bishop at the nature reserve recently, and here are some more shots that I took at the nature reserve.
Southern Africa covers a land area of approximately 3.5 million square kilometers and has a high bird density; more species breed here than in the USA and Canada combined. Southern Africa consists of the following countries south of the Kunene, Okavango, and Zambezi rivers, encompassing Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, and southern and central Mozambique.
We live in South Africa and I will put a map at the end of the post to show you where we are.
So, another White-backed duck ((Thalassornis leuconotus), gave me a bathing lesson, as it flipped over upside down and you can see his stomach and his tail sticking out.
They can be identified by the white line below their eyes. I loved the fairy lights created by the sun on the water.
The first duck was clapping his hands at the show, and he shouted to the bathing duck to join the Olympic Games.
He even waved goodbye to us as we walked further along the dam side. A real showman posing for the camera.
Just a great shot of the duck at the back, and a Black Crake photo bombing by running into the photo.
Now this guy is a Cape Weaver (Ploceus capensis), and he was building a house to attract a possible female.
Lovely eyes as he gave me a look.
One can even see the Atlantic Ocean from a high mountain foot hill in the reserve.
I mentioned that I will show you a map of where we live, and you can see it here below.
See the little arrow at the bottom of the map? That's where we live in the Cape Province at the southern tip of the African continent.
So, as you can see on the map, we live in a big country with many biomes of desert, forest, fynbos, and so on, as listed on the map. Some say that it will take several lifetimes to explore every biome listed. I was fortunate to pay short visits to every biome on the map, but I can tell you that it is almost impossible to cover every country in Southern Africa. We also have hundreds of birds coming in during the summer to breed in South Africa, and we are now currently waiting for the flamingos to arrive. I will share posts of them, as soon as they arrive.
That's all folks.
Late edit; I just read the post and discovered that I had forgotten to cite the source of the bird information and the map. I usually cite everything that is not my own, and I apologize for this mistake.
So, without further ado, here below is the source.
A Book, Sasol Birds of South Africa. ISBN 978-1-77584-668-0
I hope you have enjoyed the pictures and the story.
Photos by Zac Smith-All Rights Reserved.
Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.
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