Driving around the mostly dry and rocky terrain, most time was spent bird watching but I was also looking out for areas that could use in my landscape paintings. Stunning is the word that came to mind again and again as we moved deeper into the mountains. More birds were found including a key species for the area - Bearded Vulture! This was one of the birds we were most desperate to see so thanks to Paul for spotting it and to Steve for the photos.
We were a little surprised not to see more African animals but the birds more than made up for it. Along with Cape Vulture spotted above the ridge was a soaring Lanner Falcon which I later did a painting of.
Relaxing back at the Chalet, time was spent mostly birding from the porch and it was surprising how many birds we saw!
Later a short walk along the shore turned up an African Harrier Hawk (Gymnogene) along with other birds - including quite a few annoyingly unfamiliar cisticolas!!! Well we can hope for better luck next time! All in all, an amazing trip at Qwantani.
This concludes my African adventure for the moment although I may come back to my SA visit later on (as I finish more paintings) - for now it is on to new things!
Lanner Falcon painting above, watercolor on Arches paper, 7" x 11". Bearded Vulture, Buff-streaked Chat and Cape Weaver photos by Steve Pearse.
3 comments:
This Lanner portrait is absolutely awesome!
Great Lanner portrait.
I like the name "Bearded Vulture" because I can never pronounce "Lammer-whatsit" properly, especially not in SA.
Paschalis, thanks for the comment and also for dropping by.
Thanks John. I pronounce it 'Lammergirer' but I think I have also heard it pronounced 'Lammergeerer' - still have no clue as to which is correct - WTH, lets just stick with Bearded Vulture - much easier!
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