A Greater Spotted morning

Week 44; 03 November 2017 - JPR

My chaperoning for Jaden's weekly surveys will continue until January next year - so it will be interesting to see how diversity and abundance changes as autumn changes to winter.

At the small hide, there were 4 Greater Spotted Eagles that appear to have roosted overnight and all seemed damp from the dew - but gave some great photo opportunities

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

A Great Reed Warbler was seen working through the reeds at the tower

Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus)

Also seen was Indian Reed Warbler. Good for comparison to Greater Reed

Indian Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus s. brunnescens)

And a Grey Heron was feeding in one of the channels

Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)

A slow drive on the transect revealed Daurian Shrike

Daurian Shrike (Lanius isabellinus)

And a Eurasian Wryneck that I didn't expect to find in the reeds

Eurasian Wryneck (Jynx torquilla)

In the wooded area, we found European Stonechat

Female European Stonechat (Saxicola rubicola)

and another Greater Spotted Eagle

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

At the more open shallow pool, a few wader species were actively foraging; Common Redshank

Common Redshank (Tringa totanus)

Curlew Sandpiper

Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea)

And some Ruff, one of which had me going for awhile, as it just seemed 'odd'

The Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) that had me going for awhile

On the way to the outfall, a Namaqua Dove was perched on the boundary fence of the reserve

Male Namaqua Dove (Oena capensis)

And at the outfall, another 3 or 4 Greater Spotted Eagles

Greater Spotted Eagle (Aquila clanga)

As I mentioned previously, JPR is the place for the magnificent Greater Spotted Eagles in winter.