WOW! The following were taken recently in Van Blomenstein Park by Charlene – well spotted, Charlene suspects the other bird is a black harrier hawk, and that’s a francolin for breakfast…
Peregrin Falcon – fastest bird at rest in Zeekoevlei
Who am I and what have I caught?
Now you can see me better
Yum – not for the squeamish
This is a Black Sparrowhawk. It has been ringed, but you cannot see the rings on the left leg in the photo, so it may not be possible to identify the individual bird. It should be reported to Ann Koeslag who monitors these birds.
As Linda has said, the black bird is a Black Sparrowhawk. The bird up top is a Peregrine Falcon.
Although both of these birds are indigenous to Cape Town, historically they would not have been resident on the Cape Flats. Peregrine Falcon roost and nest along the Peninsula mountains, traveling to the low lands to hunt. There is now a pair resident on the concrete towers at the Strandfontein Sewage Works.
Black Sparrowhawk is a forest species and would have been restricted to the forests along the east of Table Mountain. Alien trees and dense gardens in the southern suburbs have allowed this species to expand their range on to the Cape Flats.
The permanent presence of these predatory species on the Cape Flats has resulted in the local extinction of several smaller bush bird species that rely on open habitat to escape predation. Van Blommestein park area of the nature reserve is thus without smaller bush birds that have not been able to escape the constant hunting pressure exerted by these predatory bird species.
Excellent photies…well done Charlene. Sorry to hear about the loss of bush bird species Dalton…pity they don’t make a bee line for all those racing pigeons we have in the area
lovely photos of these animals, so nice to have nature on onea back door.
Amazing pics, Charlene.
Dalton, does this mean it would be better to remove the non-indigenous van Blommenstein trees? Is such work in the pipeline, or is it too late to restore the habitat that protects the smaller bush species?