The Cape White-eye ( Zosterops virens ).

This “White-eye” is one of the three “White eye’s ” we have in Southern Africa, the others are the African Yellow White -eye and the Orange River White-eye, there is only a slight colouration difference between the species. The Orange River White-eye has peach coloured flanks and the African Yellow White-eye has no green tones around it’s belly.

At a height of around 11 Cm’s and weighing in at around 11 Grams, this little Bird is very active and therefore constantly needs to feed on Nectar, fruit and insects. It is a common resident in gardens, woodlands and thickets they also like to eat jam as-well.

The Jackal Buzzard ( Buteo rufofuscus ) .

This Bird of Prey is found throughout Southern Africa . From the Western Cape right up to Southern Zimbabwe, it is one of the larger Buzzards weighing in at around 700-900 Grams.

And standing at a height of around 60 Cm’s . The reason for it’s name being the Jackal Buzzard is it’s call, which sounds like the Black Backed Jackal. Their Diet consists of small Mammals, reptiles and other Birds. The Bird is very similar to the Augar Buzzard but the under-wings area are of a different colour.

The Cape Dwarf Chameleon ( Bradypodion pumilum ) .

We found this little guy hiding in a tree were we stayed, while on holiday in Cape Town, they are mainly found in the Southwestern corner of South Africa but have been reported as far East as Cape Agulhas.

This Chameleon is one of the larger dwarf  Chameleons reaching at least 14 Cm’s in length. Their coloration is dependent on their habitat ranging from greenish-brown to lime green.

Some individuals have pink, purple, blue or even orange patches on their sides. The typical form of the Cape Dwarf Chameleon is often found in urban gardens which have ”Fynbos” or “renosterveld” or even thicket vegetation.

First of all we hoped everybody had a happy Christmas and all the best for the new year.

The Peregrine Falcon ( Falco peregrinus ) . This Bird is found in lots of places within Southern Africa from the Western Cape to the Northern parts of the Country.

The two pictures you see above are of an adult, the juveinle  tends to be a lighter brown in colour as seen in the bottom two pictures. Standing at about 34 to 44 Cm’s tall and weighing in at around 680 grams to 1.3 Kg’s , this Bird as got to be one of the most iconic Birds of Prey there is.

Diving onto it’s prey in a teardrop shape at very high speeds indeed around 300 km/h.The Bird is more common in the Western Cape, as it prefers the large cliffs and gorges from which to hunt from.

Their diet consists of mainly Birds mostly pigeons also sometimes Bats. This Bird is similar to our Lanner Falcon which is even more common than this one.

The Little Sparrowhawk ( Accipiter minullus ) . This Bird of Prey is found in the northern regions of Southern Africa. The Hawk weighs in at around 120 grams and stands at about a height of around 26 Cm’s tall. Normally this Bird is mainly grey in colour but as a juvenile it is brown.

The pictures you see above are of a Male Juvenile, when this Bird is around you will not find any small Birds in the area as it likes to eat them.  Also their diet consists of  small mammals, reptiles and insects. The Little Sparrowhawk likes to make it’s home in the forests and woodlands of Southern Africa. As this Bird is very secretive we were very lucky to get these shots.