Giant’s Castle is known for its vultures, and I will write a few posts about them soon. Today I wanted to focus on the other birdlife we encountered while staying in there. There’s plenty of it! I love the sheer diversity of birdlife in South Africa, and the challenge of learning to recognise so many different species.

Female Buff-streaked Chats aren’t quite as striking as their male counterparts, but they’re still very sweet. One of my favourite things about staying at Giant’s Castle in winter is the warm fragrance of dry grass in the sun, and the warm colour it gives the landscape. The blue in the background is actually distant hills, and backlighting gives definition to the branches reaching up out of the scrub.

Cape Robin-Chats are inquisitive little birds. Their white eyebrows make them look very serious! It was hard to get a clear background in the tangled branches, but persistence (and lying on the ground) paid off to get this composition.

Red-winged Starlings are everywhere. I love their glossy blue-black plumage with bright red wing-flashes. You can tell the males and females apart easily – females have grey heads, while males are glossy all over. This one was very co-operative and spent a long time perched on the tree just outside our rooms – so I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a few rusks while photographing!

Greater Double-collared sunbird. I had more luck with these guys last time we were at Giant’s, in summer (although less so with the Malachite sunbirds!). They’re always a joy to see though, tiny iridescent bundles of life. This one briefly perched on a distant exposed branch just as the light was dying, so I went for a ‘bird in habitat’ image. Against the dry winter grass, his jewel-green back really pops out.

Gurney’s Sugarbird in aloes. We spent a long time waiting for light, waiting for poses, waiting for birds! Finally this one came along and sang his little heart out in a perfect pose. The textured tendrils of the aloe were too good to leave out of the frame.

Not a bird! Dassies nibble on the new leaves in the trees, and they’re surprisingly good at leaping and clambering up. They’re not so good at getting down again! Plus they’re adorable with a slight hint of menace.