Bird-watching in Kruger (May and June 2019)

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With over 500 species recorded, the Kruger National Park deserves its reputation as one of South Africa’s finest bird-watching destinations through and through. We’ve already shown you the cute little Spurfowl chicks that strutted all over the Park during our visits in May and June this year, but there was so much more feathered variety to point our lenses at that it surely deserves a dedicated post!

This first gallery of images were taken in the south of the Park on my solo trip to Pretoriuskop and Skukuza – all in all I ticked 110 species in the 4 days I spent south of the Sabie River.

Ashy Flycatcher
Blacksmith Lapwings
Black-winged Stilt
Goliath Heron with its catch
Grey Heron
Laughing Dove
Purple-crested Turaco
Fulvous Whistling Duck “ducks” as two Water Thick-knees come in to land at Transport Dam
African Firefinch
African Hawk Eagle
Immature Bateleur
Bearded Woodpecker
Black-collared Barbet
Black Crake
Black-crowned Tchagra
Black Flycatcher
Blue Waxbill
Brown-headed Parrot
Brown Snake Eagle
Cape Glossy Starling
Cape Turtle Dove
Chinspot Batis
Common Fiscal
Crested Francolin
African Darter
Egyptian Geese flying low over Lake Panic
African Fish Eagle
Fork-tailed Drongo
Golden-breasted Bunting
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Grey Go-away Bird
Grey-headed Sparrow
Groundscraper Thrush
Helmeted Guineafowl
Helmeted Guineafowl
African Hoopoe
Kurrichane Buttonquail
Kurrichane Thrush
Lappet-faced Vulture
Lilac-breasted Roller
Little Bee-eater
Magpie Shrike
Neddicky
African Openbill
African Pied Wagtail
Purple Roller
Red-billed Oxpecker
Red-billed Queleas
Green, or Red-billed, Wood Hoopoe
Saddle-billed Stork with nestlings
African Spoonbill (with a Sacred Ibis just behind)
Tawny Eagle
Three-banded Plover
Wattled Starlings
White-backed Vultures
White-backed Vultures
White-backed Vultures
White-crowned Lapwing
Wire-tailed Swallow
Yellow-billed Hornbill
Yellow-billed Stork
Yellow-breasted Apalis
Yellow-throated Bush Sparrow

Two weeks later, this time with Marilize and Joubert alongside, we headed to the north of the Kruger Park, basing ourselves at our favourite Shingwedzi for 9 nights, during which time we recorded 99 species of birds.

Green-winged Pytilia (male)
Egyptian Goose in flight (Joubert’s photo)
Blacksmith Lapwings
Saddle-billed Stork
Pied Kingfisher
Hamerkop
Grey Heron
Green-backed Heron
Goliath Heron
Close-up Yellow-billed Hornbill (Photo by Joubert)
Water Thick-knees (Photo by Joubert)
Saddle-billed Stork (Photo by Joubert)
Little Sparrowhawk (Photo by Joubert)
Greater Blue-eared Starling (Photo by Joubert)
Fork-tailed Drongo (Photo by Joubert)
Fish Eagle taking off (Photo by Joubert)
African Grey Hornbill
Red-billed Hornbill
Yellow-billed Hornbill
African Hawk Eagle
Immature Bateleur
Bearded Woodpecker
Bennett’s Woodpecker (male)
Black-backed Puffback
Brown-crowned Tchagra
Black-headed Oriole
Southern Black Tit
Blue Waxbill
Bronze-winged Courser
Chinspot Batis
Cinnamon-breasted Bunting
Crested Barbet
Double-banded Sandgrouse
Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
African Fish Eagle in flight with nesting material
Fork-tailed Drongo
Golden-tailed Woodpecker
Greater Blue-eared Starling
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Grey Tit Flycatcher
Jameson’s Firefinch
Kori Bustards
Lanner Falcon
Laughing Doves
Little Bee-eater
Long-billed Crombec
Martial Eagle
African Mourning Dove
Namaqua Dove
Namaqua Dove
Ostriches
Pearl-spotted Owlet
Pied Crow
Red-billed Oxpecker
Green, or Red-billed, Wood-hoopoe
Sabota Lark
Saddle-billed Stork
Immature Spectacled Weaver
African Spoonbills
Tawny Eagle with hare prey
Tawny Eagle
Verreaux’s Eagle Owl
White-fronted Bee-eater
White-headed Vulture
Yellow-billed Oxpecker

 

50 thoughts on “Bird-watching in Kruger (May and June 2019)”

    1. de Wets Wild Post author

      Thanks again, Carol!
      I live in the hope that that desire for finding one of the “hairy and scary” creatures will open visitors’ eyes to the other treasures too, so that in time they’ll appreciate the whole spectrum a little more with every return visit.

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  4. Pingback: What makes the Kruger “THE KRUGER”? | de Wets Wild

  14. Reflections of an Untidy Mind

    What a bird paradise. Such diversity. Fantastic photos, Dries. How you managed to pick just one photo to show off the collection is beyond me. 🙂

    The grey go-away bird – the name had me smiling. I also particularly loved the saddle-billed stork and the martial eagle.

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