As usual, this is a 'more in hope than expectation' post but here goes. All photographed at Northern Farm yesterday morning (March 7th).

First one I think is our old friend the Steppe Buzzard but when we firs saw it it seemed maybe a bit too big. Any other suggestions?



Next one is, I think, a canary. When we saw them fly from one tree to another, one definitely had a yellow rump but Mariana's convinced the other one didn't. I have one photo of one of them sitting with its back to us and one blurry in-flight photo. Really not hopeful because there's not much detail in either pic but it's worth a try. My initial though at the time, when I saw the yellow rump, was Black Throated Canary but it looks a bit too robust compared to other ones I've seen.





Last one is baffling me. I'm thinking maybe a juvenile of something. It seems sparrow shaped with a greyish breast speckled with light brown and a small, darkish bill. Any ideas?

1. Agree on Steppe Buzzard.
2. ? Southern Red Bishop Female, although I cannot see streaking on the chest in the 2nd photo. . Black-throated will have more of a streaked back and yellow rump.

Hmmm....

1) Steppe Buzzard
2) It is definitely a Bishop/Widowbird. If you hay it had a yellow rump (cannot see that here) then it would be Yellow Bishop female
3) Interesting one... Brownish - very heavy bill. Very strange bill indeed. I would possibly go with female Cuckoo Finch? Would like to see other angles though. Also has a bit of a Black-throated canary look to it but the bill looks too heavy in pic one!!

Thanks guys.

Bird number two confused us because it seemed that one had a yellow rump (only visible in flight) and the other didn't. I definitely saw a yellow rump on one of them as they flew from one tree into the one where I photographed them and it reminded me of Black Throated Canary but as I said, it seems too 'chunky' for a BTC from my few observations of the ones round here. I'll run the Yellow Bishop theory past Mariana when she gets home because she saw them through the binoculars which, at 16 x 50, give a clearer view than my camera's 300mm lens. She said one seemed to have black patches on its wings ( the one I only caught in-flight in my photos), which made us think transitional male something or other but we never even looked at Yellow Bishop. I'll let her look at the details we have here (two field guides plus Roberts Multimedia) and see what she thinks.

Sadly, bird number three never changed position as we observed it, it just sat facing us for about 30 seconds then flew off. The only other shot I got was from the same angle but with its head turned directly towards the camera. I was thinking juvenile flycatcher of some description but couldn't find one whose desciption fits this bird. Wouldn't a Cuckoofinch be yellow?

I think they'll probably both go down as "we'll never know", unless anyone else has any ideas.

Thanks again.

Ô¿Ô

A female Cuckoo Finch is a lot less yellow.

Sorry I meant Juvenile Cuckoo Finch

Hi,
bird no 3: looks like Black-throated Canary to me.
bird no 2: agree with Yellow Bishop.
bird no 1: first impression is sub-adult Jackal Buzzard.
Michael

Thanks guys, much appreciated.

We've decided bird 2 was definitely Yellow Bishop. When I asked Mariana to describe again what she saw through the bins she said the one with the bright yellow rump had some black on the wings but described it as being irregular markings rather than a pattern. Since this is the end of their breeding season in this area it would make sense that there will be some transitional males. It also explains why the yellow rump was not so evident on the other one if it's a female. That makes it lifer number four for the day.

I'm still not sure about bird three. Juvenile Cuckoo Finch does seem a possibility, but then so does Black Throated Canary. We'll just leave that one unticked (we already have BTC anyway).

As for the buzzard, I agree with Steppe Buzzard for this one. I looked at Jackal Buzzard but to my eyes the wings of the Jackal Buzzard in flight are broader and more rounded than this bird and the tail slightly shorter. Also, this bird seems to have a dark bar at the end of the tail, which I can't see on Jackal Buzzard, so I'm sticking with Steppe.

Thanks again.

Ô¿Ô

Hi All,

I found this website to help me identify the birds. It has very nice pics and it is in Afrikaans and English.

www.birdpics.co.za

Happy Birding!

Sorry to wade in once your minds have already been made up. Without looking to closely at the second 2 birds, the first one is without doubt Jackal Buzzard. i know buzzards can be really tricky, what with their super-variable plumages and all, but working in the berg i am constantly in contact with both buzzards, and this is def jackal