Sunday, February 1, 2009

YT Sandgrouse update

With the thought of adding another pentad to the BASH statistics (see the SABAP2 webpage), we headed off to atlas pentad 2525_2705 yesterday. Sadly, after one thing and another, we only managed 1.5 hours before calling it quits.




The list started off well, with species like Yellow Canary, Abdim's Stork, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Chestnut-backed Sparrowlark and Yellow-throated Sandgrouse showing well. I'll know the full total when I get around to submitting the list.
Using atlassing as the excuse, my main target was to located the YT Sandgrouse again, and I was not disappointed. This site is proving very reliable.
To start, 1 male and 2 females were noted feeding in the ploughed lands, and the next hour saw us noting over 40 sandgrouse along the 3km of road.
This area has the benefit of easier access than the site just south of Sun City, although you have to work for the sighting. No such thing as sitting around waiting for them to land in front of you. With all the rain we have had recently (close on 300mm in January), I haven't ventured down to the Sun City site as getting stuck in black-cotton clay doesn't appeal to me. If we experience a few days of dry weather I will pop past this site and see what arrives. An update will follow if I don't get bogged down.

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