Stranded grassowl

I found this unfortunate African Grass-Owl hanging on a barbed-wire fence next to the road between Bredasdorp and Struisbaai in the Western Cape in October 2007. It was hooked onto the wire by the skin and feathers of its left wing and must have been there for at least a few hours. The owl held on to the wire with its left claw in an effort to reduce the weight pulling on its injured wing. It did not attempt to bite me as I freed it using a multitool, and took it to the local vet, Dr Hensie Lategan, who treated it. The owl’s wing healed quickly and it was therefore quite a shock when the vet discovered it dead one morning.

Although there used to be a breeding pair of African Grass-Owls at De Hoop Nature Reserve, in the general vicinity of Bredasdorp, records reveal that this is unusually far south for this species – possibly loss of habitat is forcing it to extend its range?

Wessel van Zyl, Bredasdorp, Western Cape

Fynbos on special

While shopping at the Spar in Bredasdorp, Western Cape, we found ourselves in the company of a Malachite Sunbird, busily enjoying the nectar from the cut proteas on sale. The bird obviously knows what’s good for it!

Eddie & Angela Cassani via e-mail

Lucky strike

On a recent visit to the Kruger National Park, I was driving along the S63 loop near Pafuri when I noticed a group of White-fronted Bee-eaters flying around a dead tree stump. They would fly up to and around it, calling all the while. Curious to discover the reason for their actions, I watched them for several minutes. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of movement. This attracted my attention and I realised why the birds had been behaving in this fashion – there was a python on the stump. The bee-eaters were mobbing it in a bid to encourage it to leave, but unfortunately for one bird which did not judge the distance between itself and the adversary well enough, it was to be its last flight. The snake had waited for just such a mistake and took full advantage of the opportunity. In an instant, the bird had been caught and held. It took several minutes for the bird to be dispatched, during which time the other bee-eaters continued to fly about in agitation. Finally, its meal finished, the python slid slowly away and everything returned to normal.

Dave Corderyl

Larder mentality

Words such as pugnacious and opportunistic come to mind when discussing the Common
Fiscal. The species is well known for its habit of impaling its various food items on sharp objects, such as barbed wire and acacia thorns. In the absence of these in June Stannard’s garden in KwaZulu-Natal, a Common Fiscal found Strelitzia reginae flowers suitable
substitutes for its larder of assorted creatures.

Golden moment While staying at Nkurru Lodge in Madikwe, we were fortunate enough to obtain a pretty good sighting of the yellow-morph Crimson-breasted Shrike. It's taken me 25 years to hit the jackpot. The bird was in acacia woodland and in the company of Southern Pied Babblers, which is often the case. Alan Calenborne, Johannesburg

Robin goes camping We visited the Kruger National Park and stayed in one of the safari tents at Letaba Camp. In view of the heat we had every possible tent flap open and rolled up. On our first morning, we noticed a pair of Bearded Robins collecting grasses and other nesting materials and, to our surprise we found that they were starting to build a nest in a cavity formed by one of the rolled-up tent-flaps. By the time we left they had almost completed the nest and were quite settled! Ed Aylmer, Johannesburg