Mid-January saw us arrive in Kwa-Zulu Natal into the heat of the South African summer to celebrate Mom’s 80th birthday with a family gathering. Having spent the last quarter century in New Zealand, I have long since lost any acclimatisation I had to the heat and humidity so try and avoid South Africa in the summer. It was, however, lovely to see the country in it’s summer green rather than the winter brown. The next series of blog posts will cover our travels over the 4 weeks in a mostly chronological order, focussing mainly on bird photography but with some landscapes and accommodation reviews.  We started in Kwa-Zulu Natal and then spend 2 weeks touring in the Western Cape before returning to KZN. Visit Edin’s blog to see her images and perspectives of our trip.

We gathered at Midlands Saddle and Trout resort near Mooi River and being closer to the Drakensberg helped temper the heat. We had stayed here in the past when the children were much younger and I had come to celebrate Dad’s 80th in the February 11 years prior but had only a vague recollection of the details of the resort. I knew that there were two dams which were good for birds so we had planned to base our bird photography around these. The resort is situated at the top of a hill and on arrival we found our unit was right at the edge of the hilltop and looked out over a steep drop-off with views of the surrounding farmland. The breeze up the slope created excellent dynamic lift resulting in swarms of swallows and swifts hawking insects, as well as regular passings of Yellow-billed kites, Amur falcons and even a juvenile Fish Eagle.

Tracking fast flying swifts and swallows is always a challenge with a 500mm lens but we managed some interesting images which I am sharing today. I’m always excited to get flight pictures of these little speedsters, partially because it is a challenge but mainly because it gives you a chance to appreciate their details which are not visible as they streak about the sky. Future posts will cover some of the birds from the dams as well a couple of unforgettable day trips to Giants Castle during our week in the Midlands.