Cape Town Birds 2025
Photographs of birds, mostly in flight, from a March 2025 trip to Cape Town. The album covers two distinct subjects at two distinct locations, both shot on the OM-1 Mark II with the 300mm f/4 Pro prime.
The first set features Cormorants at Intaka Island nature reserve. Cormorants are usually a difficult subject — they spend most of their time standing around, fly low and fast and usually away from you, and their very dark colouring compounds the exposure challenge. On this trip, a tip from a friend led to Intaka, which turned out to be home to an exceptionally active colony. The birds demonstrated their surprisingly dinosaur-like appearance, elaborate nesting behaviour, and a considerable appetite for bits of twig.
The second set was taken at the Kom in Kommetjie and features Sacred Ibis in flight. The Sacred Ibis is a particular favourite, and whilst it has been photographed many times at this location, every so often the birds oblige with an especially fine flying position or a display of their surprisingly colourful wing feathers. The album closes with a Cape Grassbird from a third location at Cape Point.
Photographs in this album include: Cormorants (18 images, Intaka Island), Hungry darling?, Sacred Ibis in flight (7 images, Kommetjie), Cape Grassbird (Cape Point).
For camera settings, techniques and equipment used in shoots like this, see the Technique posts on mcaughtry.photo.