Cape Town Birds and Insects in Flight
For many years I only really photographed the majestic Sacred Ibis while in Cape Town. Recently however, I have been exploring other birds at the many wildlife reserves in and near the city. One superb location is the False Bay nature reserve, to the east of Muizenberg. This massive reserve includes the lakes of Rondevlei and Zeekoevlei as well as the huge waste water treatment works at Strandfontein.
The Strandfontein section is a particular paradise for birds and bird lovers, albeit with a slightly fruity atmosphere near the main treatment ponds. It has hundreds of Flamingos, Ibis, Egrets and Pelicans among other species in a peaceful and tourist-free environment. Critically, it’s possible to drive right the way through it, which makes for a very productive session every visit.
Another very productive area which was new to me this trip was the shoreline at the Kom – the natural lagoon that forms the heart of Kommetjie on the Atlantic coast. I have photographed Ibis on the lagoon shores, but there is a much more diverse bird population on the Atlantic shoreline. This is not at all easy to physically reach but with a long (800mm FFE) lens and a bit of scrambling it’s possible to get just close enough to capture the little buggers in flight.
There are also a few photos in this album from the wonderful Intaka reserve, more fully described in the next album of Kingfisher photos. Plus, I have added some shots of (mostly) dragonflies in flight taken at the beautiful Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in Cape town.
On this trip I took my OM1 Mkii and the new 50-200 (100-400mm FFE) f2.8 lens – the “Little White”. As in Sri Lanka, it proved to be up to most situations it encountered even with a 2x converter taking it to 200-800mm FFE, and gave me enough confidence to take it to Costa Rica for three weeks and 70,00 images of bird photography.
Photographs in this album include: Greater Flamingo in flight, Cape Cormorant in flight at the Kom, Grey Heron at Intaka, Sacred Ibis at Intaka, Pied Crow at the Kom, dragonflies in flight at Kirstenbosch, and more.
For camera settings, techniques and equipment used in shoots like this, see the Technique posts on mcaughtry.photo.