Cape Town – The sighting of a crested honey buzzard in Somerset West has been submitted to the BirdLife South Africa National Rarities Committee for clarification as this is the first encounter of this species in South Africa. |
Cape Town – Birders from around the country have descended on Somerset West following the sighting of a crested honey buzzard for the first time in South Africa.
BirdLife South Africa National Rarities Committee chairperson Trevor Hardaker said that initially thought to be a hybrid, the rare bird seen was actually a pure crested honey buzzard.
Also known as the oriental honey buzzard the species breeds in Asia, from central Siberia east to Japan.
“It is certainly the first (on) record for South Africa. It was first photographed by Kate Morris at Lourensford Estate in Somerset West who wasn’t sure what it was and then circulated the photos for comment after which the identity was confirmed.”
The bird was relocated to a farm in Somerset West and has been in that area for just over two weeks now, Hardaker said.
“We have been in communication with a number of experts from all over the world including Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Italy and Israel, all of whom have come back to confirm the identity of this bird as a crested honey buzzard.
“It is in the process of having a submission to the BirdLife SA Rarities Committee prepared at the moment.
“Many people have already been to see this bird and we’ve had people from as far afield as Johannesburg, Pretoria, Pietermaritzburg, Uitenhage and Knysna travelling to see it, and expect there will be many more travelling to see it over the next few days,” Hardaker said.
Birders Alex and Juanita Aitkenhead said they had earlier this month visited the area in hopes of a glimpse of the famous buzzard.
Several birders were already on site but the crested honey buzzard was not seen.
“Returning on February 12, we set up in the blazing heat and scanned the skies. We had excellent raptor sightings, but still no luck with our target raptor.
“We decided that we would commit the time to locate the bird with the weekend ahead.
“Arriving early, we were resolute. We were elated when on review we could confirm that the distant showing of another raptor was indeed our bird.
“Tracking the bird right above us, we could not believe how fortunate we were to have such an excellent showing of the crested honey buzzard. The star of the show rewarded us in a very hot Somerset West.
“The crested honey buzzard twitch must rank as a birding career highlight and one we will never forget,” the couple said.
Cape Times