Variety of Birds in the Table Bay Nature Reserve

Early Morning Milnerton | Woodbridge Island Birdlife

Bird Photographer and Photography Training | Vernon Chalmers

Levaillant's Cisticola Diep River Woodbridge Island / Table Bay Nature Reserve

A still foggy, but with some really good early morning sun coming through. I took a brisk walk to to the Table Bay Nature Reserve, Woodbridge Island just after 10:00 this morning.  Lots of grey herons and yellow-billed ducks on the small island. They've spotted me early enough to make a hasty getaway. 

I noticed the resident water thick-knees out on the small island. This is quite unusual for them as they are generally found on the adjacent mainland side of the river flowing through the reserve. Nevertheless it was very good to see them.

I also noticed (for the first time) an African swamphen walking quite casually on the Milnerton Golf Course. Took a long range (record) shot. The bird lovers over at the Birdlife South Africa Facebook Group was kind enough to provide me with the correct species identification. Many of them was surprised about the swamphen walking around quite casually on the open grass banks.  

Back against the Diep river, close to the wooden bridge, I was was fortunate to photograph Levaillant's Cisticola at close range.

Birds of the morning:

• Levaillant's Cisticola
• Cape teal ducks in flight
• Cape Shoveler duck in flight
• Cape Teal duck in flight
• Yellow-billed ducks in flight
• Speckled pigeon in flight
• Water thick knee
• African swamphen

Cape Town Location
Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island, Milnerton

Canon Camera / Lens Settings

• Canon EOS 7D Mark II Body
• EF 400mm f/5.6L USM Lens
• Manual Mode: Auto-ISO: 250 - 800
• Aperture: f/5.6
• Shutter Speed: 1/1000 - 1/3200
• AI Servo: Case 1: Wide Zone
• 10 fps High Speed Continuous Mode
• Handheld

Post-Processing
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Classic CC 9.4: Cropping. Colour correction / noise reduction / lens profile correction

Cape Teal Ducks in Flight Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Cape Shoveler Duck in Flight Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Cape Teal Duck in Flight Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Yellow-Billed Ducks in Flight Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Speckled Pigeon in Flight Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Water Thick-Knee Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

African Swamphen (Record Shot) Table Bay Nature Reserve Woodbridge Island

Birds in Flight Photography Cape Town View

Bird Species Woodbridge Island, Cape Town View