Jackal Buzzard takes off

I made a quick visit to Tygerberg Nature Reserve on Freedom Day. There was another beautiful sunrise before the gates opened, but the weather started playing up and the clouds quickly rolled in.

There really wasn’t much action so I decided to cut the morning short. I made my way back to the entrance and renewed my annual membership. While I was talking to the ranger, I saw a Jackal Buzzard perched on one of the nearby pine trees. I decided to take a quick walk there and hopefully get some decent shots.

I approached rather cautiously as I wasn’t sure how skittish the bird was. I managed to conceal myself a little behind some wild olive bushes. I got as close as I could without potentially scaring the bird off. Despite trying to camouflage myself, I was spotted.

The Jackal Buzzard seemed unperturbed by my presence. It looked as if it was still going to sit there for a while so I decided to set up my camera and prepare for it to take off. I waited patiently for another 20 minutes. Finally I saw the Jackal Buzzard start to twitch and it look unsettled. I knew that it would take off any second.

I was right. I saw it thrust forward and spread open its wings and take flight. I simply love the colours of the Jackal Buzzard and I always marvel at the wingspan of raptors. It glided so gracefully and decided to bank sharply and fly off in the other direction.