VIEW FROM CAMPS BAY, WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA

BO-KAAP SECTION OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

   Bo-Kapp is an historic neighborhood in Cape Town with steep cobbled streets and colorful traditional houses located on the slopes of Signal Hill.  It was formerly known as Malay Quarter and is the historical center of Cape Malay culture in Cape Town.

VIEWS FROM V&A WATERFRONT, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

   The first photo is a good view of Table Mountain.

SHARON AT NOBEL SQUARE, V&A WATERFRONT, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

VIEWS FROM HIGHWAY TO TABLE MOUNTAIN, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

NONBREEDING GREY-HEADED GULL, STRANDFONTEIN SEWER WORKS, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

LITTLE STINT, STRANDFONTEIN SEWER WORKS, CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA

   Yea!  This is the 500th species of our Photographic Life List.  Sharon and I started birding two years ago; we have species on the list from the U.S., Canada, Panama, Costa Rica, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.  There are about 10,000 species of birds in the world, so our 500 species is 5% of the known species.  We think that's pretty good for two years.

   We only add a species to our Life List if we have a photograph that can really help us identify the bird.  To help us ID a bird, we do use visual characteristics which the photo doesn't normally show, such as size, location, habitat, movement habits, etc.  If in the field someone helps us ID a bird, we always confirm that identification using the photo.  Sometimes the ID in the field turns out to be incorrect. 

   We can ID this shorebird as a nonbreeding Little  Stint by its small size, slender black bill, black legs, grey-brown streaks on sides of breast and grey-brown upperparts with black patches on feather shafts.

   The Little Stint is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 500.