{"id":2845,"date":"2025-06-15T16:29:48","date_gmt":"2025-06-15T15:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/?p=2845"},"modified":"2025-06-15T16:30:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-15T15:30:16","slug":"fun-at-the-bird-bath-hide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/2025\/fun-at-the-bird-bath-hide\/","title":{"rendered":"Fun at the Bird Bath Hide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The afternoon of day 2 is spent at a hide officially called Bhejane, but in practice known to everyone as "The Bird Bath", because it attracts a wide variety of small birds who come to both eat the bird seed, and bathe. <\/p>\n

However it’s not without its larger visitors. As we arrive we notice a much a full sized bull elephant loitering behind the hide. We get a couple of shots on the way in, and he does eventually wander past the hide window, but doesn’t stop to drink or pause long enough for photos. <\/p>\n

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Receding elephant at the Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 14:28 | Resolution: <\/b>1902 x 2536 | ISO: <\/b>200 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-66\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/400s | Aperture: <\/b>6.3 | Focal Length: <\/b>14.0mm | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LUMIX G VARIO 7-14\/F4.0 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Later in the afternoon we’re visited by a small group of warthogs, who do stop for a quick drink.<\/p>\n

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Warthogs at the Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 14:42 | Resolution: <\/b>4697 x 2936 | ISO: <\/b>200 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-66\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/400s | Aperture: <\/b>6.3 | Focal Length: <\/b>35.0mm | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LUMIX G VARIO 12-35\/F2.8II <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

The real attraction, however, is dozens of small birds, of numerous colorful species, feeding, drinking and bathing. They are endlessly entertaining, and very photogenic.<\/p>\n

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Southern cordonbleu. Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9M2 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 14:54 | Resolution: <\/b>3666 x 3666 | ISO: <\/b>1600 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-33\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/1600s | Aperture: <\/b>5.4 | Focal Length: <\/b>250.0mm (~500.0mm) | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LEICA DG 100-400\/F4.0-6.3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n
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Pink throated twinspot. Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9M2 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 14:52 | Resolution: <\/b>3119 x 4158 | ISO: <\/b>1250 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-33\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/1600s | Aperture: <\/b>6.1 | Focal Length: <\/b>364.0mm (~728.0mm) | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LEICA DG 100-400\/F4.0-6.3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

About halfway through our session the available bird seed starts to run dry, so Lee thinks it would be a good idea to spread some more. However he manages to overdo it, so the ground looks suspiciously like it has severe dandruff, and some emergency gardening is called for. Fortunately no-one records this embarrassing event. Oh wait, I did!<\/p>\n

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Emergency gardening! Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 15:37 | Resolution: <\/b>2673 x 2673 | ISO: <\/b>200 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-66\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/200s | Aperture: <\/b>6.3 | Focal Length: <\/b>12.0mm | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LUMIX G VARIO 12-35\/F2.8II <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n

Back to the birds\u2026 I’ve found a brilliant little app called Merlin Bird ID. You simply select a picture of a bird with approximate location, and it tells you the species and some supporting info. Just in case you thought I had magically become an ornithologist!<\/p>\n

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Village Weaver. Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9M2 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 14:56 | Resolution: <\/b>3926 x 3926 | ISO: <\/b>1600 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-33\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/1000s | Aperture: <\/b>5.8 | Focal Length: <\/b>318.0mm (~636.0mm) | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> | Lens:<\/b> LEICA DG 100-400\/F4.0-6.3 <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n
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Common Waxbill. Bejhane Hide, Zaminga (Show Details)<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Camera: <\/b>Panasonic DC-G9M2 | Date: <\/b>12-06-2025 15:08 | Resolution: <\/b>2626 x 2626 | ISO: <\/b>1600 | Exp. bias: <\/b>-33\/100 EV | Exp. Time: <\/b>1\/1600s | Aperture: <\/b>5.6 | Focal Length: <\/b>280.0mm (~560.0mm) | Location: <\/b>Bejhane Hide, Zaminga | State\/Province: <\/b>Thembalethu, uMkhanyakude, KwaZu | See map<\/a> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The afternoon of day 2 is spent at a hide officially called Bhejane, but in practice known to everyone as "The Bird Bath", because it attracts a wide variety of small birds who come to both eat the bird seed, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,76],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.andrewj.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}