Page 11 - Cape-Camera-July-August-2021

Cape Camera July/August 2021

More images from Harmony Park/Strand Outing (from left) Andre Mouton, Lesley Parolis, Justin Fletcher

August 2021 Outing

Bird photography at Intaka – an interesting challenge

by Richard Goldschmidt
Not being a birding man, I had to rely on friends for guidance at least I had it on a tripod. Janice was not put off and hap-
and planning of this outing, which took place on Saturday af- pily used her cellphone camera on the Red Bishops. Sally-Anne
ternoon the 14th of August. Mike de Villiers did recce’s to the planned well and hired a long lens for the weekend.
Rietvlei bird hides two weeks before and then suggested we Intaka closes at 17h30 and the majority of us make it out time-
rather try Rondevlei. I knew the Strandfontein sewage ponds ously. Jessica and her husband did not, according to a frantic
were closed due to Covid. Ken Woods paid a visit for us to In- phone call from Kumar to me whilst driving home. I am still
taka Island the week before and made a recommendation that wondering if they slept the night in one of the bird hides or
we should go there. I remember having been there for a bird they waded across the water somewhere to find a way out of
talk that our club held in the environmental hall at Intaka some the place.
eight years ago, and being impressed by Intaka. It says a lot
about the developers of Century City that they allocated land It is clear to me that taking photographs of birds is all about
to such large wetlands and jungle, right in the middle of office having the right equipment, having plenty of time and pa-
blocks and apartment buildings, and turned it into a bird haven. tience, and taking many continuous shots. Your camera needs
They have also put money into the upkeep of pathways, plant- to sound like a machine gun. The paucity and quality of some
ing and bird hides. of the photographs accompanying this report shows that most
of us are beginners and need to spend a lot of money on glass.
Eleven of us met in the car park at 15h30 that afternoon, paid However, you can see who the experts are from their photo
our R15 entrance fee at the Environmental Centre, and set off submissions. Anyway, we had fun, blurred grainy photographs
along the paths to the south side where the large body of water notwithstanding, and learnt a bit more on our photographic
and bird hides are. Unfortunately much of the water was cov- journey.
ered with that small light green water weed. I could immedi-
ately see who the experts were. They needed trolleys to wheel The outing was supported by Dave and Barbara Gordon, Rob-
their equipment around! And when I saw the size of the lenses, ert Maginley, Mike de Villiers and his friend, Sally-Anne Spooner,
I knew why! And there was me with my small zoom lens, but Jessica Nitschke and her husband, Janice Ashby, Kumar Para-
masivam.

Photos (top left to right) Robert Maginley, Richard Goldschmidt, Dave Gordon (bottom left to right) Dave Gordon, Kumar Paramasivam,
Robert Maginley
Cape Town Photographic Society 10