Have you spotted any of these on Fairview Estates yet? The Southern Bald Ibis is large and is a shiny, dark blue-black colour. It has a red face and head without feathers and wrinkled skin, along with a long, curved red beak. It is mostly found across high altitude grasslands but can also be found […]
Category Archives: Nature News
28
Jun
Jun
Have you noticed how many butterflies we have fluttering around on Fairview Estates? Due to the biodiversity here on our Fairview farms, thanks to our eco-conscious farmers and our Macadamia Co-op Farmer, Scott Meyer, we are privileged enough to attract many different butterfly species. Butterflies are enchanting creatures that have a way of capturing our attention […]
21
Apr
Apr
One of these was spotted on Fairview a couple of times recently, it’s a very rare sighting, so we were excited. When you think of iconic African wildlife, you might picture black and white striped Zebra, towering giraffe or maybe even the big 5. The Marabou stork may not be as beautiful as these animals, […]
21
Feb
Feb
For the past few years now there has been two (very noisy) annual visitors that visit the original farm house on Fairview Estates. These being two Trumpeter Hornbills. The Trumpeter Hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator) is a species of bird in the family Bucerotidae, native to Africa. It’s a medium sized bird, with a distinctive black and […]
12
Dec
Dec
This funny looking caterpillar was spotted on Fairview by Aden, and what a treat because it’s not often we get to see them. Commonly found in Europe and throughout Africa, they have three larval colour forms which are green, brown, and yellow and have seven diagonal blue lines on their bodies. The length of the […]
24
Oct
Oct
Have you noticed these funny, neck bopping birds running (or flying) around the farm? They’re often hanging around and seem to be growing in numbers. Guinea fowl are native to Africa. The most common ones we see are from the Numidinae family. The typical look of the helmeted guinea fowl is a featherless face with […]
18
Aug
Aug
I recently came across a family of 7-8 bushpigs on my way home one night on Golovane Road. As I often drive very slowly at night, as I almost always see something interesting, they didn’t hear me coming and when they would normally shoot off into the bush, they stayed in the road for a […]
24
Jun
Jun
Have you seen our Spur-winged visitors at the dam yet? The Spur-Winged Goose is the largest waterfowl found in Africa, they are part of the Anatidae family. It’s called a goose because of its large size, but it is, in fact, a type of duck. Because of this, it has its own “subfamilyâ€, Plectropterinae. It […]
29
Mar
Mar
It’s always a treat to see these beautiful birds, whether you are a birder of not. There are 10 species of Kingfishers in Southern Africa and they are small to medium sized and are usually bright in colour. They have large heads, long, sharp, pointed bills, short legs, and stubby tails – it’s hard to […]