African darter in flight

African darter in flight, a photo by andiwolfe on Flickr.

Sitting on the rim of the vlei at DeHoop Nature Reserve in South Africa, I saw many of the local birds flying by. Our campsite was about 10 meters or so above the vlei, which was a perfect perch for watching darters, herons, cormorants, gulls, terns, ducks, hammerkops, and flamingos in flight.

African darters are rather elusive birds for a photographer - they are usually very aware of one trying to sneak up to make a photo. This was the best view I had of an African darter during my entire three week field season.