African Finfoot sighted multiple times in the Umzimkulu Estuary recently -

African Finfoot sighted multiple times in the Umzimkulu Estuary recently

The African Finfoot is a rare sighting indeed…

African Finfoot in the Umzimkulu

African Finfoot sighted multiple times in the Umzimkulu Estuary recently: sometimes birders come fishing. And recently, I had four eager beavers out with me. We were casting for the greenspot kingfish. We had nestled ourselves under some shade from a fig tree, on the river’s north bank. About 30 feet out.

For half an hour we enjoyed the peace and tranquility. Until all hell broke loose. A funny-looking and acting bird, with bright orange legs came bumbling around the corner and straight into us. We were not making a big noise at all. We were fishing and relaxing.

Until the bird…

All four of my crew – two couples – melted in front of my disbelieving eyes. They started with twitches and spasms and out-of-control body movements. None of them said a word. They were all completely shocked and still. Then the spasms gave way to looks of marvel and finally, someone found their tongue…

“It’s a finfoooooooot!”

And with that the finfoot turned and scarpered back where it came from. It took a full 15 minutes for the two couples to calm down. And then it was out in the open. They were calling and logging and blogging non-stop. Quietly though. As birders do…

And then the finfoot returned! It really is an odd bird as it maneuvres in the shallows to try to hide its luminous orange legs. It seemed to be going somewhere and we were in the way. Somebody said just keep still and quiet and let’s see what happens. After a minute the finfoot ducked and dived and came back around the corner. And staying in the shallows and the trees, went by us and around the next corner in a flash and disappeared. It might have been 30 feet away! It seemed like it really wanted to get past us.

Camera

No shots were fired. It all happens so fast. Until yesterday, Matt Wainright came fishing here at the Umzimkulu again – also a newly convicted lifer, spotted the same bird. And got some video!

The thing is, I am a newly enlisted birder myself. With hardly 20 birds in my tally. And I saw this birdie on numerous occasions after the first encounter. And in fact, I saw two in one day. One over there, and the other one well away from it.

Speculation. But it would seem that there was some parenting behaviour going on. I dunno!