A flock of 47 African Openbill Storks arrived at de Langekloof farm on 27th December 2009, situated 10kms north of Riebeek West on the Gouda road. They overnighted on the verge of the road, in the vineyard, next to a small dam and a few were in the field across the road with sheep, Spotted Thickknees and Blacksmith Lapwings.

One of the storks in the field on the opposite side of the road.

28/12/2009 - Early in the morning I found one dead bird in the road, run over by a vehicle during the night. The group were spread out and some were in the trees, others walked along the road About 09h00 most of the birds decided it was time to leave and spiralled up into the clouded sky, it was warm and humid. They made no sound at all. A few remained walking up the farmyard roads amoungst the buildings. Now and again one would tilt its head and look skywards. I searched the sky with my "bins" and could see nothing. A guess they went to Voelvlei Dam which is nearby.

One in a tree keeping lookout.

The dead bird.

The storks soaring off into the sky in a south east direction from the farm.

About midday 11 birds returned and stood in the boiling heat (38 degrees C) in the middle of a ploughed field behind the farm houses. The field was surrounded by trees as a wind break.

While watching the birds, a grey mongoose (it was one of a pair of playful juveniles, observed on another day) ran from the cover of the trees stopping 3 times in its approach to these strange birds. It put its nose against the leg of the nearest bird which did not move. The mongoose turned around and bolted for cover of the trees and shade. None of the birds moved or were bothered by this,  for me, a very humerous encounter. Another observation - flies were plaguing me while I was standing in the shade (I had showered in the morning) watching for about 20 minutes. There was not one fly buzzing around the group of birds while I watched.

In the bright sunlight there is a "shiny necklace hanging around the birds neck". It is a silver white sheen on the feathers of the chest in front of the wings. They also appear to raise or extend the chest feathers to cool themselves in the heat.

29/12/2009 - The birds were around early in the morning and started investigating the flowerbeds for snails. They found plenty in the agapanthus beds, in the vegetable garden, under the trees and shrubs. A Pied Crow chased a single stork around the field making some very unusual noises in the chase. The stork outflew and manourved the crow with little effort to the annoyance of the crow, who just went away muttering.

"How is this dirty old man flashing so early in the morning". The odd bird seemed to like
warming up facing the sun direction in the morning, while others scouted around.

30/12/2009 - 8 remaining birds cleared out the flower beds around "our house" right outside the kitchen window.
It is amazing how deftly they manage the snails. The snail is picked up in the tip of the bill and postioned sideways. 2 to 3 quick shakes and the snail flies out the shell which is dropped and the snail picked up and swallowed in one gulp. The shells were not broken generally in the process.

Clearing out he flower beds of garden snails. There were 23 snail shells around a flower pot
after one bird had finished. They are quite large birds (about the size od a Glossy Ibis), so it
must take more than 20 snails to feed that frame.

This bird has some grass in its bill from stabbing around in the undergrowth.

31/12/2009 - 8 remaining storks were around the main house gardens and dam.

This bird tilted its head and looked into the sky for a few seconds.
I could see nothing in the direction it was looking.

01/01/2010 - 8 remaining storks were around the main house in the large trees in the early morning and evening.

They seemed to use the trees as a lookout vantage to scan the sky.

02/01/2010 - No sight of the storks in the morning. 3 birds were at the small dam at 16h45.

These birds were racing each other to get to the next garden.

03/01/2010 - 4 storks were seen at the dam at 10h30.

04/01/2010 - 4 remaining storks were in the large trees and flew down into the vineyard at 05h45. At midday when we left they were still there.

In all the time I observed them there was no calls or sound made to communicate to each other. When squabbling over snails, there was one or two slight bill clackings heard. There was a mixture of adults and juveniles judging the plumage feathers. They were not frightened by humans or domestic farm dogs or cats. If approached slowly one could get about 10 meters to them before they just ambled a few paces away. If a dog approached qucikly they just glided a few meters away and stood still.

Where did they come from? My guess, whereever they orginated from, they were separated on the western side of the huge African summer rain front, which descends from the equator. These fronts are evident in the rainfall forecasts on TV. Pilots would also be aware of these summer occurences. Some of these fronts have massive cut offs and very high winds which the birds would not be able to fly against.

Where will they go too? I cant even guess. How wonderful that they came to visit.

The group standing in the farmyard in the midday sun.