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Bird lovers are in for a treat at Boyden Observatory.
Associate Professor Richard Gray from Appalachian State University, who spent six months at the observatory, has captured the beauty of 82 bird species through his lens. His remarkable collection of bird photography is now on display at the outdoor picnic area, offering a unique glimpse into the diverse avian life around the observatory.
BloemNews caught up with him via email and asked him about his experience in Bloemfontein and about his love for birds.
“I was in South Africa for about seven months from August 2019 to March 2020 as a Fulbright scholar. I was staying at the Boyden Observatory with my wife during that time. We had to leave a few months early because of the pandemic, so I came back for six weeks at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023 to finish the work that I was carrying out for the Fulbright project.”
Gray says in his spare time during both visits, he pursued his other passion, and that is bird watching.
“Normally birders who come to South Africa go to the birding hotspots: Kruger National Park, the St. Lucia area, and the southern coast and give the Bloemfontein area a miss. However, I found Bloemfontein and the surrounding area rich in birds. For instance during my stay at the observatory, I observed 132 species of birds just on the observatory grounds. Within the Free State, again not considered a prime birding location, I observed 273 species.”
He says there are some very nice places near to Bloemfontein for birding.
“The Free State Botanical Gardens is excellent, and I spent many a weekend there. In addition, Soetdoring Nature Reserve, north of Bloemfontein is a wonderful area.”
His favorites were the large numbers of swifts, especially the little swift which nests on Boyden in the hundreds. “I saw five species of swifts at Boyden, including the Alpine swift.”
He says at home in North Carolina, they have only one species of swift, the chimney swift, and so the richness of the bird life in South Africa never ceased to astonish him.
“One of my other favorites was the secretary bird which I saw stalking through the fields around Boyden on a number of occasions. These large birds reminded me in many ways of dinosaurs.”
The goliath heron, which he often saw along the banks of the Modder River, and the Hammerkop were also favorites.
“I also observed a few rarities at Boyden, including the violet-backed starling. I was able to contribute a modest amount to the science of ornithology during my stay at Boyden by recording a number of records of Jameson’s firefinch. There were very few if any records of Jameson’s firefinch in the Bloemfontein area before that.”
You can see a number of his photographs of birds in the Free State at:
https://media.ebird.org/catalog?mediaType=photo&searchField=user&userId=USER152186®ionCode=ZA-FS&sort=upload_date_desc&unconfirmed=incl
The Boyden Observatory can be visited by appointment only. Call Dawie van Jaarsveld at 079-146-5002 for more information about visits.
