South Africa moved to Level 3 of lock down on 1 June 2020. For me personally nothing changed much – I still continued to work from home and enjoy the birding I am able to do. Birding was still great and I added six new birds to my lock-down list, Three of them were new garden birds as well. The one good thing about Level 3 was that it was possible to do some birding away from home for the first time in weeks.
One of the first highlights of the month was when this Brown-hooded Kingfisher showed up. It was so unexpected, my mouth literally dropped open when I looked up and saw it. 
He showed up again a few weeks later. but still tried to play hide and seek in the branches of the tree.
The very next day I added lock-down bird #60 – an African Black Duck flew over my house. On 4 June I heard a bird call in the tree outside my balcony. I rushed out to catch a brief glimpse of a Black-backed Puffback! Luckily he hung around for a bit and I managed a few photos.
One evening we were chatting about he Spotted Eagle Owls, wondering what had happened to them. Later that night the Spotted Thick-knees were all of a sudden outside my house, making a lot of noise. Up to then I had only heard them a few times, so it was great to see them. I opened the window to look at them, and that is when I heard it – a Spotted Eagle Owl was calling! It was such an exciting moment. Now they need to visit again so I can see them!
On another occasion I was just in time to catch the young Black Sparrowhawk again as he flew overhead.
The Amethyst Sunbirds are all over the place, and I see them almost every day. But then the handsome male visited my balcony for the first time to have some fruit salad.
Lock-down bird #64 showed up towards the end of June. I was busy working when I had the familiar call of the Burchell’s Coucal. I rushed outside and saw it fly into the cypress in my garden. A few minutes later it peeked out at me through the leaves. He skulked about for w while longer before flying across the street. I heard him call for quite some time still, but he did not show himself again.
Late one afternoon I heard birds outside the window. I saw a pair of Red-headed finches taking shelter in a Southern Masked Weaver’s nest. It was sweet to see how they snuggled together.
The next day the weaver’s nest was gone.
The birds that I really enjoy watching are the Speckled Mousebirds. They are so entertaining the way that they hang on the feeder. This one in particular was really funny.
Birding away from home
Home Pentad
Lock-down restrictions were finally lifted and allowed some reserves to open. It still took a couple of weeks to sort out the logistics, and while I waited I did a bit of birding in my home pent ad. The Spotted Thick-knees looked beautiful in the afternoon light.
In the West Park Cemetery I found a Spotted Ground Thrush and a pair of Black Sparrowhawks.
Rietvlei
Rietvlei finally opened. It was a cold and misty morning when I arrived.
All the bird hides were closed. At the turn off to the Island View Hide I spotted a shape in the dead tree next to the hide. The Black-chested Snake Eagle! It was the first time in years that I saw one at Rietvlei.
I had some really great bird sightings during my quick visit. Some include a Crimson-breasted Shrike, a Cape Grassbird and a Red-throated Wryneck.
There were also a few mammal babies.
It was a quick visit, but it felt really great to be out in a Reserve at long last.
Devon
We went birding around the Devon area on the last Sunday of June. It was a very windy day and birding conditions were less than ideal. I listed less than 50 species – a very low total for the area. We did have a few great sightings though – quite a few Blue Korhaan, a Secretary Bird, a Lanner Falcon and a few Pink-billed Larks. We also came across this trio of Orange River Francolins.
Photos
Some of my favourite photos from the month –
The Speckled Pigeon posed beautifully on the roof.
An African Hoopoo visited early one morning.
It seems that my garden has become a place for family gatherings. There was a family of Green Wood-Hoopoos. The most entertaining family has to be the Speckled Mouse birds. Everyday the family group seems to grow and grow. At one point i counted nine birds at the nectar feeder!
The Grey Go-away bird parents are always there to get some apple to feed the babies. Even though the youngsters can feed themselves, they still prefer to be fed sometimes.
The trio of Black-collared Barbets have also become regular visitors. 
The Crested Barbet is without a doubt the most colourful bird in my garden.
One of my favourite past times this month was to catch the Laughing Doves as they fly up from the balcony. I think I enjoyed it more than they did!
During June we also had a few really cold days. This meant that the bees stayed away for a while, and allowed the Cape White-eyes to visit the nectar feeder again. I love these cute little fluff balls.
Some of my favourite things about Autumn are the sunrises and autumn leaves. Being stuck at home during Lockdown meant I missed the leaves. I had a couple of pretty sunrises though.
