Loskop dam Nature Reserve birding Dec 2009

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• List of birds

At 05:00 we left from Nicola's place, driving about 50km north of Middelburg to the Loskop dam Nature Reserve. It was drizzling and a bit windy when we arrived at the bridge crossing the Olifants river, resulting in fewer birds sighted than the previous time we were here. Just before we entered the reserve, we heard the booming call of a Southern ground hornbill - very unexpected for this reserve, but then they do have a breeding project for this endangered species.

Inside the reserve we added a few common birds before stopping at the ablution block where we got a quick glimpse of a Black cuckooshrike. We got a few more the deeper we went into the reserve but then picked up our sighting of the day just past the picnic site where a Bronzewinged courser posed dead still in the middle of the road while we took picture after picture.

Just before noon we've driven all the roads in the reserve and decided to pop in at Botshabelo Historical Village and Reserve. With grasslands as the common habitat here we got a few different birds here including Rock kestrel and Steppe buzzard. On the short game drive, in the middle of a small pool of water standing in the jeeptrack, an African snipe sat still for a good sighting before we drove past it.

We were back in Middelburg again by 14:30 as it was starting to get too hot to bird. A good day out with 101 birds for the day.