Nelspruit and Kruger National Park birding Nov 2010

Links

• List of birds for the trip
• List of birds for 28 Nov 2010 (Record day)

Arriving back from PE late on Friday evening, we decided to leave for Nelspruit early on Saturday morning. Just after 2am we were up and away before 3am. The driving was uneventful and we arrived in Nelspruit around 5am to a chorus of birds. We drove to the Nelspruit Nature reserve but didn't feel comfortable leaving the car outside but there were so many birds right there in the streets of Nelspruit that it didn't matter. Purplecrested turaco, Bronze mannikins, African paradise flycatcher, Orange-breasted bush-shrike, White-browed robin-chat, Red-chested cuckoo, Klaas's cuckoo, Brown-hooded kingfisher, Red-faced cisticola, Sombre greenbul - all of these before we even left the confines of the town! A few years ago I birded a dirt road just outside Nelspruit and after a short drive we managed to locate it again - it's the road leading up to Uitkyk pass (not the one in the Cape). On this loop we picked up Black-crowned tchagra, Red-collared widow, Steppe eagle, Scarlet-chested sunbird, Yellow-throated longclaw, Yellow-fronted tinkerbird, Black cuckoo, Little bee-eater, African emerald cuckoo and Neddicky among a bunch of others. By around 9:30 we were back in Nelspruit and the temperature and humidity climbing. We drove to the Lowveld Botanical gardens and explored the boardwalk, riverside walk and African forest areas of the gardens, adding Ashy flycatcher, Collared sunbird, Red-capped robin-chat, Grey-headed bush-shrike and Tambourine dove. We left around 11am at which time it was ridiculously hot and fled to the air-conditioned car. We took a drive out towards Kaapsehoop where we spotted the famous wild horses. Unfortunately we already knew the critically endangered Blue swallows have not returned to the area this year but we still picked up a good sighting of a Steppe buzzard. Back on the N4 we decided to pop in to Sudwala caves where we had lunch before doing the short standard tour in the cave. This was a little disappointing but we decided to come back at some point to do the Crystal tour. As we descended down the steps back to the car, a Narina trogon called in the forest. It was now around 3pm and we were hot and sticky. Back in Nelspruit we checked into our B&B and spent the rest of the afternoon cooling off under the aircon.

At 4am we were up and gone by 4:30. We arrived at Malelane gate 3 minutes before they opened and picked up a few water birds as we crossed the bridge over the Crocodile river. On the way to Berg-en-Dal we got Diderick, Jacobin, Red-chested, Klaas's and Black cuckoos, African green pigeon, Magpie shrike, many many Woodland kingfishers, Lazy and Rattling cisticolas, Orange-breasted bush-shrike Burchell's and Violet-backed starlings and a solitary Purple-crested turaco on the top of a tree. At Berg-en-Dal we added Bearded and White-browed scrub-robins, Sombre greenbul and Cardinal woodpecker before heading for the Steilberg loop road. We were sweltering in the car even though it was only 8am but it was worth having the windows open to hear Black-collared barbet, White-bellied sunbird and African grey hornbill. We added a red-headed weaver just before getting back on the tar towards Skukuza. The road to Skukuza saw us adding a few common birds but also Green-winged pytilia and Green woodhoopoe. The river front at Skukuza was very empty apart from a solitary Purple heron, but the large fig at the restaurant did produce Speckled mousebird and Greater blue-eared starling. Then we headed for Lake Panic and picked up and African hawk-eagle chased by two Yellow-billed kites on the way. At the lake, 4 Goliath herons were fishing and we were treated to two of them, very ably spearing rather large fish with their beaks. Malachite, Pied and Woodland kingfishers were seen, along with a Squacco and Green-backed heron, Water thick-knee and African jacana. It was time to start heading back and we exited at Paul Kruger gate, driving through Hazyview on to Sabie. We had by now just over 100 birds for the day and realized we still had opportunity to see quite a few common birds we haven't seen yet so there was potential for beating our current record of 122 birds in a day. In the Sabie area we added a White-fronted bee-eater and were very lucky when we stopped to look at a small bird which disappeared in the undergrowth, to see two Knysna turacos right above us. In Lydenburg we added Ant-eating chat and Desert cisticola and then in Dullstroom, White-throated swallow, Groundscraper thrush, Spur-winged goose and Long-tailed widowbird. Just before Middelburg we pulled off the highway at a small shallow pan and managed to ID Yellow-billed duck, White-winged tern and Black-winged stilt. Unfortunately it was now so gloomy (it was almost 6pm and dark clouds blotted the sun) that were unable to ID a couple of waders. With 120 birds on our list we drove around town and managed to get Southern red bishop, Cape weaver and Common waxbill. On the way home we saw an Olive thrush and at 18:30 we added a Cape robin-chat and our resident Greater striped swallows in the garden. 126!

A great birding weekend despite the ridiculous heat. We got 152 birds for the trip and beat our daily record. Unfortunately no lifers were seen but quite a few birds we don't see very often.