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On Thursday 27 Jan 2011 we started getting news of a Grey wagtail having been spotted at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens. We were planning on doing some birding over the weekend anyway so left early on Saturday morning, picked up Nicola's dad in Pretoria, and drove through to the gardens. Having entered, we spent some time walking the pathways closest to the stream, checking carefully as we went. But having reached Witpoortjie falls and retraced our steps back to the bird hide, by 10am we still haven't seen anything. We made a third trip up past the stream and then when we reached the motor bridge close to the restaurant we could sense some excitement as there were quite a few birders around. One birder showed us a photograph he took of it a short while before and it seemed people were circling a section of the stream between the motor bridge and the falls. We joined a group on the motor bridge and then someone spotted it! We all rushed to the downstream side and sure enough, there it was, on a muddy bank about 20m away! Unfortunately it was just too far away for our camera but we managed to see it very well before making way for the other enthusiasts. We celebrated our sighting with some ginger beer at the restaurant and then drove out to Krugersdorp Game Reserve. Here we added a couple of cisticolas and also two Levaillant's cuckoos before entering the lion enclosure. We duly spotted the cats but they seemed more intent on following a bakkie with some food on the back. Back in Pretoria around 4pm we dropped off Nicola's dad before driving through to Bronkhorstspruit for the night.
We left Bronkhorstspruit early the next morning for a quick visit to Bronkhorstspruit Dam. It was overcast and chilly and not many birds were out and about. Still, we picked up many of the regulars expected on the dam shore, but it being a weekend morning, hundreds of anglers were camped there and chances of spotting any African snipe were slim. However, where the track curves west south-west, following the shore, it became a little quieter and we spotted a couple of Ruffs and Reeves, a number of Black herons and some White-winged terns. A little further along, probably about 150-200m before the track becomes impassable, Nicola saw an indistinct little lump among the grass, about 20m from the shore. Training our binoculars on it, I first couldn't ID it, and had to make sure using the field guides. But they confirmed it - a Black-winged pratincole! Very happy with a lifer for the day, we decided to make a quick visit to Ezemvelo Nature Reserve as well, since we were not allowed to access the southern part of the dam reserve. At Ezemvelo, the best part of the day was unfortunately already over, and apart from lots of Rufous-naped larks, various cisticolas, two Lesser kestrels, a couple of chats and two Bokmakieries calling, we didn't add many before deciding to head home. An excellent weekend though - three lifers added for both of us!
Sunday 30 January 2011
Saturday 1 January 2011
Mapungubwe NP and north west Limpopo Jan 2011
Links
26 Dec 2010 - Day count: 90, Trip count: 90
Our trip had an auspicious start when we left home at 4am, drove 2km before remembering the jerry can, turning back to fetch it and then lighting up a Spotted eagle owl on the side of the road. As dawn came over Groblersdal and then Roedtan, lots of birds were seen in the crisp morning, not least of these was a small flock of Abdim's stork - a lifer for both of us. Stopping for a leg stretch delivered another lifer - Chestnut-backed sparrowlark. We filled up in Polokwane around 7am, then drove onwards to Blouberg Nature Reserve. Blouberg itself is an impressive mountain, despite half of it being obscured by cloud. At the entrance gate we paid a small fee and entered. Very few people were around; in only saw a single other vehicle the entire time we were in the reserve. Blouberg delivered some good sightings: Striped kingfisher, Violet-backed starling, Red-headed weaver, Little, European and Swallow-tailed bee-eaters and White-crested helmetshrike among others. Unfortunately the roads in the reserve are in places pretty bad, either very sandy or very rocky and we couldn't access the vulture colony on the southern side at all. But the reserve provided really good birding and we drove onwards towards our accommodation. Langjan Nature Reserve appeared to be closed and desolated but we still picked up our third lifer for the day at the park entrance - Monotonous lark. Our accommodation was a few kms back at Wintervelde hunting lodge. The place looked decidedly dodgy when we arrived. Run-down, ill-kept, no-one around. A local care-taker eventually came out and showed us our room. We didn't mind that it was very basic, but we did mind paying a hefty price for it - certainly will not use this place again. We had leftovers for dinner before hitting the bed early.
27 Dec 2010 - Day count: 110; Trip count: 144
Up again at 4am and added Barn owl (lifer for Nicola) before we left at 5am. Southern carmine bee-eaters and Southern pale chanting goshawks were all over the place as we drove to Alldays where we filled up with petrol. Just before the Mapungubwe entrance we added Tawny and Brown snake eagle and then checked into the park. It was overcast but still hot and humid and the Mopani veld was rather quiet. However the drive alongside the Limpopo was lovely and yielded several new species for our trip, such as the Meves's starling, African Palm Swift and Common greenshank. Lunch at the Confluence viewpoint overlooking the Limpopo and Shashe rivers was spectacular and rewarded us with another lifer: Horus swift. The Tree Tops walk was a little noisy with workers repairing the deck but we did see and Broadbilled rollers really well. We took a leisurely drive back to reception to collect our keys and arrange access to the Den Staat wetlands. This proved to be a bit difficult and it took some talking to get access arranged for Den Staat. As our keys were not at reception but at Leokwe camp, we then drove to the camp and got into our huts - these are aesthetically well-designed and spacious. We immediately switched on the aircon, tested the outdoor shower and spent the hottest part of the afternoon reading before venturing outside again around 5pm. We drove slowly back to the Tree Tops walk where we saw the Broadbilled rollers again and just after dinner back at our hut, we also heard Freckled nightjar.
28 Dec 2010 - Day count: 122; Trip count: 189
Since my alarm didn't go off hits morning we overslept and had to rush coffee and rusks before leaving the hut at about 05:15. We picked up many of the usuals but also got a Shikra (first for Nicola) and spotted a Red-crested korhaan as it made its queer flight straight up in the air and then dropping like a puffed-up parachute. We reached the park gate just after 6am and drove over to the Den Staat wetlands. The gravel road to get there was shocking. Literally. Its easily the worst corrugation I ever had to drive but we had to grind our teeth and bear it. Just after crossing into the farm area we took our time identifying a Striped pipit as a lifer. At the first dam immediately picked up many water birds, including Black crake, Green-backed and Squacco heron, Giant, Pied anad Malachite kingfishers, White-winged tern and African purple swamphen. Further on we were stopped by a guy holding a receipt book who demanded R200 entry fee from us. Even after we explained we were jsu tbirding and already got permission from Mapungubwe, he still insisted and eventually we just had to pay up. Annoywed we drove on but sightings of Meyer's parrot, Bronze mannikin, Acacia pied barbet, African palm swift, African paradise flycatcher and the calls of Orange-breasted and Grey-headed bush-shrikes, soon made us forget about it. We drove up to the homestead which seemed to be run by the local community. No-one seemed to have a clue about what to do with us and we were stared at like zoo animals. Eventually a lady came out who said we could drive around anywhere if we paid, which we obviously did. So we proceeded to drive where we wanted and almost immediately were stopped by another man who said we're not allowed on this part of the farm, but we can go to the other side. We followed his directions and then turned off onto a very overgrown track running through the wetland. We eventually reached an old ruin where I decided not to drive any further due to the condition of the track. We locked the car and went on foot. Immediately we were extremely happy when Nicola spotted something landing at the water's edge which turned out to be a Yellow wagtail. Then we also picked up Yellow-billed and Saddle-billed storks, African mourning dove, Sanderling, Common greenshank, Hottentot teal, Goliath heron and Ruff. It was now blisteringly hot and we returned to the car to gulp down ice water. Driving back I spotted a Blue-cheeked bee-eater, thereby completing all the bee-eaters (six) we could possibly see here. From Den Staat we visited the Western section of Mapungubwe, once again driving some really horiffically corrugated gravel roads. This part was a bit disappointing, perhaps because it was now already well past 10am and very hot. We only added 7 new birds for the day of which the most interesting was Scaly-feathered finch. We ate lunch outside Maloutswa pan hide and I thought I spotted a Tropical boubou but couldn't confirm the call with either Robert's or Guy Gibbons's call recordings. After lunch we had enough of the heat, closed the windows, switched on the aircon and jarred our way back to the hut to a cold shower and an afternoon nap. We made early dinner, then drove out again just before 6pm for a quick visit to Tree Tops walk. We were on 110 birds for the day and added 11 more, including Broad-billed roller and Red-billed oxpecker, before driving to the main gate for our night drive. Although our guide drove all over the park, we only managed to add a Spotted eagle owl. We did scare up a nightjar but it was gone before we had time to ID it. The only other highlight was a large spotted genet. On our way back to camp, just after 10pm, my headlights picked out two more Spotted eagle owls.
29 Dec 2010 - Day count: 106; Trip count: 202
This time the alarm did go off at 4am and after we listened to teh pow-wow of Freckled nightjar, we were off at 5am. We stopped at the Tree Tops walk and added Broad-billed roller once again along with Meyer's parrot, Comb duck (Knob-billed duck), Retz's helmetshrike, Long-billed crombec, Yellow-billed stork, African mourning dove and a few more common ones. Then we followed the river road along the Limpopo and all the way back to the main gate, ticking Amur falcon, Fawn-coloured lark, Brown-crowned tchagra, Lesser kestrel, White-browed robin-chat and Red-headed finch. At 10am we were back at the gate and went on the heritage tour of Mapungubwe hill. It was ridiculously hot and we slathered ourselves with suncream. Our tour truck was packed with local and foreign tourists showing off their lack of knowledge quite admirably. Our guide talked at length at the main excavation site and although it was very interesting, standing around in teh searing heat was not fun. We then walked to the top of the hill where the guide explained where the Mapungubwe people stored grain and water, lived and had lookouts over the area. Just after noon we were back at the gate. Our guide from last night's night drive said we can go look for wetland birds at Samaria - a citrus farm recently bought by SANParks. At Samaria we added our fifth bee-eater for the day (Blue-cheeked) and also Giant kingfisher, Whiskered tern, Water thick-knee and a nice surprise: another Yellow wagtail. We had some lunch under the shade of a fever tree before switching the aircon to high and driving the 50kms odd to Ratho farm, west of Pontdrift. An unbelievably stunning setup with furnished tent accommodation, a beautiful thatch lapa and kitchen as well as a splash pool and deck looking towards the Limpopo about 100m away. Marabou storks circled their vulture restaurant and an African harrier-hawk flew in as we sat in the shade, trying to cool down. Just after 5, Susan Boshoff collected us for a short trip out to a small pan to view some birds. Plovers, stilts, geese, lapwings and a number of other water birds were present and we scanned the pan for about 20 minutes before driving back to the farm. A quick walk through the crocodile pens where some Water thickknee and Cattle egrets were getting ready for bed and then we also went back to the camp to start dinner.
30 Dec 2010 - Day count: 60; Trip count: 203
We were in need of sleep and for a change, we didn't get up until well past sunrise. After breakfast, while the temperature was still tolerable, we went for a walk down to the Limpopo. We've already seen or heeard most of the birds from our tent's deck so we added few birds but it was pleasant in the tall riverine trees and we were able to get reasonably close to some Marabou stork on the banks, who flew off into Botswana when we got too close. Just past the vulture restaurant we got both Cape and White-backed vultures. Back at the camp we went for a slow drive to a nearby koppie where a Black stork has apparently nested. Unfortunately it was now already 10am and if it was there, it was long gone. Back it camp it was now getting very hot with the temperature reaching for 40 degrees. We cooled off in the splash pool and then sat in teh shade for the rest of the day. Dinner consisted of crocodile steak, potatoes and sweetcorn.
31 Dec 2010 - Day count: 92; Trip count: 213
Notching up the usual birds while eating breakfast, we decided to pack and try and escape the heat. By 06:30 we were on our way and drove all the way to Polokwane, picking up a few roadside birds along the way. In Polokwane we made a quick visit to Polokwane Bird Sanctuary which had a serious shortage of flycatchers, considering the over-abundance of flies. We stayed only long enough to pick up the obvious birds before heading off to Polokwane Game Reserve. Here we added our first Scaly-feathered finch for the trip and then picked up another lifer - Short-clawed lark. Black-faced and Violet-eared waxbills were expected and it wasn't long before we saw these pretty birds. We finished our short trip here with two African hawk-eagles and then drove to our accommodation for the night. We had rolls for New Year's Eve dinner and went to bed early
01 Jan 2011 - Day count: 64; Trip count: 221
We popped in to Polokwane Game Reserve again and ticked off similar birds compared to the previous day's visit but also added a single Lizard buzzard before deciding its time to go home. The drive home was uneventful and we arrived back around 2pm, tired but satisfied with our trip.
26 Dec 2010 - Day count: 90, Trip count: 90
Our trip had an auspicious start when we left home at 4am, drove 2km before remembering the jerry can, turning back to fetch it and then lighting up a Spotted eagle owl on the side of the road. As dawn came over Groblersdal and then Roedtan, lots of birds were seen in the crisp morning, not least of these was a small flock of Abdim's stork - a lifer for both of us. Stopping for a leg stretch delivered another lifer - Chestnut-backed sparrowlark. We filled up in Polokwane around 7am, then drove onwards to Blouberg Nature Reserve. Blouberg itself is an impressive mountain, despite half of it being obscured by cloud. At the entrance gate we paid a small fee and entered. Very few people were around; in only saw a single other vehicle the entire time we were in the reserve. Blouberg delivered some good sightings: Striped kingfisher, Violet-backed starling, Red-headed weaver, Little, European and Swallow-tailed bee-eaters and White-crested helmetshrike among others. Unfortunately the roads in the reserve are in places pretty bad, either very sandy or very rocky and we couldn't access the vulture colony on the southern side at all. But the reserve provided really good birding and we drove onwards towards our accommodation. Langjan Nature Reserve appeared to be closed and desolated but we still picked up our third lifer for the day at the park entrance - Monotonous lark. Our accommodation was a few kms back at Wintervelde hunting lodge. The place looked decidedly dodgy when we arrived. Run-down, ill-kept, no-one around. A local care-taker eventually came out and showed us our room. We didn't mind that it was very basic, but we did mind paying a hefty price for it - certainly will not use this place again. We had leftovers for dinner before hitting the bed early.
27 Dec 2010 - Day count: 110; Trip count: 144
Up again at 4am and added Barn owl (lifer for Nicola) before we left at 5am. Southern carmine bee-eaters and Southern pale chanting goshawks were all over the place as we drove to Alldays where we filled up with petrol. Just before the Mapungubwe entrance we added Tawny and Brown snake eagle and then checked into the park. It was overcast but still hot and humid and the Mopani veld was rather quiet. However the drive alongside the Limpopo was lovely and yielded several new species for our trip, such as the Meves's starling, African Palm Swift and Common greenshank. Lunch at the Confluence viewpoint overlooking the Limpopo and Shashe rivers was spectacular and rewarded us with another lifer: Horus swift. The Tree Tops walk was a little noisy with workers repairing the deck but we did see and Broadbilled rollers really well. We took a leisurely drive back to reception to collect our keys and arrange access to the Den Staat wetlands. This proved to be a bit difficult and it took some talking to get access arranged for Den Staat. As our keys were not at reception but at Leokwe camp, we then drove to the camp and got into our huts - these are aesthetically well-designed and spacious. We immediately switched on the aircon, tested the outdoor shower and spent the hottest part of the afternoon reading before venturing outside again around 5pm. We drove slowly back to the Tree Tops walk where we saw the Broadbilled rollers again and just after dinner back at our hut, we also heard Freckled nightjar.
28 Dec 2010 - Day count: 122; Trip count: 189
Since my alarm didn't go off hits morning we overslept and had to rush coffee and rusks before leaving the hut at about 05:15. We picked up many of the usuals but also got a Shikra (first for Nicola) and spotted a Red-crested korhaan as it made its queer flight straight up in the air and then dropping like a puffed-up parachute. We reached the park gate just after 6am and drove over to the Den Staat wetlands. The gravel road to get there was shocking. Literally. Its easily the worst corrugation I ever had to drive but we had to grind our teeth and bear it. Just after crossing into the farm area we took our time identifying a Striped pipit as a lifer. At the first dam immediately picked up many water birds, including Black crake, Green-backed and Squacco heron, Giant, Pied anad Malachite kingfishers, White-winged tern and African purple swamphen. Further on we were stopped by a guy holding a receipt book who demanded R200 entry fee from us. Even after we explained we were jsu tbirding and already got permission from Mapungubwe, he still insisted and eventually we just had to pay up. Annoywed we drove on but sightings of Meyer's parrot, Bronze mannikin, Acacia pied barbet, African palm swift, African paradise flycatcher and the calls of Orange-breasted and Grey-headed bush-shrikes, soon made us forget about it. We drove up to the homestead which seemed to be run by the local community. No-one seemed to have a clue about what to do with us and we were stared at like zoo animals. Eventually a lady came out who said we could drive around anywhere if we paid, which we obviously did. So we proceeded to drive where we wanted and almost immediately were stopped by another man who said we're not allowed on this part of the farm, but we can go to the other side. We followed his directions and then turned off onto a very overgrown track running through the wetland. We eventually reached an old ruin where I decided not to drive any further due to the condition of the track. We locked the car and went on foot. Immediately we were extremely happy when Nicola spotted something landing at the water's edge which turned out to be a Yellow wagtail. Then we also picked up Yellow-billed and Saddle-billed storks, African mourning dove, Sanderling, Common greenshank, Hottentot teal, Goliath heron and Ruff. It was now blisteringly hot and we returned to the car to gulp down ice water. Driving back I spotted a Blue-cheeked bee-eater, thereby completing all the bee-eaters (six) we could possibly see here. From Den Staat we visited the Western section of Mapungubwe, once again driving some really horiffically corrugated gravel roads. This part was a bit disappointing, perhaps because it was now already well past 10am and very hot. We only added 7 new birds for the day of which the most interesting was Scaly-feathered finch. We ate lunch outside Maloutswa pan hide and I thought I spotted a Tropical boubou but couldn't confirm the call with either Robert's or Guy Gibbons's call recordings. After lunch we had enough of the heat, closed the windows, switched on the aircon and jarred our way back to the hut to a cold shower and an afternoon nap. We made early dinner, then drove out again just before 6pm for a quick visit to Tree Tops walk. We were on 110 birds for the day and added 11 more, including Broad-billed roller and Red-billed oxpecker, before driving to the main gate for our night drive. Although our guide drove all over the park, we only managed to add a Spotted eagle owl. We did scare up a nightjar but it was gone before we had time to ID it. The only other highlight was a large spotted genet. On our way back to camp, just after 10pm, my headlights picked out two more Spotted eagle owls.
29 Dec 2010 - Day count: 106; Trip count: 202
This time the alarm did go off at 4am and after we listened to teh pow-wow of Freckled nightjar, we were off at 5am. We stopped at the Tree Tops walk and added Broad-billed roller once again along with Meyer's parrot, Comb duck (Knob-billed duck), Retz's helmetshrike, Long-billed crombec, Yellow-billed stork, African mourning dove and a few more common ones. Then we followed the river road along the Limpopo and all the way back to the main gate, ticking Amur falcon, Fawn-coloured lark, Brown-crowned tchagra, Lesser kestrel, White-browed robin-chat and Red-headed finch. At 10am we were back at the gate and went on the heritage tour of Mapungubwe hill. It was ridiculously hot and we slathered ourselves with suncream. Our tour truck was packed with local and foreign tourists showing off their lack of knowledge quite admirably. Our guide talked at length at the main excavation site and although it was very interesting, standing around in teh searing heat was not fun. We then walked to the top of the hill where the guide explained where the Mapungubwe people stored grain and water, lived and had lookouts over the area. Just after noon we were back at the gate. Our guide from last night's night drive said we can go look for wetland birds at Samaria - a citrus farm recently bought by SANParks. At Samaria we added our fifth bee-eater for the day (Blue-cheeked) and also Giant kingfisher, Whiskered tern, Water thick-knee and a nice surprise: another Yellow wagtail. We had some lunch under the shade of a fever tree before switching the aircon to high and driving the 50kms odd to Ratho farm, west of Pontdrift. An unbelievably stunning setup with furnished tent accommodation, a beautiful thatch lapa and kitchen as well as a splash pool and deck looking towards the Limpopo about 100m away. Marabou storks circled their vulture restaurant and an African harrier-hawk flew in as we sat in the shade, trying to cool down. Just after 5, Susan Boshoff collected us for a short trip out to a small pan to view some birds. Plovers, stilts, geese, lapwings and a number of other water birds were present and we scanned the pan for about 20 minutes before driving back to the farm. A quick walk through the crocodile pens where some Water thickknee and Cattle egrets were getting ready for bed and then we also went back to the camp to start dinner.
30 Dec 2010 - Day count: 60; Trip count: 203
We were in need of sleep and for a change, we didn't get up until well past sunrise. After breakfast, while the temperature was still tolerable, we went for a walk down to the Limpopo. We've already seen or heeard most of the birds from our tent's deck so we added few birds but it was pleasant in the tall riverine trees and we were able to get reasonably close to some Marabou stork on the banks, who flew off into Botswana when we got too close. Just past the vulture restaurant we got both Cape and White-backed vultures. Back at the camp we went for a slow drive to a nearby koppie where a Black stork has apparently nested. Unfortunately it was now already 10am and if it was there, it was long gone. Back it camp it was now getting very hot with the temperature reaching for 40 degrees. We cooled off in the splash pool and then sat in teh shade for the rest of the day. Dinner consisted of crocodile steak, potatoes and sweetcorn.
31 Dec 2010 - Day count: 92; Trip count: 213
Notching up the usual birds while eating breakfast, we decided to pack and try and escape the heat. By 06:30 we were on our way and drove all the way to Polokwane, picking up a few roadside birds along the way. In Polokwane we made a quick visit to Polokwane Bird Sanctuary which had a serious shortage of flycatchers, considering the over-abundance of flies. We stayed only long enough to pick up the obvious birds before heading off to Polokwane Game Reserve. Here we added our first Scaly-feathered finch for the trip and then picked up another lifer - Short-clawed lark. Black-faced and Violet-eared waxbills were expected and it wasn't long before we saw these pretty birds. We finished our short trip here with two African hawk-eagles and then drove to our accommodation for the night. We had rolls for New Year's Eve dinner and went to bed early
01 Jan 2011 - Day count: 64; Trip count: 221
We popped in to Polokwane Game Reserve again and ticked off similar birds compared to the previous day's visit but also added a single Lizard buzzard before deciding its time to go home. The drive home was uneventful and we arrived back around 2pm, tired but satisfied with our trip.