Mkhombo Dam Nature Reserve birding Feb 2011

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• List of birds

05 Feb 2011 - Day count: 92, Trip count: 92
We left home just after 4am on Saturday, driving without incident to Marble Hall where we filled up with fuel and then drove another 50km odd to Mkhombo dam. We started our birding day by driving through the Libangeni township as directed in the Birding Gauteng guide. Having plotted GPS coordinates before we left, the directions were easy to follow. Scaly-feathered finch, Malachite kingfisher and Green-winged pytilia were among the first birds on the list but we very soon reached the edge of the dam where the tracks disappeared into the water. It was completely impossible to drive east from here so we sat at the water's edge for a while. Unfortunately the dam was so full that there were really no birds to see. A couple of powerboats created a lot of noise passing to the west and fishermen started crowding the lake as well. We followed a track further west, but this also soon ran into the dam. In the mean time we added a couple of swallows, Kalahari scrub-robin, Chinspot batis, White-faced duck and a Namaqua dove.

A bit disappointed with the high water level, we turned around, went back through the township and drove further west to Point 7 in the BG guide. We found a track going off the road but couldn't locate any marshy bits here. There was however a small dam on the opposite side of the road but this was fenced off and unaccessible. Back on the tar road there were Long-tailed paradise-, Shaft-tailed and Pin-tailed whydahs all over. A singel African marsh harrier sat on a telephone pole and we also got European bee-eater and Lilac-breasted and European rollers. We continued north to Point 8, and turned onto a track directly opposite the road going to Rust-de-Winter. We found the Western gate which was unlocked and entered un-challenged. We followed the fairly good track to Point 12 through thornveld and here added Orange-breasted bush-shrike, Chestnut-vented tit-babbler, Sabota lark, Woodland kingfisher, Burchells' starling, lots and lots of Red-billed quelea and then the big excitement! A quick glimpse plus the crystal clear call of Barred wren-warbler! A lifer for both of us!

Reaching the end of the track, we turned around and followed some of the minor tracks until the grass was obscuring the tracks completely. We returned to the tar road and continued to Loding gate. Here the track unfortunately petered out completely not far beyond the township. We sat among some trees for lunch before going back all the way to the eastern end of the dam to access the dam wall. This was a huge disappointment. The weekend crowd of loud and half-drunk fishermen were all over the launching area and there were no birds around. We drove some of the rocky tracks further along and picked up a few more birds but as far as we went we could hear the voices and parties of fishermen on their boats or on shore so we left after about half an hour's quick birding. With the afternoon getting long, we drove north, found the track towards Bloedfontein gate and drove towards the dam. As soon as we "entered" the reserve we could see the huge potential of the dam as a birding site with lots of shallow inlets full of reeds and lilies. We finally added an African jacana but even here it was obvious that the dam is very full. Just after 4pm we returned and headed to Marble Hall where we spent the night.

06 Feb 2011 - Day count: 78, Trip count: 115
We got up just before 5am, had a quick breakfast, and then headed back to Mkhombo. I didn't realize yesterday just how far it is from Marble Hall and it was a good 40 minutes before we entered the western section. On the way we added the common roadside birds including Amur falcon, Long-tailed paradise, Pin-tailed and Shaft-tailed whydahs, Abdim's stork, Black-shouldered kite and Namaqua dove. Before entering the gate we also added Barn and Pearl-breasted swallows, Magpie shrike and 3 Hamerkops. Inside we got the usual birds and again heard the Barred wren-warbler calling. Having not recorded any yesterday, we were surprised by the number of Helmeted guineafowl this morning. I spotted two Southern pied babblers in the distance but once again, when we reached the dam, nothing of note could be seen and only Lesser swamp warbler calling in the reeds was added. We drove back out the same route and didn't linger, as we still wanted to check out Mdala Nature Reserve. At Mdala there were no issues entering the park (R10 per vehicle plus R20 per person) but the Education Centre inside was being used as a voter registration station so who knows if that was the reason for the ease of entry. The broad-leaved woodland was rather quiet (it was already 10am) and we only added Black-backed puffback, Yellow-fronted tinkerbird, Cape weaver and Groundscraper thrush. The track towards Zwelabo camp indeed turned a bit nasty about 2km inside the reserve gate and "poorly maintained" is not very accurate - more like, completely un-maintained. We were happy with our first exploration of this area, and considering the flood-levels in the dam, the birding in the surrounding area was pretty good. We plan to return regularly.