Zaagkuildrift to Finfoot Lake Reserve birding, Mar 2017

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• List of birds

19 March
A very early start to Pieter’s birthday saw us reaching Zaagkuildrift by 6 in the morning. The Zaagkuildrift to Kgomo-kgomo road is one of our favorite spots and it did not disappoint. Half-collared kingfisher, Brown snake eagle, Shaft-tailed whydah, Barred wren-warbler, River warbler, Temminck's courser and Village indigobird were some of the more special birds seen, but the normal birds were also out in abundance so we had a list of 121 species by lunch. We continued our drive towards Borakalalo, another favorite spot of ours, but we decided to only bird the outside of the reserve for now, saving the inside for later on the weekend. Being later in the day and quite hot, the bird life was sheltering so we only added a few new species for the day such as Red-breasted swallow and European bee-eater. We continued towards our accommodation, and after a bunch of cryptic clues from Pieter I eventually saw a signpost and figured out where we were staying – Finfoot Lake Reserve! Being birders, the name had long intrigued us so it was nice to finally find out what the place was like. It was a lovely small private game farm on the southern shore of Vaalkop Dam, with dinner and breakfast included, and to our surprise, two activities per day. We immediately signed up for the boat trip that afternoon and before long we were being driven down to the dam. We were a group of roughly ten people, but the guide was also a birder so we did manage to add several new species for the day: African pied wagtail, White-winged tern, Chestnut-vented tit-babbler (warbler), Goliath heron, and the beautiful Black heron hunting fish and frogs by umbrella light. Night was falling by the time we drove back to the lodge so we could hear the first Fiery-necked nightjars warming up for the night. Back at the lodge we ate a very pleasant dinner and climbed into bed.

Rufous-naped lark

Red-backed shrike

Black-chested prinia

Acacia pied barbet

Shaft-tailed whydah

Temminck's courser

Sunset over Vaalkop dam

20 March
It was the working Monday in the middle of a long weekend, and we had some business to attend to in Pretoria, so we asked for a packed breakfast and left very early to get in some birding on the way. Zaagkuildrift was just as good as the day before with the addition of Black-winged pratincole and African marsh harrier. It was early afternoon by the time we headed back to the lodge, but we were in time for the afternoon activity of a game drive. Finfoot Lake Reserve is a small reserve with plenty of good birding habitat, however, it had been overrun with a weed from India called Flannel weed. The guide told us that it had only arrived in the last 2 months but it had spread like crazy and large areas of the reserve were covered. They had found a poison that did not damage the indigenous flora and had started treating it, but it was obvious they had a long way to go. Pieter and I joked that we should get our hiking buddy Shirley there, point out the offending plant and say ‘Shirley, Flannel weed, bad!’ and then let her loose. I’m pretty sure the reserve would have been clean within a few weeks! The birds were fortunately not affected and we saw White-throated robin-chat, Brown-throated martin, Burnt necked eremomela, Cinnamon-breasted bunting and a rush of other woodland birds. Back at the lodge we settled down to another very pleasant dinner before bed.

Spotted thick-knee

European bee-eaters

21 March
The last morning of our long weekend we had a reasonably early start and went on another game drive before breakfast. The specials seen were a Wahlberg's eagle and a late Fiery-necked nightjar before going back to the restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast we quickly packed up and checked out and headed back to Zaagkuildrift road to try and finish some of the atlassing pentads we started the previous day. The route past Borakalalo yielded Violet-eared waxbill and Meyers parrot, and we wished the weekend was longer so that we could have found time to bird inside the reserve as well. Zaagkuildrift yielded Lesser kestrel, Streaky-headed seedeater, Lesser grey shrike and a stunning Common whitethroat as new birds for the trip. By lunch time we had reached the N1 again and content with a stunning weekend's birding, we headed for home.We had ticked 175 birds for the trip!

Little grebe in the morning mist

Speckled mousebird

Borakalalo birding, Apr 2014

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• List of birds

Early on Saturday morning we left home, first dropping the cats off at Nicola’s parents, then heading north to the start of the Zaagkuildrift road. We got there around 7am and despite the April chill, the birds were out and calling. African fish eagle was one of the first birds on the list – interesting since we were barely two kilometres from the N1 highway, but since we knew the proximity of a fair sized dam, it had to come from there. As we drove west, we ticked the usual thornveld birds and by late morning had reached the Kgomo-Kgomo flood plain. It was amazing to see the difference just six weeks had made – all the water was gone and the river under the Kgomo-Kgomo bridge was a small little stream. Grasses were lush everywhere and only the bigger birds like egrets and herons were visible. Adding only a few more birds here, we carried on towards Borakalalo, entering the reserve sometime after noon. We stopped at Klipvoor dam’s picnic site for lunch but were very disappointed at the neglect of the facilities and lawn. Feeling fairly tired after the early morning, we made a quick turn at the bridge below the dam wall and at the quarry on the way to Moretele camp site, but then headed towards our safari tent at Phudufudu bush camp. A calling Lazy cisticola on the way to the camp became our first new annual bird for the trip and later that afternoon, a calling Greater honeyguide became the second. Phudufudu camp was OK, but considering what we paid for it, not worth the extra money compared to Moretele’s safari tents. At Phudufudu there’s a small kitchen with a useless stove that gets crowded very quickly during meal times. The bathrooms have only two toilets and two showers for the gents and ladies and the tents are just a tad too close to each other in our opinion. This became quite a problem as we had a group of two rather loud and obnoxious families that used three tents close to us. They were a constant annoyance but since we planned not to spend too much time at the camp, we tried to ignore them. As dusk set in and we were busy eating dinner, Pearl-spotted owlet and Fiery-necked nightjars started calling but we were both too tired to go and look for any other nocturnals and turned in early.

Hoping to catch some early African finfoot, we left before dawn, stopping now and then to listen for owls and nightjars, and then parked at the bridge below Klipvoor dam wall for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately all we got were cormorants, darters, herons and kingfishers – no finfoot! With the sun starting to peek over the horizon we turned west towards the Ga Dinonyane bird hides. Again the usual bushveld birds did not disappoint and we quickly got up 40 species before we saw our first new bird for the year (for the day) – Bronze mannikins. Not long after we bagged the second one when I heard the soft trilling whistle of a Grey tit-flycatcher. Around 9am we pulled into the Ga Dinonyane hides and were pleasantly surprised at the flooded plains and lush vegetation. On our previous visits these hides were nice but certainly not spectacular with only a small circle of water surrounding an island. Now there was water everywhere and Red-billed teal, Egyptian goose, Green-backed, Squacco and Purple herons, Black crake and Blacksmith lapwing were all over. We spent an hour at the hide and picked up a few more species but the highlight was a juvenile Gabar goshawk that pestered something hiding in the grass about fifty metres from the hide. There were a number of Red-billed teal chicks about so we thought this could certainly make a good target for the small raptor. At 10am we left and drove the back route (Tholo loop) to return past Klipvoor dam and then entered the game drive area on the southern end of the reserve. With the morning becoming quite warm, we saw fewer birds and at the dam’s edge it was obvious that the migrants have now left for good – we could only pick up Great crested grebes. Sefudi dam hide was not as nice as previous years and considering the level of Klipvoor dam and the flooded Ga Dinonyane hides, it was rather surprising to find Sefudi dam very shallow and with few birds. But it was lunch time so we spent a long time at the hide relaxing and did pick up a few more birds before leaving the hide around 2pm. A very slow drive out of the game area saw us back at Phudufudu camp at 4pm. With a cup of tea in hand we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon until our noisy neighbours pitched up. Dinner and an early night followed.

Next morning we were up bright and early, and quickly packed the car and headed straight for the Ga Dinonyane hides, thermos flask of tea in hand. We arrived before dawn and breakfasted in the parking lot, before heading into the hide, blankets wrapped around us. We spent a good hour and a half there, picking up Red-billed teal, White-faced duck, Green-backed heron, Black crake and Common moorhen. To our delight we heard the soft booming of Kurrichane buttonquail, quite miraculous considering the racket the Egyptian geese were making. An African fish eagle soared overhead, and some Cape penduline-tits darted amongt the trees in front of the hide. We picked up another new bird for the year, Coqui francolin calling far in the distance. At 8am we climbed back in the car and took a slow drive along the Tholo loop on our way to the exit. We picked up the usual bushveld birds and after a quick stop at the bridge for the cormorants and larger herons, we started the drive back home.

All in all a good weekend’s birding considering the migrants had all left for warmer pastures, and certainly the best we had ever seen Ga Dinonyane hides

Warbler Weekend at Wolfhuiskraal with Indicator birding, Mar 2014

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• List of birds

Etienne Marais, the owner and guide of Indicator Birding, arranged a "Warbler Weekend" for a small group of people in the Zaagkuildrift-Kgomo-Kgomo area north of Pretoria over the weekend of 14-16 March. We were to be based at Wolfhuiskraal farm and would target warblers, in particular River warbler, Icterine and Olive-tree warblers, Common whitethroat and Thrush nightingale.

Immediately after work on Friday, we left Middelburg and drove without incident to Pretoria. Heavy rains in the 2 weeks preceding the weekend had us worried - Pretoria had an average of around 350mm, about half the annual rainfall! The access road to Zaagkuildrift is notoriously muddy and tricky after heavy rains so Etienne sent us an alternative route to get us to the farm. Good thing too, because even on the alternative route we were slipping and sliding through a few longish muddy patches, un-tactfully reminding us of our experience in the Ibera wetlands in Argentina last year. But we were now out of city traffic and much more relaxed so we birded without really stopping and were happy to add Shaft-tailed whydah and Violet-eared waxbill among other common birds. We made it to the farm without assistance and caught the rest of the group just as they were leaving to try find River warblers in the south eastern corner of the farm. Putting on sandals for wet and muddy tracks, we joined the whole group as we drove down for a short distance and then parked. On a very muddy farm road we walked, stopped and listened several times as Etienne alternatively played back River warbler calls or whistled Pearl-spotted owlet calls. However, the River warblers were quiet and in the dusk we returned to the bush camp. Electricity was off since we arrived but not long after Etienne lit our braai fire, power came back on and we had a relaxed evening while learning to recognize warbler calls. With an early start planned for Saturday, we all left for bed quite early.

After a quick cup of coffee, we were on our way at 05:30. We drove down to the same spot we were at yesterday and immediately after getting out of the car, we heard the first River warbler calling. Following Etienne's instructions we all moved into a good vantage spot and then tried to be as quiet as possible while Etienne occasionally whistled Pearl-spotted owlet or played back River warbler. Unfortunately the warblers were calling from the other side of the fence on the public road so after about half an hour, it was decided to drive around and try outside the farm. This we did and spent the next 3 hours moving to a few different locations up and down the road, each time moving to within about 5-10m of where a bird is calling and then waiting patiently and very quietly. Unfortunately, even after spending 4 hours in total looking for a River warbler, we were still to see one. Etienne had a brief view of one while trying to move it towards our group but the rest of us - not a glimpse. Eventually we started looking for other warblers as well as Thrush nightingale up and down the public road. We started meeting a number of other birders doing the same thing and Etienne decided it's best to return to the farm where there's fewer people calling and less disturbance. Back on the farm we located both Common whitethroat and Icterine warbler. Both Nicola and I saw the whitethroat beautifully but our views of the Icterine was so poor, we decided not to tick it. With the clouds finally starting to lift after almost 2 weeks of solid rain and cloud, it had become to warm up nicely. We retreated to the bush camp for lunch after which Etienne showed some photos of warblers that highlighted the important diagnostic features to look for. At 2pm we were off again, this time aiming for the flood plain at Kgomo-Kgomo. Since most of the rain falling in Pretoria ends up here, via either the Apies or Pienaars rivers, we expected the flood plain to be exactly that - a flooded plain. First problem though was getting through two sections of road that were flooded. I wasn't prepared risking our 2x4 so we bundled in with Etienne and two our group, Alta and Michelle. In three 4x4s we managed to get through the flooded road sections (almost knee-deep and more than 100m long) and while doing so got fantastic views of our third lifer for the trip - Dwarf bittern! We reached the floodplain and even Etienne was stunned - he said in 15 years of birding this area, he'd never seen so much water. There were lots of waterfowl present: African spoonbill, Yellow-billed and Great egrets. Whiskered terns, Black-winged pratincole, Red-billed teal, White-faced, Fulvous and Knob-billed ducks, Reed cormorant, Egyptian goose, Glossy and African sacred ibis, Black-headed, Grey, Purple, Green-backed and Squacco herons etc. A few stops along the bridge netted Temminck's courser, Western yellow wagtail and Wood sandpiper. It was now getting a late in the afternoon and Etienne led us back east along the dirt road and took an unmarked track heading south back to floodplain. He found a nice spot along the water's edge where we could sit for sundowners while watching birds. It was beautiful evening; the clouds had cleared and the setting sun made for excellent lighting. Lots of birds were about and in addition to those mentioned earlier we had Malachite and Pied kingfishers, Common and Lesser moorhens, African purple swamphen, Black and Black-crowned night herons and  Southern pochards. A marsh harrier that we saw earlier also came flying past and although initially we thought it might be Western marsh harrier, pictures later confirmed it to be a juvenile African marsh harrier. Just after sunset it was time to head back home and with the spotlights out, we cruised slowly back. A possible European nightjar disappeared the moment the car's headlights fell on it but we got fantastic views of a Marsh owl and Spotted thick-knee. Back at the farm it was time for a braai and then bed.

On Sunday morning we were up early once again and headed for the public road where we heard the River warblers calling yesterday. It was a misty morning and again the warblers were calling, but on the other side of the fence (back on the farm's property). We drove around to the inside and spent another hour or so without any visuals. Finally giving up on seeing River warblers, we headed back to the floodplain and stopped off at the same sun-downer spot of the night before. Marico sunbirds were flitting about the trees here and shortly thereafter on the bridge across the floodplain, we also added a Black-chested snake-eagle sitting in a sisal tree. Our weekend was drawing to a close though so for the last time we drove through the stretches of water to get back to the farm and pack up. We followed Etienne out to stop along the road in a last-ditch attempt to find Icterine or Olive-tree warblers. We dipped again on the warblers but got nice views of Pearl-spotted owlet that responded to Etienne's whistling. The drive back was fairly relaxed and we got home just before 5pm.

We ticked a total of 154 species for the weekend of which three were lifers (River warbler, Common whitethroat and Dwarf bittern). The floodplain was in really fantastic condition and Etienne was sure that crakes would start moving in shortly - let's see if we can visit again in a few weeks time to try and find them! Thanks Etienne and our fellow group members for a wonderful weekend in great company!