Links
In the first week of January, news filtered through of a Spotted crake seen at Marievale Bird Sanctuary. With no major plans yet for the year, we decided to take a day trip on 9 January. It was a very early start to drive the 140kms before dawn. We arrived just as the gates opened and met Owen Oertli who we’ve birded with before – he was also twitching the crake. Despite spending about four hours in the Otter hide at Marievale (from where it was seen) we never saw it. General birding was good though and we added over 80 birds in the morning’s birding before giving up and driving back home. We later heard that no-one else had seen the bird on Saturday either. However, on Sunday (10 January) a whole bunch of people saw it and on 11 and 12 January, another two Spotted crakes were seen at other places within the sanctuary. We decided to have another go at it. On 16 January we again started ridiculously early and arrived at Marievale to a large crowd of people already looking for it, including Geoff Lockwood. During the week, other cool birds like Western marsh harrier, Pectoral sandpiper and European honey buzzard were all recorded at Marievale so we had high hopes. We staked out the muddy wetlands immediately north of the Otter hide and occasionally wandered up and down the road to look at other birds. At around 7am the Pectoral sandpiper made an appearance and we happily ticked this one off. A distant Western marsh harrier was also seen but the crake remained elusive. After about four hours, with no-one having seen a crake, we decided to visit some of the other parts of the sanctuary. We drove around the back-end towards Duiker hide and also visited the pump station at the northernmost edge of the sanctuary. Apart from the common water and grassland birds, a definite highlight for us was a flock of Orange-breasted waxbills which Nicola managed to snap a quick photo of. On our way back, a passing vehicle informed us that the crake’s been seen and we rushed back to the Otter hide. It was there only about ten minutes before we got there but another hour and a half vigil produced absolutely nothing. Disappointed that we missed it again, we headed up towards Suikerbosrand for the afternoon. The weather was overcast and cool and perhaps because of this, birds were still very active in the afternoon. On top of the tourist drive we screeched to a halt when we saw a large black and white raptor fly past – it was a Pallid harrier! Another pair of birders soon caught up with us – it was Lia Steen and Fiona Wark Butchart who we saw earlier on at Marievale – they had seen the crake. We leap-frogged each other continuously throughout the afternoon and stopped at the picnic site to have a chat. We exited Suikerbosrand at 5pm having seen 67 species and returned to Nigel where we spent the night. On Sunday morning we left before dawn and were the first people to enter Marievale. This time Nicola got posted to the Otter hide while I sat outside looking around the mudflats on the northern side of the road. It wasn’t long before the first cars arrived and soon there were dozens of people around. Just after 6am I found the Pectoral sandpiper again and shortly after had great views of a Cape clawless otter that climbed out onto some reeds to sun itself. Just after 7am, my phone started ringing – it was Nicola. There was only reason for her to call so I jumped up and started running to the hide – they had just seen the crake! Nicola had a one-second glimpse of it before it disappeared and didn’t even have a chance to photograph it. I joined her in the hide and intently stared at the spot where it was seen. Half an hour later we were still waiting and Nicola decided to scour the other side again. More than an hour later I still haven’t seen a thing and very disappointed, we decided to bird the northern end of the sanctuary again. Nicola overheard that someone had seen a Black-tailed godwit at one of the other hides so maybe there was some consolation available. We did not find the godwit but did get fantastic views of two African quailfinches that came to sit in the road. With mid-day approaching we drove back to the Otter hide and discovered that a crake’s been seen again just ten minutes before we arrived. This time the hide was full so we sat down outside the hide and waited. Forty minutes later we still haven’t seen it and as it was now growing hot, we decided to call it a day. I’m happy for Nicola seeing the crake, however brief it was, but to me it was a major dip – I really hope we can pick this one up again with a weekend in Harare’s dambos in the next few weeks.
