Wakkerstroom birding, Nov 2015

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• List of birds

It’s been a while since we visited Wakkerstroom and with many possible new annual birds, including the possibility of a lifer (Rudd’s lark), we planned and booked our trip here a number of months ago. Knowing how difficult it could be to locate the area's specialty larks, we employed a local guide for most of the weekend: Lucky Ngwenya.

Friday afternoon we arrived at dusk and made a quick circuit of the wetlands in town, getting some excellent views of several African snipe and African rail. The weekend’s accommodation was at Chetnole cottages on the outskirts – a really fine place with self-catering facilities, comfortable beds and a cozy lounge. Saturday morning we met Lucky at the Wakkerstroom Post Office and headed north east out of town. Before heading into the hills we made a quick stop at the pans and picked up about twenty odd birds including Little bittern and Grey crowned crane. On a dirt road outside Wakkerstroom we stopped in a large patch of Ouhout. We picked up a bunch of birds here including Cape canary, Cape weaver, Drakensberg prinia, Bokmakierie, Black-headed oriole, Lazy and Wing-snapping cisticolas and Dark-capped yellow warbler. Lucky could hear Barratt’s warbler calling as well but it was far away and we were just not able to distinguish it between all the other bird calls. A few kilometers further we stopped near a wooded gully and we barely got out of the car when Lucky spotted a Bush blackcap. The guy’s got brilliant eyesight and it took a while for the two of us to latch onto the bird. A calling Red-throated wryneck distracted us and when we heard another noise close-by we looked up to find the Bush blackcap perched in the open about five metres from us. At this point we were high up on a hill with a vast valley spreading below us. At this higher altitude we also saw Greater kestrel, Banded martin, Steppe buzzard, Secretarybird and Buffy pipit, but as we headed lower down, we got a different suite of birds: Red-chested, Diderick, Klaas’s and Black cuckoos, Barrow’s korhaan, Denham’s bustard, Long-billed pipit and Cape crow. We stopped next to a field with grass grazed very short by cattle, followed Lucky through a fence and then fanned out, looking for African quailfinch. It wasn’t long before we flushed a few but despite them dropping back into the grass less than ten metres in front of us, we just couldn’t see them. It took some careful scanning and even more careful tip-toeing before we finally managed to sneak good views before the whole flock disappeared to another corner of the field. Reaching Dirkiesdorp still in the morning, we headed back to Wakkerstroom with a quick stop at a few rocky outcrops where we ticked Mocking cliff-chat, Cape rock-thrush and African black duck (at a small stream). Back in Wakkerstroom we turned north west into the lark loop roads and we got good views of Eastern long-billed, Spike-heeled and Red-capped larks, Blue korhaan and Mountain wheatear. By mid-afternoon we were back in town and with over a hundred species already seen, we gave Lucky a break and dropped him off close to his home. Nicola and I continued birding and drove back up the dirt road we started on this morning, mainly to finish off some of the pentads we started atlassing. Heavy clouds and a cold wind had started moving over the mountains and we only added Malachite sunbird, Cape bunting and Red-winged francolin before driving back. Our evening was very pleasant inside our cottage while wind and cloud streaked across the hills and delivered a little bit of much-needed rain.

Sunday morning we picked Lucky up from his home but heavy fog and drizzle made birding very hard. We turned around on a dirt road high in the mountains that was so socked-in that you couldn’t see ten metres. Instead Lucky directed us on a long drive to Daggakraal township where we stopped at various points looking mainly for Botha’s lark. With the first two spots producing nothing, we tried for a last chance in a cattle-grazed field on the outskirts of the township. Leaving the car, we fanned out again and walked for about ten minutes before Lucky spotted a few larks in the grass. Walking a bit closer, we flushed them and were then able to get closer for good looks before they flew off  – Botha’s lark ticked! The heavy cloud had started to lift and we raced back in the direction of Wakkerstroom and made a quick stop at Fickland pan where we finally saw our most-wanted bird for the weekend – Rudd’s lark. Lucky even showed us a nest briefly – it really was just a few grass tussocks twisted together and without knowledge of exactly where it is, we would obliviously walk right over it. Mongooses are a serious threat to the lark’s eggs and Lucky told us they were watching where we walked. So in order not to draw attention to the nest for the mongooses, we only took the briefest of glances at the nest and then walked a few more circles, pretending to be interested in something somewhere else. At Fickland pan itself there were Spur-winged geese, Great crested grebe, Maccoa duck, Southern pochard, Grey-crowned crane and Levaillant’s cisticola. We headed back up the mountain where we were fogged in this morning; now it was clear and sunny but a very strong wind made conditions unfavourable. Even so, Lucky quickly found us a Yellow-breasted pipit before we drove some beautifully scenic tracks down into Kwazulu Natal. The wind was becoming rather uncomfortable and by noon we were back in Wakkerstroom. Thanking Lucky for a wonderfully successful weekend, we stopped off at Chetnole cottage to gather all our stuff and then slowly birded out towards Amersfoort and then headed for home.

With 148 species seen (and 1 heard only) for the weekend, it was by far our best effort in Wakkerstroom, almost entirely thanks to Lucky who really is a fantastic guide and highly recommended.

Wakkerstroom birding Sep 2010

Links

• List of birds

Friday morning at 4am we were up and packing the last few things before hitting the road well before dawn. In the dark I managed to get on the wrong road to the south and we had to drive the R543 to Hendrina to get back on track. This must surely be one of the worst tarred roads in South Africa. But back on the N11 we made good time to Ermelo before three Stop/Go roadworks held us up again. Shortly after Amersfoort we turned off the highway and started our birding, working our way slowly towards Wakkerstroom. Disappointingly the area has also not yet received any rain this season and everything looked dry and dusty. We were looking especially for Denham's and Whitebellied bustards, Grey crowned cranes and Blue korhaan. A number of times we saw large birds sitting deep in the agricultural fields; without fail though, these turned out to be Spurwinged geese. But among others, we did get Southern bald ibis, Red-capped lark, South African shelduck, Plain-backed pipit and Blue korhaan before we reached Wakkerstroom. After filling up with petrol we headed south past the Zaaihoek dam and completed a circuit past Groenvlei. It was a very pretty drive despite the dry and dusty conditions and we added Ground woodpecker, Buff-streaked chat, Blue crane and Sentinel rock-thrush before we came to the track leading up to Ossewakop. With engine racing up the steep and rocky track, we made it to the top with nice views over the area. We had a spot of lunch before driving back down and into town to make a turn past the wetlands. The only exciting bird we added here was an African marsh harrier - the rest of the common ones we ticked when we drove through Wakkerstroom earlier. Just before 2pm we drove to our accommodation and spent the rest of the afternoon dozing and reading.

Surprisingly, a Fierynecked nightjar called during the night. Getting up at 05:30 we were on our way before 06:30. We made a quick turn at the wetlands to add the usual waterbirds, including a Black-crowned night heron. Then we headed east towards Piet Retief, a very pretty drive indeed. Specials along the way included Buff-streaked chat, a lone Secretarybird right next to the road, some Southern bald ibis and a good identification of Long-billed pipit. We took some of the back roads to Fickland's pan where we got Jackal buzzard, Spike-heeled lark, African pipit and Mountain wheatear. Back in Wakkerstroom we ended our birding by visiting some of the wetland hides and added Fantailed widowbird and a Malachite kingfisher. Making a last turn on the western side of the wetlands we were lucky to have a small covey of Red-winged francolin cross the road. Back at our accommodation we had a good shower before dinner and an early night.

Once again the Fierynecked nigthjar called in the night and another surprise was a Secretarybird landing about 50m from the house in the grass. We packed and cleaned, then left just before 7am. With a cold front pushing through, the wind has picked up significantly and at the wetland hides, it was rather unpleasant. Nevertheless, we were very lucky to spot a lone Lanner falcon (lifer) on a soccer pitch in town and then a little later added another Black-crowned night heron before starting back home. This time we drove the tar road to Volksrust with a fading hope of bustards and cranes. But it was not to be. Our last good sighting was a pair of Blue korhaan very near the road that Nicola spotted just as we drove past them. We turned around quickly and had good sightings before they disappeared. A quick stop at the Wonderfontein pans on the way home yielded a lone Greater flamingo among all the other regular waterbirds. A few waders could also be seen but were too far away to ID. We ended our trip with 98 birds in total and two lifers (Lanner falcon and African rock pipit).