Magoebaskloof hiking and birding, Sep 2012

Links

• List of birds

Returning from a Malawi site visit late on Friday afternoon made it impossible for us to drive through to Magoebaskloof before the weekend started. Instead, we left very early on Saturday morning, arriving in Magoebaskloof around 9am. Along the N11 we added a few common birds including Southern yellow-billed, African grey and Red-billed hornbills. We decided to drive down the Forest Drive and quickly picked up Knysna turaco, Sombre greenbul, African emerald cuckoo, Cape batis, Southern double-collared sunbird and Barratt’s warbler. In one of the many shady spots we stopped and picked out calls of Olive bush-shrike, Green-backed camaroptera, Southern boubou, Yellow-fronted tinkerbird, and for the first time in Southern Africa – White-starred robin! A few other birds were also on our list by the time we exited the Forest Drive and returned to the Houtbosdorp entrance to meet up with the rest of the group at Waterfall hut. From the other side of Dap Naude dam we could see them lounging in front of the hut and we quickly drove around and joined them for lunch. Later in the afternoon other hikers arrived and this prompted us to go and park the car at Broederstroom hut (no parking available at Waterfall hut) and walk the short distance through the marshy bits above the dam. A braai fire was started in the late afternoon and after a splendid dinner we crawled into bed, a little apprehensive of the 18km walk of the next day.

Mist hanging thickly over the dam and above the forest greeted us as we woke up. With a long day’s hiking ahead of us, Nicola and I got away first, intending to do some birding along the way. Unfortunately it was cold and the few birds that were out were almost impossible to see against the bad light. We made good progress through the forest though, and Shirley, Eddie and George only caught up with us about 2km into the walk. The thick, cold fog did make for excellent walking conditions but after about two hours walking it started drizzling. Some members of the other two groups on the trail overtook us while we were bird-watching but after they stopped for a tea-break, we passed them again. About 10km into the walk my feet became annoyingly sore and I had to stop every 20-30 minutes for a short rest. However, the cold and wet kept us all on our feet most of the time and we arrived at the beautiful Dokolewa Pools hut around 1pm. Shirley had strained her back along the way and had difficulty sitting and lying down. Nicola gave her a massage after lunch but we also started discussing alternative options for the last day, including walking out on the Forest Drive rather than the normal trail. Nicola and Shirley took a slow walk up towards De Hoek hut to see where the Forest Drive ran and along the way heard Scaly-throated honeyguide and took nice pictures of a White-starred robin. Having discovered exactly where to pick up the road, they returned and after a bit more rest in the afternoon gloom, we made dinner. The still overcast sky turned dusk into night very quickly and by 18:30 we were all in bed.

We were up early again and it was quickly clear that Shirley’s back was not doing too well and she wanted to walk out on the Forest Drive. Eddie was going to go with Shirley either way and as my feet were still painful from yesterday, I decided to walk the road as well. Even though the road was a longer walk, we knew the gradient would be much easier and anticipated it taking us not longer than three hours. George wanted to stick to the trail and started out shortly after breakfast on his own. At 06:45 we were on our way too and after picking up Scaly-throated honeyguide, White-starred robin, Chorister robin-chat and Long-crested eagle, we emerged on the bottom section of the Forest Drive and started the easy walk up. Today the weather was completely clear but it was still cold in the shade and the walking extremely pleasant. As we rose higher on the slopes we added some more birds in the forests and then stopped briefly at one of the streams crossing the road. A large group of birders were actively spishing as I came around a corner in the road – I walked up softly and was very happy when a Blue-mantled crested-flycatcher appeared just at that moment. Where the normal trail crosses the road higher up, we were surprised to see George and a few of the other group just emerging from the forest. We had another short rest with them before George went up the trail again and we carried on up the road. My feet were becoming sore again but I was determined to finish in style and pushed on ahead of the others, reaching Woodbush hut shortly after 9am, having walked about 2.5 hours. Nicola, Eddie and Shirley arrived within another 10 minutes and while Shirley and Eddie had a quick shower and waited for George, Nicola and I drove off to Broederstroom hut in Shirley’s car to fetch ours. Thirty minutes later we were back and we left for a well-deserved coke in Haenertsburg.

This was Nicola's first and my fifth Magoebaskloof hike - an evergreen (literally and figuratively) trail with fond memories!

Swaziland hiking and birding, Jul 2012

Links

• List of birds seen

Leaving home just before 2pm, we made it to Oshoek border post just before 4pm. The South African side was quick but the queue on the Swaziland side took 20 minutes to clear. Finally through we drove the short distance to Malolotja National Park and arrived around 5pm. Our little cottage was neat and clean but due to some guy smashing into an electric pylon somewhere distant, without electricity. After bacon and cheese sandwiches for dinner we heard African wattled- and Black-winged lapwings calling in the early evening.

Waking at 05:30 we had sandwiches and rusks for breakfast, then drove out towards the Silotfwane viewpoint only learning afterwards that this was for 4x4s only. It was overcast, windy and stingingly cold. We started our birding with a few African pipits, Buff-streaked chats and Cape longclaws, but after only 10 minutes driving we spotted two beautiful Black-winged lapwings – having heard them yesterday for the first time, these were our first sighting of them ever! Before reaching the viewpoint we also encountered Cape rock-thrush, Jackal buzzard, Red-winged francolin and Cape grassbird. The road was indeed pretty bad and when we arrived at the viewpoint, we decided to rather hike from here instead of Logwaja as I initially planned. The hike started gently enough and a bunch of swallows overhead turned out to be Grey-rumped swallows – our first for the year. After about a kilometer the path started descending more steeply and we had to watch the overgrown patches carefully. We eventually reached the Malolotja river valley but as the track disappeared in thick undergrowth we had to do some bundu-bashing before finding the main valley path. We headed up the valley and reached Malolotja campsite quickly and took a short rest. From here we crossed the Malolotja river several times and I got a dunking at one of these as I slipped on a rock. No harm done except a bruised ego and off we went. In the forested patched we added Ashy flycatcher, Cape batis, Sombre greenbul and Bar-throated apalis. The clouds above now looked slightly more ominous than earlier and we moved on quickly. After a bit more bundu-bashing we reached Majolomba campsite and a few minutes later started the brutal ascent back to the top. The first 350m climb was very steep and loose and by the time we reached more gentle slopes I was buggered and so were my feet. I mistook an early turn-off for a later one but luckily realized the mistake after only 200m. We retraced our steps and then had to climb another 50m followed by a gentle descent before reaching the proper turn-off. At this junction a bubbling stream was a great relief as our water was getting very low. As it was also well past lunch time we took a short break and ate some crisps with ice-cold mountain water. Although not far from the car now, the slow ascent from here was just too much for my un-exercised legs and frequent cramps forced me to sit every few hundred metres to stretch out. Nicola had much more energy and went ahead to bring the car a bit closer to the trail-head where I arrived eventually. It was now 2pm and we were both very tired but with a good day’s hiking and birding done, we did not feel guilty at all returning to our cottage. The road back proved quite a challenge but after a few steep and rocky turns were negotiated, all was well and we got back by 3pm, also adding Mocking cliff-chat and Plain-backed pipit on the way. After a nice hot bath we spent the afternoon with books and tea and as dusk fell, a lonely Bokmakierie also made it onto our list.

Another early morning saw us driving some of the southern tracks of the Park under a very cold and cloudy sky. We did not add any new birds for the trip until we got back to the cottage where two White-necked ravens perched on a rooftop. We packed up quickly and left Malolotja just before 9am, driving north towards Pigg's Peak. The road from Pigg's Peak to Bulembu is horrendous and we spun tyres frequently in loose sand and dust on steep slopes. Through the border sometime after 10am we enjoyed the beautiful drive to Barberton where we ended our bird list with a lone Long-crested eagle. A few Stop/Go roadworks forced us onto the back road towards Machadodorp where we picked up the N4 and arrived safely home just after 2pm.

Marloth and KNP birding Jun 2012

Links

• List of birds 

On Friday afternoon we drove to Marloth park, arriving at our accommodation just after 6pm. Renting from a colleague of Nicola's, it was great value for money for the weekend. After hamburgers for dinner it was off to an early night's sleep as we planned on getting up at 04:30 to make it to the Crocodile Bridge at Kruger National Park at 06:00.

Nicola's mobile alarm did not go off as set and when I woke up, it was already 05:20. We quickly rushed to get everything packed and by 05:40 were on our way. We made it to the gate at about 06:15 but luckily the sun had not risen yet so we haven't lost any birding time. Unfortunately, after entering the park, we immediately discovered that the road we wanted to drive via Biyamiti bridge was closed and we had to take a long detour to get back to Malelane. But our disappointment was short-lived when we first saw two spotted hyenas investigating the tourists in front of us, and then a white rhino in the road not 500m further on. Birding was as good as you can expect from a winter's morning and we added Common scimitarbill, White-crested and Retz's helmet-shrikes, African harrier-hawk, Brown snake eagle and Brown-headed parrots among a few others before we reached the Biyamiti weir. At Afsaal we had a quick lunch before spotting a skinny-looking lioness lying in the shade not 5m from the road. On our way out we added Buffy pipit and African palm swift and on the Crocodile river bridge just after exiting the park, Giant and Pied kingfishers, Goliath heron, African jacana, Great and Little egrets, Black-winged stilt, Water thick-knee and a lone White-fronted bee-eater. Back in Marloth around 3pm we did some shopping before returning to our accommodation. At 4pm we started our braai and sized up the very tame warthog for the spit as it came grazing around the house and pool. A couple of Red-capped robin-chats and Sombre greenbul came drinking from the small water hole and Golden-tailed woodpecker and Green-backed camaroptera called from the woodland before the sun set.

This morning Nicola's alarm went off on time and just after 6am we were at the gate of Lionspruit Reserve, the game reserve forming part of Marloth park. After a quite start in the icy morning air, we located our first birding party and noted Black-backed puffback, Chinspot batis, Southern black tit, Cardinal woodpecker, Fork-tailed drongo, Emerald-spotted wood dove and Speckled mousebirds. Driving away from Frikkie's dam we saw our first Crowned hornbills for the year, harassing an African goshawk with load squaks and shortly after we were delighted with a lifer in a Stierling's wren-warbler although our sighting was cut short by another vehicle driving up and scaring the bird off. Some moist woodland in the south of the park yielded Black crake, Brown-crowned tchagra, Green-winged pytilia, Yellow-breasted apalis, Southern yellow-billed and Red-billed hornbills. We exited the reserve some time after 10pm, packed and locked up and did a quick turn next to the Crocodile river where we saw Grey tit-flycatcher and Marico sunbird before exiting Marloth and heading for home.

A very pleasant weekend out with a total of 94 bird species seen. A litte bit on the slim side, but with a lifer added, a very successful weekend indeed!