avengerpenguins

05/10/2005

 

A morning wander around the grounds of the lodge produced a Wahlberg?s Eagle overhead and a Yellow-bellied Eremomela before we set of on another short drive to the Ghost Mountain Inn at Mkhuze. 

 

The Mkhuze National Park was a destination that we had selected quite early on in the planning of the holiday and the Ghost Mountain Inn had been chosen as much for its splendid name as anything else. We have no complaints about it. The rooms were clean, large and comfortable and the evening meal and breakfast were both very good. It represents pretty good value for money and is not a bad option for anyone staying in the area. There are even a few birds in the grounds (Heuglin?s Robin, White-fronted Bee-eater, Klaas?s Cuckoo) and it is adjacent to a wetland and reed bed that we didn?t have time to give even a second glance to, and which probably deserved better). Compared to most of the other places we stayed, our criticism might be that it was a little bland and corporate feeling. On reflection we might have been better staying in the park itself, where there are self-catering chalets adjacent to a cafeteria with limited opening hours.

 

Having dropped our luggage off in the room we drove straight down to the reserve, about 45 minutes away. On arriving at the park offices, about 15-20 minutes drive from the entrance we immediately started to find new bird species, with good numbers of Blue Waxbills and Red-billed Firefinches foraging around the car parking area. We paid our money, booked a place on the following morning?s Fig Forest walk and set of into the main sections of the   park, heading for the xxxxx pan.

 

[ater. st stop was at the xxxx watehole where a rather good hide overlooks a muddy wallow with, sadly very litle he cam very gooOur first stop was at the xxxx watehole where a rather good hide overlooks a muddy wallow with, sadly very little water. Despite this, there were quite a lot of birds visiting, along with a few small mammals. Best of the birds were a Scaly-throated Honeyguide and superb close-ups of Purple Crested Lourie. There were bats roosting under the eaves in the hide. On the way back to the car we were very pleased to find a Pink-throated Twinspot. On final reckoning, this turned out to be our 300th species in southern Africa.

 

The xxxxx pan is one of the premier birdwatching spots in the park and there are a couple of hides/viewing platforms there. Unfortunately by the time we got there the wind strength had increased dramatically and the sky had turned an ominous shade of grey, making viewing very difficult. Our telescopes were virtually useless, which is a pity because there were a lot of birds on and around the pan, and we almost certainly missed a couple of wader species that we might otherwise have identified.

 

 

06/10/2005

 

We were out before sunrise to meet the guide for the Mkhuze Fig Forest walk. This is a well known site for African Broadbill, as well as several other good species. Broadbills had been seen in two areas on the previous day, but we were unlucky. We also heard but did not see Rudd?s Apalis and despite the disappointment of missing the Broadbill we totted up 14 new species on the walk, 11 of which were lifers and in total 17 new birds before breakfast. A Gabar Goshawk kept an eye on us from the top of a tree and a Blue Mantled Flycatcher put on a pretty display for us.  Of particular interest was a small Black Mamba that one of the guides spotted sitting right in the path in front of us. It was far from fully grown, but still very venomous.

 

The road to Swaziland from Ghost Mountain Inn was a quiet one with the main excitement being at the Mkhuze petrol station where chaos reigned supreme. At one point we found ourselves sitting in the car at the pump, boxed in by another vehicle that had arrived later than us and the petrol tanker that was making a delivery. We could see at least 3 people within 10 metres who were smoking cigarettes. Compared to this, the Black Mamba hardly represented a threat at all.

 

Border formalities were quite simple and there were officials on hand to explain which papers needed to be signed, reviewed, stamped etc. and within a short while we were driving across the very dry, flat southern part of the country. We stopped for some lunch at a rather strange ?cultural resort? where we located a Pallid Flycatcher and a Woodland Kingfisher whilst waiting for the meal and then pressed on to the Mlilwane National Park in the centre of the country. Driving in Swaziland is much the same as in South Africa. The roads are of a reasonable quality and in the south at least, often broad and straight, meaning that overtaking is usually quite easy. There wasn?t much traffic, so it wasn?t often necessary.

 

Mlilwane is a smallish park not far from the country?s capital, Mbabane. We found it easily after passing through the busy town of Manzini and it is quite well sign-posted. By the time we arrived a steady drizzle had set in and we checked in and were shown to our quarters for the next two nights, a beehive hut in an area not far from the parks main offices. As we approached the offices we were quite impressed by the statue of the hippopotamus that was situated outside the park?s cafeteria and it was only when it turned around and started to walk back to the lake that we realised why it had looked so lifelike.

 

The beehive huts are excellent and should not be missed by anyone staying in the area. They are circular and made of thatch, with concrete floors, a bed and a small amount of furniture. A shower room/WC is tacked on at the back. Entrance is through a low (about one metre high) door which is closed by sliding a sheet of wood across the gap. This can be padlocked if required, for security. The huts are arranged in traditional style in a circle.

 

We managed a quick drive around some of the tracks in the park were we came across plenty of game and a few birds, before finishing the day in the cafeteria, watching hundreds of herons, egrets and ibises fly in to a large waterside tree to roost, whilst hippos and crocodiles drifted lazily around and bush pigs foraged on the lakeside. A nightjar flew by a few times and as far as we could tell this was a Mozambique Nightjar ? possibly a female as there was no obvious white in the tail, but we couldn?t hear any calls that might have confirmed this.

 

 

07/10/2006

 

Birding started very early when CC was awoken at about 3 a.m. by a calling owl. There seemed to be two different species calling. One was easily identified as African Wood Owl but the other was not a call on the CD of common southern African bird calls that we had bought. CC generously woke JD up and, naturally, both birds stopped calling. A check of the field guide in the morning strongly suggested Pel?s Fishing Owl but when we asked in the rangers? office we were told that they were unaware of any in the area.

 

After rising at a more reasonable hour we went for breakfast at the cafeteria, where the birds and animals from the evening before were complemented by lots more species. White-throated Swallows appeared to be nesting in the building and a small bird was skulking around in the Papyrus patch nearby. JD managed to get some reasonable photos and we were subsequently able to confirm that this was an African Reed Warbler.

 

The day had started of rather damp and humid and visibility wasn?t great, with low clouds and a fine mist in the air. We decided to go for a drive around the reserve and there was plenty to keep us interested. There were lots of antelope including Gnu and Blesbok and plenty of birds. We had been given a map of the reserve that had a couple of tracks marked out as ?do not use when wet?. We found what we thought was one of these roads, just over the metal ?trolley tracks? and followed it until we got to the top of a hill overlooking a marshy valley, where we parked and continued on foot to have a look at an area of low scrub and pools.  We found European Whitethroat, Greater Double Collared Sunbird and Little Bee Eater here and flushed a hare. We returned to the car and decided to follow the next track as it seemed to pass through some interesting habitat in the vicinity of Reilly?s Rock, where we thought there might be some different species.

 

We dropped down a steep slope, rounded a bend and came upon a rather deep looking stream. We didn?t fancy driving across it, as the mud in the water meant that the bottom was invisible, but the track was too narrow to turn around, so we tried reversing up the hill. After about 5 attempts we realised that this wasn?t practical. The surface of the track was turning to mush and the rear wheels were sliding all over the place. We realised that this was the track that should be avoided in the rain (we checked the map later and the first track that we?d driven down wasn?t even marked).

 

The only option seemed to be to go forward so we spent a pointless 10 minutes trying to remove some of the caked on mud from the tyres and then JD took off her boots and waded through the stream, trying to find any deep spots that might cause us even worse problems. The depth didn?t get much worse than knee-high, so we decided to proceed.

 

Once through the water, we drove 100 metres or so and then came, surprise, surprise, to another steep slope. This one didn?t look quite so bad (it wasn?t all chewed up by spinning tyres, for a start) and was more or less straight, so JD got out and CC reversed to get a bit of momentum up and then went for it in low gear.

 

It was close, but the steepest part of the slope was near the top and the combination of the wet surface and the loss of momentum meant that we got to within about 5 metres of safety before the rear wheels began to loose all traction. We rolled back, gathered our resolve and had another go. This attempt was, of course, worse because the surface had broken up in places first time round.

 

Having pulled the car over, in case anybody in an amphibious vehicle needed to get past and set of walking in the hope that we could find a park ranger in a Land Rover to give us a tow. We eventually found a large cottage tucked amongst the trees (this cottage is available for private group hire and would make a fascinating retreat for a few days). We found one of the park staff and told him what had happened and he came back with us to have a look (with only a slightly bemused expression on his face).

 

Sometime around here, the drizzle ceased and the sky brightened ? no too the point of sunlight, but we realised that the mist in the air now was evaporation due to the higher temperature. The surface of the track did look a little drier so the ranger suggested that we give it one more try before calling for assistance. We had a look at the track and picked out a few places to try to avoid and then CC repeated the first attempt. As he got near to the point of failure the car started to slow down and there was a fair bit of sliding and wheel spin, but somehow progress was maintained and the car was suddenly up the slope and onto level ground. This was not an experience that we would want to repeat in a hire car but we managed to get through it with little more than a thick coating of mud on the lower third of the (white) vehicle and some rather ugly tyre marks on the track. There?s probably a moral here somewhere, but we?re at a loss to know what it is.

 

We?d managed to waste about two hours on this ?experience?, during which time we?d seen no birds or mammals. We decided to return to restaurant for a rest (we don?t really believe in ?chilling out?, but there?s a time for just about everything) and then finished the day with a late afternoon walk on local tracks ? for some reason, driving didn?t seem all that appealing.

There?s actually no need to leave the rest camp area because there are no fences, so the wildlife tends to come to you anyway. There seemed to be ostriches and bush pigs around most of the time. If the campfire, which seemed to be kept going permanently, was free of people the bush pigs would be around in moments. They seemed to try to snuggle as close to the flames as they could and would lie there looking very content, if undisturbed. They soon cleared off if it looks like the ostriches wanted to warm their feathers, though.

 

In addition there are plenty of birds to see and seed is put out on several bird tables to encourage them.

 

 

08/10/2005

 

CC was woken by calling owls again at about 3 p.m. and this time they continued calling after JD was disturbed. CC got dressed, grabbed the flashlight and set off for the lakeside. By the time he got to the water?s edge the calling ? two birds calling and responding to each other, had stopped. A repeated search of the trees using the torch revealed no tell tale pairs of eyes, although the crocodiles out in the water were as reflective as the cats-eyes on British roads. Fortunately the calls were captured on tape and compared with Pel?s Fishing Owl, which is what we?d been hearing.

 

The day started with sunshine and a drive before breakfast got us a flock of 20 or so White-faced Ducks on an island near the causeway across the dam, and some close views of a Pygmy Kingfisher. We then embarked on the longish drive to the Kruger National Park.

 

The drive through Swaziland was rather pleasant and the overall impression was that, despite the poverty and the well-known but hard to comprehend health problems, this is a peaceful and friendly country. Roads continued to be of a reasonable standard and even a long stretch of road works presented few problems.

 

When we reached the Malatoja reserve in pretty good time we decided to make an unscheduled stop. This is a truly beautiful reserve set high in the mountains in the north west of Swaziland. We had been quite taken with Mlilwane, despite the questionable weather, but when we saw Malatoja we began to think that we might have done better by having a night in both locations.

 

We got a map from the reserve office and set off. We seemed to have the reserve to ourselves. There was not a soul in site, but antelopes, zebras and dassies were in abundance. We drove on well maintained tracks at altitude, along broad grassy ridges and around hills, stopping from time to time when something or other grabbed our attention. The air was clear, the sun was shining and the green hillside combined with this to give the place a spotless, pristine feel. We reached a steep downward section of track after several languid miles and mindful of yesterday?s adventures decided not to take the car somewhere we might not be able to return from. We retraced our route and then took a spur road out to a wonderful viewpoint overlooking a forested valley. It was here where we saw what was, surprisingly, the only new bird that we saw in the whole park ? an overhead peregrine that flew past a couple of times. There were birds calling in the rocks above the viewpoint, but they were all in silhouette and the temperature was rising so we agreed to forego the pleasures of a scramble.

 

Heading back to ?civilisation? we came upon a section of track that had not caused us any problems on the way down.  The track was essentially a scar where the grass and some topsoil had been removed. This short length was on a steepish bend and consisted mainly of small rather rounded pebbles on bedrock. Clearly we hadn?t learned much of a lesson because after two tries and lots of skidding and spinning wheels we realised that we were stuck ? again.

 

Half an hour and a few well placed rocks later we had managed to traverse the tricky 5 metres and then succeeded in getting back to the park entrance unscathed.

 

Back on the road, we continued northwards, stopping for a pleasant lunch in a restaurant with a view in a lay-by a short distance past the town of Pigg?s Peak. The day was progressing and we weren?t sure how long the border crossing would take so we put our foot down for a while, dropping down the mountains towards the lower altitudes and South Africa.

 

The border wasn?t to bad and we then drove straight through to the Kruger National Park entrance at Crocodile Bridge, stopping only to refuel as we weren?t sure about the availability of petrol in the park. We arrived in the park with plenty of time to spare, checked in and then continued to our first overnight stop in the park at Lower Sabie Rest Camp. We were ticked off by the guard at the rest camp gates because we had missed the curfew (5 p.m. at this time of year), mainly because we?d stopped several times to look at the Long-tailed Magpie Shrikes and two species of Francolins that were new to us, not to mention the dwarf mongooses and the huge numbers of Impala.

 

It is possible to spend the night in several different ways in the Kruger and the cost varies considerably between the luxurious private lodges and safari camps and the campsites. Most of the rest camps have huts and we?d opted to stay in these. We weren?t really sure what to expect, because prices in these huts were quite modest, so we were pleasantly surprised. The construction of the huts varies from camp to camp, but all the ones we stayed in were reasonably spacious, had double beds, clean linen, showers and hot water. Most of the camps have cafeterias and restaurants and the huts have braai facilities. The restaurant food is pretty reasonable, with several choices usually available including impala and kudu steaks, at reasonable prices.

 

In addition, the camps are oases for smaller wildlife, with lots of birds around, presumably because of the readily available food supplies, as well as small antelopes. They are frequently positioned with good views over rivers, dams etc. so the larger wildlife is also close by.

 

Our evening meal was good (Kudu stew) and as we were quite tired from a long day we decided to turn in early. When we got back to the hut there was a large and very noisy cicada outside. As soon as we opened the door, this flew into the hut and continued to call. CC went to look for something with which to catch and release it without causing any damage and received a severe shock when something much bigger flew up from near the floor at the head of the bed, passing inches from his nose. It started to flutter around the room and we realised that it was a medium sized bat. We opened the bathroom door and it flew up to the roof supports where it looked quite comfortable, so we returned to Operation Cicada. With the insect safely extracted we went back into the bathroom where the Batty looked quite settled, to get ready for bed.

 

We had no way to remove it, so we decided to leave it where it was with the door shut. A few minutes after getting in to bed, whilst we were working through our day list, JD noticed a strange shape appear under the door. It was Batty who has presumably got lonely in the bathroom. It did a few circuits of the room and then settled on the curtains where we left it for the night, going to sleep with thoughts of rabies and midnight bombing raids. It was in the same place when we awoke the next morning. You can certainly get close to nature in the Kruger.

 

 

09/10/2005

 

Morning in the rest camp produced plenty of birds, mostly species we has already seem and the first new bird of the day was Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling. We were accompanied various weavers, starlings and bulbuls at breakfast and some of these birds have been so accustomed to people that they will land on the tables and any unoccupied chairs whilst they are dining. Over the fence there were plenty of water birds about, even though the river had stopped flowing because of the drought. Plenty of pools remained to provide hunting spots for herons.

 

A Long-billed Crombec was found foraging in a tree and a number of highly contrasting birds not far from the restaurant turned out to be Violet-backed Starlings. This species seems to have suffered at the hands (pen?) of the taxonomists because its previous name was the much more attractive Plum-coloured Starling. I?m sure that there is good reason to try to introduce consistency in bird names (if you go by one naming convention, after visiting South Africa we could have three White-throated Robins on our life list, all three being completely different birds from three different parts of the world) but it seems a shame to lose such wonderfully descriptive names. Clearly it?s a personal opinion, but the latest Roberts list seems to have this effect several times.

 

Our next overnight stop was to be Olifants Rest Camp so we packed the car after breakfast and set off. We had not got far when we noticed some small birds resting on a dam wall. On closer inspection these turned out to be Grey-rumped Swallows and we were able to get some photographs at quite close quarters. Over the wall there was a biggish Water Monitor sunning itself on a rock.

 

Shortly after the dam we entered much drier habitat, where birds were quite thin on the ground. We saw a few hornbills and Magpie Shrikes but we were rather surprised to see a Racket-tailed Roller in a roadside tree. This species is normally only to be found much further north, on the border with Zimbabwe, but is pretty distinctive and hard to mistake for any other bird.

 

Our first stop of the day was at the Mlondozi Dam Picnic site where we found a range of water birds and one of our target birds, Mosque Swallow. We?d been disappointed to miss this species in Gambia in 2004. We then drove the Muntshe loop and stopped at the Orpen Dam. The water birds and constant stream of mammals coming to drink from the dam were interesting, but surprisingly it was the smaller birds around the rather good hide/shelter that held our attention. A Red-backed Shrike was quite familiar but the Jameson?s Firefinches foraging in the dust at the far end of the hide definitely weren?t. We got a few photos of these and their tiny size can be assessed by comparing them to the carelessly discarded cigarette ends. The unpleasant consequences of litter aside, it seems little short of criminal to throw away cigarettes in this arid park.

 

A very confiding Yellow-bellied Greenbul was hopping around the shelter looking for scraps pretty much the whole time we were there and Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Chin-spot Batis and Yellow-breasted Apalis were all highly visible.

 

The first Arrow-marked Babblers were seen on the road to Sitara camp, where we stopped for lunch and we picked up Bateleur on this stretch of road as well. Back on the main road we came across several cars pulled over at the side of the road and as we drew closer we realised that they were watching a small herd of African Elephants. We were to see many more over the next few days (with over 12,000 elephants, the park is rather over-stocked) but our very first ones were something special. The experience was slightly marred because in their anxiety to get a better view (these elephants were about 20 metres from the road and out in the open) some drivers seemed quite willing to stop their cars directly between a parked car and the animals. Fortunately it is only a small minority to whom this does not seem extremely bad manners and we weren?t adversely affected by it, but the two cars in front of us were, and one FWD vehicle somehow managed to get themselves at an angle across the road, simultaneously blocking the view and making it impossible for the affected driver to move forwards!

 

We booked ourselves on the night drive when we arrived at Olifants camp, where we were able to watch a Mozambique Nightjar in reasonable light before boarding the safari truck. A strong wind had got up and we didn?t see very much for the first hour or so, with Spring Hares being an unexpected bonus. Two of these amusing animals were well seen by everyone as they hopped off into the scrub. As the drive progressed, things started to improve and a Black-backed Jackal caught everybody?s attention. Plenty of antelope started to appear and then we found a couple of hippopotamus on a long walk to their feeding grounds and looking rather out of place in the forest.

 

The driver started heading back for the camp, but the vehicle came to an abrupt halt when the guide shouted that there was a leopard in the road ahead. This is the animal that most people want to see on the night drives and our excitement turned to astonishment when, rather than rushing off into hiding as we expected the big cat turned round and headed down the road towards us. It drew level with the truck before turning off the road and climbing the bank, stopping several times to look back at us over its shoulder. To finish off the night the guide then found another predator, a Common Genet, for us to admire.

 

 

10/10/2005

 

We found a few birds around the camp and then set off to explore some of the tracks between Olifants and nearby Letaba, our next stop. A small brown bird at the roadside turned out to be a Sabota Lark and as we sat in the car with the field guide, trying to nail the i.d. a female Red-crested Korhaan strolled out of the bush and crossed the road right in front of us.

 

The Engelhard Dam turnaround was a bit of a disappointment ? we had expected more birds ? but we did find a small group of Brown-hooded Parrots. Lunch was at Letaba Rest Camp and we first heard and then saw African Mourning Doves here. There was also a party of White-backed Mousebirds outside of their normal range. There were plenty of birds to share lunch with ? and in the case of the Grey Lourie this was the literal truth because seconds after we left the table one of these birds had alighted on it and was trying to take the remains of JD?s beef burger before the waiting staff removed. Particularly welcome were the Red-headed Weavers that were quite common here and rather more attractive in real life than in the field guide.

 

After lunch we explored some of the areas north of Letaba. Anybody researching a visit to the KNP will rapidly come to realise that leaving the car in most areas outside the rest camps is not permitted. This rule is relaxed at the picnic sites and on some of the larger bridges. The main road crosses a bridge north of Letaba and we parked and had a look around. There were three stork species along the river, Yellow-billed, Marabou and new to us, Saddle-billed and two kingfisher species, Pied and Giant. The Giant Kingfisher was perching at the top of one of the concrete bridge supports and was so intent on the fish in the pool below that it didn?t seem to notice us at all, despite the fact that we could have reached out and touched it. We had a good opportunity to admire its impressive bill which is built to despatch some decent sized prey.

 

Mokhanzi Picnic site didn?t produce anything new but we located a White-headed Vulture perched in a tree not far from the road. For us, at least, many of the vultures are quite hard work and we spent about 10 minutes watching this bird before we were certain of the ID. Other travellers in the park have a tendency to stop when they see another parked vehicle and about 5 sets of drivers and passengers were disappointed to discover that we were only looking at a vulture, rather than something ?more exciting?.

 

White-throated Robin Chat was seen just north of the camp, towards the end of the day and we had now, by our reckoning seen or identified over 360 species, well in excess of our original target and the magical 400 was looking a possibility, with some different habitat still to explore.

 

Of all the camps we either stayed in or stopped at, Letaba was probably the one we liked the most and certainly for the armchair naturalist it seemed to have the most to offer. There were plenty of common but interesting passerines about and it was noticeable that most of them were so used to human presence that they mostly ignored us. As a result it was quite easy to get close to a number of species that weren?t even that interested in raiding our plates. Bird watchers should certainly consider having a wander around after dark because we heard at least a couple of African Scops Owls calling (any birders from further north who are familiar with European Scops Owl will have no problem identifying this species. Although their voices are quite dissimilar there is a quality about the African birds? call that will bring the European version to mind quite quickly and realised that there were large numbers of Water Dikkops foraging around under the trees coming to within a few metres of the huts. These were still around after dawn the following morning, looking for scraps under braais and looking rather out of place. There were also lots of mammals and to get into our hut we had to displace a pair of bushbuck who had made themselves comfortable on the doorstep. We saw more squirrels at Letaba than anywhere else.

 

 

11/10/2005

 

Most visitors to the Kruger want to see the so called ?Big 5? ? namely, Lion, Leopard, Elephant, Rhino and Buffalo. We only had lion to tick off, but we were aware that the far north of the park is not particularly renowned for the larger predators, so we dragged ourselves away from the antelopes, squirrels, dikkops, starlings, francolins, pigeons, doves and others that could be found in a 10-minute walk around the camp, not to mention the elephants, waterbuck, baboons, cane rats, giraffes etc. that were just outside the fences and checked the map for recent sightings. All the camps have maps like these that have colour-coded records of the whereabouts of the big 5 and other ?popular? species like wild dogs, cheetah and hyena over the previous two days. We made a note of a couple of areas where lions had been seen the day before and planned our route to Punda Maria around these.

 

This turned out to be the worst day of the entire holiday for new bird species with only Brown Snake Eagle and White-crested Helmet Shrike. We?d seen Brown Snake Eagle in The Gambia and we?d speculated that a flock of birds we?d seen in flight just south of the Swaziland border had been Helmet Shrikes and this much better sighting confirmed that. We didn?t see any lions either.

 

That said, we saw plenty of wildlife during the day, including many elephants, often down to only a few metres and some of the prettier antelopes like Steinboks and Sharp?s Grysboks to complement the endless herds of Impala.

 

It was getting quite late when we arrived at Punda Maria but the temperature was still rather high. It had peaked at 42.5 Celsius in the mid-afternoon, according to the car?s thermometer, and it stayed above 30 for a long time after that.

 

Punda Maria is a popular destination for birders in the Kruger. It has a less spectacular setting than the other camps we visited, being in a heavily forested area. It is much more relaxed and less formal than the other parks and the huts are rather delightful ? a couple of rows of pretty little thatched cottages.. There?s a big campsite but it caters for fewer visitors than most of the better known camps.

 

 

12/10/2005

 

Several people had advised us to try the Pafuri loop and all the indications said that very early morning is the best time to find birds so we were through the gates about a minute after they opened. We?d barely been travelling for three minutes and the light was still that pale grey that you often get just before sunrise in hot places when we saw an animal coming up the road towards us. CC commented ?That looks very relaxed?. JD responded rather more prosaically ?It?s a lion!?.  And it really was. CC stopped the car, JD grabbed the camera and managed a couple of shots through the windows as it turned off into the bush, not even bothering to give us a second glance. Half a minute earlier or later and we would have missed it.

 

We drove for about 20 minutes towards Pafuri and could hardly believe our luck when we came into a fairly open area (most of this part of the park seems to be well wooded) and saw a second lion rushing in our direction. It crossed the road a few metres in front of us and disappeared quickly into denser vegetation. We were now feeling quite pleased with ourselves.

 

Several people had told us that we had to visit Pafuri and that it would be some of the best birding that we?d find in South Africa, so perhaps disappointment was inevitable. The area is certainly worth visiting and we added 7 new species to our list in the course of the morning, including one species that hadn?t been recorded in the Punda Maria log book (they have a pretty good one in the cafeteria that should be consulted by anyone staying there) but overall there didn?t seem to be many birds about. However most of the birds we did see gave good to excellent views and there was a lot of game about as well so it?s not fair to be too critical).

 

Shrikes were much in evidence, with White-crested Helmet Shrike and Brown-crowned Tchagra both being spotted on the road to Pafuri, the latter showing particularly well and watched from the car for several minutes. Pride of place goes to the male Black-fronted Bush Shrike that we found quite high in the trees at the edge of the Pafuri campsite. It took us quite a while to identify this species but it eventually put on quite a show for us. A striking member of an attractive family. A Tropical Boubou completed a quartet of shrikes.

 

After deciding that there wasn?t much to be found at Pafuri we drove around the area, following just about any track that looked driveable and were rewarded with some tremendous views of both game and birds. Openbill and Saddlebilled Storks, Lizard buzzard and White-crowned Lapwing were all recorded.

 

Back at the rest camp we took the, for us, unusual step of going for a swim in the small and rather pleasant pool. In the 40 degree heat this was a pleasant interlude. We found White-bellied and Marico Sunbirds drinking at one of the small ponds near the camp?s main road and a Slender Mongoose was seen crossing the road and heading towards the camp site.

 

Having enjoyed the night drives in St. Lucia and Olifants we booked ourselves on to the Punda Maria drive that left the camp at 5 p.m. At ZAR140 each, about the price of a couple of cinema tickets in the UK, this provided over three hours of some of the best wildlife watching we have ever had. No less than 20 types of mammals, including Civet, Greater Spotted Genet, Lesser Bushbaby, Marsh Mongoose and Leopard were seen and we had the opportunity to really register the calls of Mozambique and Fiery-necked Nightjar and African Scops Owl. The last two birds were also seen at close range, with the owl being found in a roadside tree as we were looking at a Grysbok and the nightjar remaining on the road as we drove by.

 

The leopard gave even better views than the one at Olifants, which was something of a relief to CC who had switched the record facility of his video camera off instead of on when it came close to the vehicle. This second cat was seen near a waterhole, where it was very active and remained in view for a long time.

 

 

13/10/2005

 

In an uncharacteristic fit of enthusiasm we decided to wait until we were on the road to have breakfast and instead managed another early start to drive another highly recommended route, the Mahonie Loop.  This starts a short distance from the camp?s entrance and like Pafuri proved to have little to offer. We added yet another shrike ? this time the reasonably Common Orange-breasted Bush Shrike and the more familiar (from The Gambia) Blue-spotted Wood Dove to our list, but not much more. We did find a foraging party of Dwarf Mongooses that decided that something a few metres from the edge of the road was worth excavating, thereby providing us with entertainment for at least a quarter of an hour. Of the several mongoose species we saw, these were perhaps the cutest (and they have some stiff competition), looking not unlike slightly worn out soft toys, with dark button eyes.

 

The loop completed we headed out of the park and towards our final stop, Dinonyane Lodge near the Nylsvlei Nature Reserve. Just outside the park gate a donkey played host to a Yellow-billed Oxpecker ? the only one we saw during the holiday. We were quite surprised at how uncommon oxpeckers seemed to be. Perhaps there is just so much game that they are spread very sparsely amongst them.

 

We?d sort of hoped to grab some breakfast along the road from Kruger, probably quite soon after leaving the park, as we?d been out and about for several hours before setting of south westwards, but we didn?t really see anywhere that looked likely. On reflection we saw a few signs to establishments that were a few miles off the main road and they might have been worth the detour. We?d been on the N1 for quite some distance when we finally pulled in to a place called Lalapanzi Lodge, a short distance from Pietersburg, and we were ravenous. The heat had increased during the morning and we asked if food was being served and were shown through the hotel into a very pleasant courtyard with a large lawn surrounded by thatched cottages. The cottages were part of the lodge?s accommodation and the whole effect was very picturesque. Pie and mash was on the menu and we readied ourselves for a disappointment, having seen it on several menus already, always to be told that it was off. Twenty minutes later we were tucking into a delicious and substantial breakfast in what appeared to be an idealised Barsetshire village, listening to the calls of African Hoopoes and numerous Grey Louries.

 

We couldn?t really do Lalapanzi justice, as it was an unscheduled stop and we were hoping to get some more birdwatching done before the end of the day, but if the appearance, food and staff are anything to go by, anybody looking for somewhere to stay in the area could do a lot worse.

 

Dinonyane took a little finding. We came of the N1 at the junction north of Nylstroom and decided to head into town. We didn?t see any signs and eventually ended up in the library, where we didn?t get much help. For the first time in three weeks our Excel sheet with contact numbers, addresses and details let us down ? we hadn?t printed anything useful off. We decided to head back to the motorway and try again, thinking that we could always ask in one of several hotels and lodges that we?d passed. Having had no luck along the way, when we got back to the junction we followed the minor road north, back towards Pietersburg and after several miles found a right turn with a sign for the Nylsvlei reserve. We followed this road and found Dinonyane easily.

 

Nylsvlei was recommended to us by a Czech birding acquaintance, so Jiri, if you read this, thank you. Dinonyane looked like the best bet for exploring the area and it is probably, along with Button Birding, the place that we would recommend most highly. The lodge itself is pleasantly laid out and the rooms are airy and of a reasonable size. They are making an effort to target the bird watching market and they deserve all the luck and attention they can get. We stayed for two nights and despite having already seen over 380 species when we arrived we were able to pick up 3 new species in the gardens. One of these species was Cut-throat Finch ? another of the birds that we?d missed in The Gambia. We were also very pleased Green-winged Pytilia (we prefer Melba Finch) which seemed to be present in the gardens most of the time. A stroll around the lodge area in the morning could easily yield 30+ species in an hour.

 

The staff at Dinonyane were very friendly and helpful and meals were pretty good too. In addition, prices were quite excellent to the extent that the Lodge probably represented the best value for money of anywhere that we stayed.

 

As usual, we checked in quickly and then got back in the car to drive the short distance to the Nylsvlei Reserve. The area is in the flood plain of a river and is well known for holding phenomenal numbers of water birds at the right time of year. We knew in advance that there was very little water to be found, so we were prepared for the worst, but we were pleasantly surprised. It took us a while before we started to find birds, but they were certainly present, and in some numbers. In the main part of the reserve we added White-browed Sparrow Weaver, Crowned Lapwing and Northern Black Korhaan to the trip list and got close views of many species that we?d already seen.

 

 

14/10/2005

 

During an early breakfast in the Lodge gardens we were entertained by the Melba and Cut-throat finches along with Marico Sunbirds and African Green Pigeons. It was hard to sit and concentrate on our bacon and eggs with so much avian activity. We then set of straight for the reserve and drove some of the tracks we had missed the previous afternoon. We picked up a couple of new pipits, Acacia Pied Barbet and Bennett?s Woodpecker and heard what we thought might be Shelley?s Francolin, before heading off towards Nylstroom to have a look at the Waterberg Kloof area that we had seen sign posted the day before. We should perhaps have asked for some local hints at the lodge, because the next few hours were pretty unproductive. The best area we found was around the bridges a short distance from the main road. We located Hammerkop and Green-backed Heron here and also saw several large and stunning swallowtail-type butterflies apparently drinking from the mud.

 

After lunch and a bit of shopping in Nylstroom we returned to Nylsvlei to have a look at the second section of the reserve, the area called Vogelfontein. It is necessary to go to the main reserve office to obtain access details. At the time we were there, this was definitely the most interesting part of the reserve, with lots of game wandering about as well as some really good birds.

 

We arrived at the small car park just after another bird watcher, who waited for us just inside the reserve, admitting that he?s noticed our scopes and thought we might let him borrow one if we saw anything interesting. John was from Canada and was in South Africa for an environmental conference so he was grabbing a couple of days birding before the hard work started. We were of course pleased to let him use the scopes and stood chatting for a few minutes at the junction of a couple of raised banks overlooking a scrape. These minutes made quite a difference. We were getting quite good views of several common waders including Marsh Sandpiper and African Snipe, when JD suddenly exclaimed ?Owl!?. We turned to see an African Marsh Owl flying by, just a few metres away. It settled in a nearby pasture and we were able to get good views of it through the scopes.

 

Turning back to the scrape, a new bird had appeared on the water and we were thrilled to discover that this was a Lesser Moorhen, a species we?d pretty much given up on. A few minutes later, three more Marsh Owls were in the air, again very close by before settling in to the same pasture that the first bird had landed in, where they disappeared into the long grass.

 

The three of us returned to the lodge for dinner and we were joined by Stephanie for a couple of bottles of wine (let he recommend the bottle ? she seems to know her stuff). We?d picked up a large hard-backed notebook in Nylstroom and started of the lodge?s first bird sightings log. We hope they keep it going and that maybe one day we?ll return to check it out.

 

 

15/10/2005

 

Our last day started early (of course) when we met John for a stroll around the gardens. Our trip list was now up above the 390 mark so the Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird we located was very welcome, despite the fact that it was not a ?life? bird for us. European Bee-eaters were heard and eventually seen and a small flock of Plum-coloured Starlings were observed. In our limited experience, this species seems to have a definite preference for trees with few leaves, although they seem to remain quite still for long periods so perhaps they are overlooked.

 

The Nylsvlei Reserve was our next destination and John agreed to show us the site where he?d found a Crimson-breasted Shrike on the previous afternoon. This striking bird put in an appearance but not until we?d noted a Barred Wren-warbler in the bush the shrike had occupied the day before. Another visit to Vogelfontein failed to provide any new birds for us but was enjoyable nonetheless, but we were beginning to feel peckish so returned to Dinonyane for breakfast.

 

We packed for the final time, said our goodbyes to John and the Dinonyane staff and then headed of south. Our flight was in the early evening so we didn?t have to rush. We decided to try and find a birding site in the direction of Johannesburg. A couple of map-reading errors left us on the wrong side of Johannesburg with only a couple of hours to go before check-in, so we scrapped our plans and headed off to the airport. For the first time in South Africa we found that the road signs were inadequate. A petrol stop enabled us to ask for directions but we obviously misunderstood them and ended up on the edge of a trading estate, rather than a motorway, so we started to follow signs for the centre of Pretoria reasoning that we should be able to pick up airport signs on the way back out again. The strategy worked and before too long we were on the motorway and heading in the right direction. The closest we got to an addition to the bird list was an eagle sized raptor that flew across the road, mobbed by crows. Its appearance, at 100 kph (or thereabouts) matched that of African Black Eagle, but the habitat seemed unlikely.

 

Johannesburg airport was reached with a little time to spare, check-in formalities were completed with ease and before very long we had set off on the long return journey home.

 

 

Conclusion

 

Southern Africa lived up to all our expectations and more. The combination of some guided sessions and quite a lot of time spent bird watching on our own suited us well. We certainly saw some species with guides that we would have missed otherwise, but we enjoyed the periods spent identifying birds on our own. When we left the country, we thought we had identified about 393 different species, either on our own or with the help of guides. Checking photographs and working through the records eventually got us up to 399 which left us pondering whether to include Feral Pigeon/Rock Dove, but a final sweep made us realise that European Bee-eater had not been given a number, despite having been seen several times over the last few days of the holiday, so we ended up with a round 400, with one species completely unidentified despite having been photographed and filmed at Hermanus.

 

For Europeans, the wealth of wildlife is astonishing. From the mongoose crossing the road on the first day via the whales in Hermanus, the Black Mamba in Mkhuze and bats in the Kruger to the Scrub Hare under a bush in Nylsvlei on the final morning, there always seemed to be something to see. We were unfortunate to be unable to take the pelagic trip from Simon?s Town, but we have an excuse to return.