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Eastern South Africa in Autumn - 11 Day Trip report

Day 1: 15 April 2005, Highveld and wetlands

We also had good looks at Orange-breasted Waxbill, Swainson's Spurfowl and Black-throated Canary, before heading northwards towards Bronkhorstspruit. The gravel road northwards provided a massive flocks of birds, including huge numbers of lapwings, bishops, whydahs and swallows. We stopped in at Ezemvelo, where we saw the first of our Bulbuls, Familiar Chat and Greater Striped Swallow. We arrived at Luiperdskloof in the mid-afternoon, and Nancy and Herb retired for a well-earned rest after their long flight. After the rest we did a short drive and saw White-fronted Bee-eater and African Wattled Lapwing. We walked along a stretch of the beautiful Elands River, where magnificent stone formations meet a quiet river with overhanging vegetation. Here we saw Arrow-marked Babbler, Tawny flanked Prinia and Black Cuckoo-shrike. We walked some way down the river and headed along he path across a flat section to where fine looking cliffs are seen- some streaked with interesting looking whitewash. On the return walk along the riverbank, we saw Crested Barbet, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Bar-throated Apalis and Cape Grassbird.

Day 2: 16 April 2005, Dinokeng Grasslands and woodlands.

Soon afterwards we stopped again - for even better views of a Marsh Owl patrolling the grasslands. Further on, an area of excellent Themeda Triandra grassland provided Melodious Lark, as well as Eastern Clapper Lark and Spike-heeled Lark, along with plenty of other grassland birds like Desert Cisticola, Southern Ant-eating Chat and Banded Martin.

A field which usually offers large numbers of Red-capped lark and Quail Finch, did not disappoint, and was also being patrolled by several of the wonderfully elegant Temmincks Courser.

Day 3 17 April 2005, Rust de Winter to Memel

Day 4 18 April 2005, Memel to Underberg

Two Grey Crowned cranes were observed performing a remarkable "mourning rite" over a dead bird, which they had apparently just spotted. We first observed them in a field, and they then took off and flew in a south-westerly direction. They were then heard calling and suddenly swooped down and landed in a field some 30 yards from another dead crane. The two birds then approached the dead bird very slowly, one with wings held outstretched, the other with neck craned upwards. The bird with wings held open eventually went into a kneeled position, about 5 yards from the fallen bird and the other continued it's "craned" posture for some 10 minutes.

In the afternoon, we headed south, our progress being delayed somewhat by two punctures. Fortunately Jimmy Saunders of Mahem Guesthouse helped us out by ferrying tyres to a repair shop in Memel and we were able to continue on our original itinerary. We did however arrive in Underberg somewhat later than planned, and went straight to dinner at the Himeville arms hotel, where we enjoyed a sumptuous meal accompanied by a bottle of good red wine.

Today, we undertook the trip up Sani Pass with Stuart McLean, who provided the 4X4 vehicle and some additional local expertise. The day started well as we recorded Fan-tailed Widow-bird, Cape Weaver and a big flock of Grey Crowned Cranes. Before we reached the start of the pass, we had excellent views of Red-throated Wryneck, Bokmakierie and also saw two more Denham's Bustard. Once into the pass proper we added a host of new birds to our list over breakfast, including Bush Blackcap, Cape Rock Thrush, African Dusky Flycatcher and Streaky-headed Canary. Higher up the pass one enters protea veld, and here we saw Gurney's Sugarbird, Ground Woodpecker, Wailing Cisticola, Buff-streaked Chat and Long-billed Pipit. Here we also saw at least two Horus Swift, along with several African Black Swifts. Higher up the pass we encountered fierce winds, and felt we should seek the protection of the valleys in Lesotho. This strategy seemed to work as we had good views of Grey Tit, Large-billed Lark, Southern Bald Ibis, Drakensburg Siskin, Drakensburg Rockjumper, Sickle-winged Chat and Yellow Canary. We travelled all the way down into a valley and were rewarded by the sight of 2 superb Lammergeier. Here we also recorded Karoo Prinia and many more Cape Bunting and Rockjumpers.

Day 6 20 April 2005, Xumeni to Eshowe

The thick mist eventually forced a coffee break at Donnybrook Inn, and we then headed for Highover, on the Hella-hella Pass. En-route we encountered a flock of some 26 Grey Crowned Cranes, and further on, a loose flock of some 40 Black-winged Plover. In the spectacular valley at Hella-hella we were treated to a spectacle of a big flock of large swifts - mostly Alpine, but with some African Black, swooping low overhead.

We then headed inland, to the cooler town of Eshowe. We visited the local sports club, which offers the best fare in town.

Dawn found us at the Dhlinza Forest Boardwalk, which provides a spectacular vantage point over the forest. A gloomy morning dampened the dawn chorus, but we nevertherless obtained good views of Trumpeter Hornbill, Black-bellied Glossy Starling, Crowned Hornbill and Little Sparrowhawk. We were able to scope birds like Collared Sunbird, White-eared Barbet, and also saw a soaring African Harrier-Hawk. We then descended down to forest floor level, and went in search of the rarer and more elusive Spotted Ground Thrush. Not only have numbers apparently declined, but many of the thrushes may have left for the warmer coastal forests, where they spend the winter months. However we managed to locate a single bird, which was viewed as it preened on a low perch. Other forest species seen at ground level, included Chorister Robin-chat, Cape Batis, Square-tailed Drongo and Olive Sunbird.

Next stop was Thulasikhela Pan, with its excellent hides. Highlights here was Goliath and Purple Heron, Little Bittern, Blue-cheeked Bee-eater and Lesser Jacana.

Day 8: 22 April 2005: St Lucia Wetland Park (World heritage site)

We sat down for a hearty Breakfast and then after popping into town for some banking, headed down to Cape Vidal. The rehabilitation of old Pine farms is proceeding well, and the drought has also been somewhat broken, although the wetlands are not as extensive as in some previous years. We saw more Blue-cheeked Bee-eater, and several pairs of eagles - Black-breasted, Brown-snake, African Fish and African Crowned Eagle. Mammals seen included White Rhinocerous, Burchell's Zebra, Waterbuck, Samango Monkey and Banded Mongoose.

We opted for a late afternoon walk in the forest, adjacent to St Lucia Town itself. Here we saw Brown Scrub-robin, Red-capped Robin Chat and enjoyed good views of another Livingstone's Turaco. Once again we located Woodward's Batis and Green Twinspot.

We left at 05:30 and headed to Bonamanzi, to visit the Hluhluwe River floodplain on the western side of Lake St Lucia. The drive takes about 45 minutes, and not the 30 minutes suggested by Bonamanzi. On arrival we were met by our Bonamanzi guide, Jerome. En-route to the floodplain we saw some good birds including Gorgeous Bush-Shrike, Blue-grey Flycatcher Yellow-throated Longclaw, Burchell's Coucal and Golden-breasted Bunting. The floodplain was great and after some driving around we located a pair of cracking Rosy-throated Longclaw - we ended up seeing about 6 birds. A number of cisticolas flew up out of the grass and while most were undoubtedly Zitting, several looked like Cloud Cisticola to me. We then went down to the waters edge where a massive flock of Great White Pelicans roosted on the bank, close to another big flock of African Spoonbill. Here we also saw African Wattled Lapwing, Kittlitz Plover and new waders in the form of Marsh Sandpiper and Little Stint. About 50 Greenshank were also visible. On the way back we saw two Jacobin Cuckoo's - one of the "all black" and "normal" forms. We spent some time walking around near Lalapanzi Camp where the waterholes looked inviting. Here we saw Water Thick-knee, Green-backed Heron, Red-backed Mannikin and Paradise Flycatcher.

En-route northwards, several African White-backed Vultures were seen, and we arrived at Mkhuze for lunch. Herb and Nancy opted for their first siesta break of the trip, and afterwards, we went for a drive in the park. We saw a fair number of mammals and several interesting birds, including Violet-backed Starling, Golden-breasted Bunting and a flock of Indigobirds, including about 6 male Variable Indigobirds (probably some Purple too), We found a dead Bronze-winged Courser along the road.

We started the day in the Sand Forest at Mkhuze and here we saw Pink-throated Twinspot, Eastern Bearded Scrub-Robin and White-crested Helmet Shrike. We then headed to the Nsumo Pan, which is now full and has attracted large numbers of breeding storks and Pink-backed Pelicans. Other birds seen here included African Openbill, Goliath Heron and Great White Egret, Whiskered Tern, Redbilled Teal and in the woodland adjacent to the pan, Green-backed Camaroptera, Red-capped Robin-chat and a number of other birds. An extended drive around the reserve produced ahost of new birds, including African Firefinch, Malachite Kingfisher, Comb Duck, Black Indigobird, White-winged Widow and Gorgeous Bush-Shrike.

In the evening Nancy and Herb participated in a night drive, during which Spotted Eagle Owl, Fiery-necked Nightjar and a number of interesting nocturnal mammals such as White-tailed Mongoose and Lesser Galago were seen.

Day 11 25 April 2005 Mkhuze Game Reserve - Zulu Nyala Game Lodge

Then it was time to bid Mkhuze fair well and for the Meiers to start the second leg of their South African adventure. En-route to Zulu Nyala Game Lodge, we did however see a superb Martial Eagle. In the reserve itself, we saw no less than 3 Kurrichane Buttonquail in the track ahead of us - the third time on this trip that we had seen this normally elusive species on the ground!