Birdwatching trip report - South Africa

 

Ever since my last visit to South Africa in 2000, I wanted to return at some point. I visited Cape Town and Kruger National Park back then, so I thought it would be good to try a different part of the country. KwaZulu-Natal appeared to have a good selection of birds, and November is a good time of the year for birding down there.

 

It turned out to be a fantastic trip, one that I’ll never forget. My bird list ended at 281 species, not bad for one person on a self-drive trip. Wakkerstroom and KwaZulu-Natal are both beautiful parts of the world, and everyone that I met was so friendly. 

 

Looking back now, perhaps a third night at St. Lucia would have been useful. But other than that, I think I got the amount of time at each area about right. The birdwatching is fantastic but if you also want to see the big five, I feel that Kruger National Park is a better bet. 

 

All arrangements were made through Lawson’s Birdwatching tours. Other than booking the flights, they pretty much did it all for me. From fine-tuning my original itinerary idea (thanks to Peter Lawson), to booking the accommodation and car hire, to getting a can of Bayticol aerosol (tick repellent, impossible to get in the UK) for me. Also booked the guide at Wakkerstroom for me. 

 

They supply you with an itinerary pack at the start of the trip, detailing what to look out for and where to go at each site, directions, and bird and mammal checklists. They were always on the other end of a phone should you get into problems (thanks to Mavourneen Pearce), which gives great peace of mind. I have no hesitation in recommending them for a self-drive tour like mine. If I’m fortunate enough to get to South Africa again, I would certainly use them.

 

Choosing Swiss International Airlines and flying via Zurich saved me about £200, when booked in February (nine months prior to travel). Compared to flying with either South African Airways, British Airways or Virgin, and flying via Heathrow. However, Zurich – Johannesburg is a very popular flight, and there was no chance of getting an aisle seat.

 

Air France were similarly priced to Swiss at the time of booking, but would have arrived in Johannesburg about two hours later.

 

 

Saturday 11^th November – Fly using Swiss International Airlines, from Manchester to Zurich, then overnight to Johannesburg.

 

Sunday 12^th November – Arrive in Johannesburg, drive to Wakkerstroom via Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve

 

Monday 13^th – Tuesday 14^th November – Wakkerstroom, included a day with a local guide on the 13th, Lucky Ngwenya. Lucky can be booked through Birdlife South Africa, although Lawson’s did that for me.

 

Wednesday 15^th – Thursday 16^th November – Ithala Game Reserve

 

Friday 17^th – Sunday 19^th November – Mkhuze Game Reserve

 

Monday 20^th – Tuesday 21^st November – St. Lucia, via Hluhluwe Game Reserve on 20^th.

 

Wednesday 22^nd November – St. Lucia to Eshowe, via Thulasihleka Pan, Richard’s Bay, and Mtunzini

 

Thursday 23^rd November – Dlinza Forest, Eshowe

 

Friday 24^th November – Lake Phobane. Then drive to Durban, drop off hire car, and back to Manchester Airport, via Johannesburg and Zurich.

 

 

 

 

After queuing for an hour just to get through immigration, it was a relief to meet up with Lawson’s representative at Johannesburg airport, a lovely young lady called Megan. Megan took me to the car hire place at the airport, then I was soon ready to make my way to Wakkerstroom. My car was a Volkswagen Polo saloon, 1.6 engine.

 

About half an hour out of Jo’Burg, and on the way to Wakkerstroom, is Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve. Should there be enough time, there is a one-way circular drive around the reserve, which you need about three hours to complete. I didn’t have time to do this, but I still managed a couple of hours here just on the road to the entry gate, and around the reception office buildings. In that time I managed to see 46 different species.

 

Highlights here included African Red-Eyed Bulbul, Cape Rock-Thrush, Crested Barbet. These weren’t seen anywhere else on the trip, and in the Bulbul’s case, the only place to see them on my itinerary. Also the Long-Tailed Widowbirds, Red-Collared Widowbirds and Southern Red Bishops. The males look splendid at this time of year.

 

I thought it looked a like good time to head to Wakkerstroom when the clouds started to build up after the early afternoon heat. I’ve heard about highveld thunderstorms before, and seen them when they appear at the Wanderers or Centurion Park cricket grounds. But I have never seen a thunderstorm build up and give incessant lightning like this one. And I was heading straight into it. It became an absolute downpour all the way from Greylingstad to Wakkerstroom. 

 

I arrived at Wakkerstroom Country Inn at about 18:00, and had a delicious three course meal (as I did for all three nights I stayed). I was concerned about how well the next day would go. I had booked a day with a local guide, by the name of Lucky. Will I be able to get round any of the dirt roads after all this rain, and would I see anything if the rain continued?

 

 

 

It was still raining, and wasn’t particularly confident at how well today would go. Lucky was waiting for me as I left, and appeared confident despite the weather. Once Lucky had finished talking to me about David Beckham, before breakfast we saw 4 Yellow-Breasted Pipits, Pied Starling, Sentinel Rock-Thrush, Ant-Eating Chat, Red-Winged Francolin and Southern Bald Ibis around the Utrecht Road area. A drive towards Dirkiesdorp was rather spoilt by rain and mist. The loop road towards the Heyshope Dam was the one road we couldn’t get through due to mud. In fact, I really had to concentrate to find the best bit of road to drive on!

 

After returning back to Wakkerstroom Country Inn for breakfast, we then headed along the Amersfoort Road. Highlights along here included a nesting pair of Blue Crane, a Denham’s Bustard with one small chick, and the first of quite a few Blue Korhaan, all in the same area. Two French birders were also here at this point. This was Lucky’s chance to talk to them about Zinedine Zidane, and my chance to wind them up about “that head butt”!

 

The rain started clearing up now, and further along the Amersfoort Road Lucky took me out for a walk round a field. We saw good numbers of African Quailfinch, plus Pink-Billed Lark, Spike-Heeled Lark, Wing-Snapping Cisticola, Cloud Cisticola and a fly-past Rufous-Chested Sparrowhawk, quite scarce around here I was told.

 

We headed back and towards the Volksrust Road, and along here were Grey-Winged Francolin, Plain-Backed Pipit, 4 Grey Crowned Crane, plus a Yellow Mongoose and a group of 9 Suricate (Meerkat). We eventually stopped at another field for Botha’s and Rudd’s Larks. Lucky managed to catch up with a Botha’s Lark quite easily, but how he managed to find the Rudd’s Lark I don’t think I’ll ever understand. He seemed to be just walking in completely random directions. But almost like a sixth sense, he eventually found a Rudd’s Lark. There was also Pale-Crowned Cisticola and a group of Blue Korhaan here.

 

The fields that Lucky took me into were actually private farmland, but he is allowed access. This is one big advantage of hiring a local guide, who can get onto land that you can’t access by yourself without asking the landowner’s permission. A local guide is also going to know where to look, so it gives you the best chance of seeing these highly localised Larks.

 

One last spot we tried was the bridge over the Slang River. No sign of Ground Woodpecker, but we did see African Black Duck, Buff-Streaked Chat and Drakensberg Prinia. We then headed back to Wakkerstroom and in the end, I needn’t have worried about the weather. Lucky had made it an excellent day.

 

 

 

Big improvement in the weather. I first headed to the Clive Beck hide at the Wakkerstroom wetland. Highlights here included Purple Swamphen, Purple Heron, African Spoonbill, Hamerkop, White-Backed Duck and a pair of Crowned Cranes.

 

Then took a drive up to the Derdehoek Road, and the valley bottom where I had a tip-off from Peter Lawson as a good spot for Bush Blackcap. I thought I heard them calling here, but I later found out that what I was hearing was Red-Chested Cuckoo. Little did I know I would be hearing plenty of them later on in the trip. So no Bush Blackcap, but there was Diderick Cuckoo, Buff-Streaked Chat, Ant-Eating Chat, Pied Starling.

 

Back to the Wakkerstroom wetland, and the hides from the Birdlife South Africa centre. The Crane hide was more productive than the Flufftail hide. Highlights here were African Marsh Harrier, African Snipe, Sacred Ibis, Glossy Ibis, and three more Grey Crowned Cranes.

 

Before I finished for the day, I thought I would try the Slang River bridge one more time for Ground Woodpecker. Lucky showed me the nest holes in the cliff yesterday, so they couldn’t be far away. And sure enough, as soon as I parked up, a Ground Woodpecker flew across the bridge and landed on a boulder! Then a few minutes later, Lucky appeared with a South African couple he was guiding, and I managed to show the Woodpecker to him! So that was a great end to my time in Wakkerstroom.

 

 

 

After breakfast and check out at Wakkerstroom Country Inn, I then made my way to Ithala Game Reserve. Along the Dirkiesdorp road I found another pair of Blue Crane and a herd of Blesbok.

 

I reached Ithala at about lunchtime. It had turned quite hot then, so birdwatching was confined to the very beautiful Ntshondwe rest camp. From the hide next to the restaurant, there was Thick-Billed Weaver, Cape Weaver, Cape Sparrow, Bar-Throated Apalis and a Purple Crested Turaco, complete with it’s unmistakable call! 

 

Taking a walk along the Plumcoloured Starling trail from the camp produced a pair of Verraux’s Eagle, at one time being mobbed by a Jackal Buzzard, plus African Black Swift and 3 Klipspringer.

 

 

 

I had only the one full day at Ithala, so up very early to make the most of this scenic reserve. A pre-breakfast drive along the Onverwacht loop produced Ostrich, 3 Black-Bellied Bustard, Brown-Hooded Kingfisher, Lazy and Zitting Cisticolas, Black Saw-Wing, Lanner Falcon, a few Tsessebe and a Black-Backed Jackal.

 

After breakfast, most of the day was spent driving round most of the park’s roads. The Nghubu loop produced Violet-Backed Starling, Red-Billed Oxpeckers “cleaning” Giraffe, Lappet-Faced Vulture and four White Rhino (including one youngster). The Dakaneni loop produced Wing-Snapping Cisticola, European Bee-Eater, Black Cuckoo and African Paradise Flycatcher. The Bergvliet loop produced the largest number and variety of game, including Grey Rhebok and Eland.

 

The late afternoon until dusk was spent just sat quietly on the steps outside my chalet, and wait for birds to pass. This proved to be quite a productive technique, and passers-by included African Firefinch, White-Throated Robin-Chat, Red-Capped Robin-Chat, Sombre Greenbul, Green-Backed Camaroptera, Cape Batis, Mocking Cliff-Chat, Bar-Throated Apalis, Southern Black Tit and a Slender Mongoose.

 

 

 

Time to leave Ithala and move onto Mkhuze Game Reserve. You hear lots of good things about this place, so I had a lot of anticipation. I thought it was warm and humid when I left Ithala, but that was nothing compared with arriving in Mkhuze village. It really was a case of “who turned the oven on!”.

 

I had lunch at the Wimpy in the petrol station, and stocked up on food and drink supplies for the next few days, at the Spar in the village. The Mantuma rest camp at Mkhuze is really geared up for self-catering. There is the “Rhino Dine-o” takeaway, but there isn’t much choice on the menu, and it isn’t open for all that long each day.

 

This also turned out to be the hottest and most humid day of the trip, the one time where it got a bit too much for me. So I decided to book a night drive to help cool off, and the afternoon was spent perfecting my Ithala technique, just sat outside my chalet waiting for birds to pass. This technique here produced Collared Sunbird, Red-Faced Mousebird, Chinspot Batis and Olive Bush-Shrike.

 

Just as on my first day when driving to Wakkerstroom, the heat and humidity built up to produce another large thunderstorm. Just in time for the night drive! It wasn’t the most ideal conditions to look out for nocturnal wildlife from a spotlight, and I got soaked! Most of the time the driver found Impala and Nyala, but he also found Spotted Eagle-Owl, Spotted Thick-Knee and Square-Tailed Nightjar. He also found a Brown Snake-Eagle on nest, and amazingly, two Yellow-Breasted Apalis asleep in a roadside bush.

 

 

 

An early start, and over to the Kumasinga hide in the sand forest. I found a good selection of birds here, but no mammals at the water hole as there was plenty of water all around the reserve for mammals to take a drink. A couple of hours here included Cardinal Woodpecker, Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting, Yellow-Bellied Greenbul, Jacobin Cuckoo, Golden-Tailed Woodpecker, Green Wood-Hoopoe, Scimitarbill, Orange-Breasted Bush-Shrike, European Golden Oriole and Lesser Honeyguide.

 

Leaving Kumasinga, on the short walk from the toilet and back to the car, there was the sound of an almighty crash of a tree. That could have only been caused by an Elephant. I’m not sure how close the Elephant was, but it sounded close enough! Not knowing how close the Elephant was, and being on foot, was gave more of an adrenaline rush than actually seeing one from the safety of the car!

 

Over to the Nsumo Pan next. At the time of visiting it was very full, and no areas of exposed mud. But there were some waders, albeit Common Sandpiper, Greenshank, Black-Winged Stilt and Water Thick-Knee. Highlights here included Yellow-Billed Egret, Goliath Heron, Woolly-Necked Stork, Pink-Backed Pelican, large flocks of Whiskered and White-Winged Black Terns and plenty of Hippo. Also a couple of Crested Guineafowl along the road in this area.

 

An afternoon drive along Beacon Road and Loop Road produced Lizard Buzzard, White-Backed Vulture, Lappet-Faced Vulture and Yellow-Billed Hornbill. The largest number of game was also seen here.

 

So not a bad selection, but still a lot more of the local specialities were still to be found. It was cloudy and windy all day, so perhaps that didn’t help.

 

 

 

Another early start, and much better weather conditions. I had booked a place on the Fig Forest walk. This is a guided walk with an armed guard, and driven there from the camp office. It’s the only way to get into this part of the reserve.

 

On the way into the forest, the guide found a Pink-Throated Twinspot by the road through the Sand Forest, around the Kubube hide area. Then on the walk into the forest, he found a Neergard’s Sunbird, flyover African Openbill, and heard Gorgeous Bush-Shrike and Eastern Nicator.

 

After crossing two rope bridges and into the Fig Forest, highlights here included Trumpeter Hornbill, Dark-Backed Weaver, Yellow-Rumped Tinkerbird, Broad-Billed Roller, White-Eared Barbet, Red-Fronted Tinkerbird, Black-Bellied Starling, Crested Guineafowl, Tambourine Dove, African Goshawk, 2 Narina Trogon and 2 Brown-Headed Parrot. This walk was definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip.

 

After returning to the camp, the Kumahlahla hide area produced Lilac-Breasted Roller, Black Cuckooshrike and Rudd’s Apalis. Another visit to Nsumo Pan produced African Marsh Harrier, Squacco Heron, African Jacana and African Fish Eagle.

 

Another visit to the Kumasinga hide in the afternoon produced Emerald-Spotted Wood-Dove, Retz’s Helmet-Shrike, White-Crested Helmet-Shrike, 2 Purple-Banded Sunbird and 2 Black-Breasted Snake-Eagle.

 

 

 

A very early start this time, leaving Mkhuze and eventually heading for St. Lucia. Most of the day was spent in the Hluhluwe/Umfolozi Game Reserve. In the end it turned into a bit of a rush around, and only managed some of the drives in the Hluhluwe half of the reserve.

 

But there were some species seen here that I didn’t see anywhere else on the trip, so it was still worth visiting. Such as Natal Francolin, Cape Vulture, Wahlberg’s Eagle, White-Necked Raven and Crowned Hornbill. My White Rhino total here was 10, plus a good number and variety of other game, including Buffalo. Also had lunch at the hilltop camp, where you can get a fantastic view of the reserve.

 

Prior to checking in at my guest house in St. Lucia, a quick look at the estuary adjacent to the sugarloaf camp entrance produced the only Yellow-Billed Stork of the trip, plus African Harrier-Hawk, Ruff, Greenshank, Hippo and some very large Crocodile.

 

 

 

Another early start, and a drive up to Cape Vidal and back to St. Lucia. A packed breakfast was provided. The main highlight here had to be the Southern-Banded Snake-Eagle that flew across the road straight in front of me, just to the north of the Mission Rocks picnic site. 

 

Other highlights included Grey Waxbill, Woodland Kingfisher, Blue-Cheeked Bee-Eater and Little Bee-Eater. There is also a good variety of game to be seen here, and along the loop road back to St. Lucia, especially Common Reedbuck.

 

A late afternoon boat cruise on the Santa Lucia, booked at the KZN Wildlife office in town, does allow for some fantastic views of waterbirds and of course, Hippo. Highlights here included Goliath Heron, African Fish-Eagle, Green-Backed Heron, Three-Banded Plover, Giant, Pied and Malachite Kingfishers, and a Red Duiker. A walk at dusk from my guest house and into McKenzie Street for an evening meal produced an African Scops-Owl in a roadside tree.

 

 

 

I had all day to reach my next, and final, destination at Eshowe today. So there was time to visit a few different places. Before leaving St. Lucia, a walk along the Igwalagwala trail in the town produced Livingstone’s Turaco, Brown Scrub-Robin, Terrestrial Brownbul, Eastern Olive Sunbird, Rudd’s Apalis, Red-Capped Robin-Chat, White-Eared Barbet, Yellow-Rumped Tinkerbird.

 

My next idea was to visit the Thulasikhela Pan in Richard’s Bay. Its not the most salubrious of places, but it’s a good habitat and produced some good birds. Such as Black Crake, Southern Brown-Throated Weaver, good numbers of Squacco Heron, and an Osprey that flew in and caught a fish.

 

Next on the agenda was to find Palm-Nut Vulture at Mtunzini. This proved rather difficult in the afternoon. None were to be seen in the Raffia palms in the town, by the school. Then along the Raffia Palm Monument, after a bit of finding I found a Palm-Nut Vulture sat on a nest. Right at the very far end from the entrance to the Umlalazi nature reserve.

 

 

 

One more early start while in Eshowe, to visit the Dlinza Forest. A good few hours was spent in the morning. The viewing tower produced White-Eared Barbet, Black-Bellied Starling, African Goshawk, African Paradise Flycatcher, Square-Tailed Drongo and Trumpeter Hornbill.

 

A short way into the forest from the boardwalk produced a Spotted Ground-Thrush. Then on the path heading towards the Bishop’s seat, this produced a brief view of a Buff-Spotted Flufftail that ran away from me. Also calling African Emerald Cuckoo, Eastern Olive Sunbird, African Dusky Flycatcher and 2 Blue Duiker.

 

After lunch, I returned to the boardwalk and tower in the afternoon. This produced a brief view of 2 Eastern Bronze-Naped Pigeons flying over the canopy, Grey Cuckooshrike and Olive Woodpecker.

 

 

 

I still had a bit of time before I had to head over to Durban, and a short time was spent at Lake Phobane. This produced the last three species for the trip, which were Bokmakierie, Red-Billed Quelea and Long-Crested Eagle. It was worth a visit just for these, but other than that it was rather quiet, and was starting to get rather hot. So I thought it was time to call it a day, and slowly make my way over to Durban airport to drop off the car, and go home. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ordered “Wakkerstroom Bird and Nature Guide” from here

 

A very enjoyable read about Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve.

 

 

 

ISBN: 1-86872-721-1

 

My bible throughout the trip.

 

ISBN: 1-86872-725-4

 

Very useful, especially when at a site and working out which species I haven’t yet seen. Good map illustrations for the main sites of my trip.

 

ISBN: 1-86812-487-8

 

Found in a local bookshop. Very comprehensive guide featuring many less known sites.

 

 

Very interesting and informative guide to the Wakkerstroom area.

 

ISBN: 0-7136-6981-0

 

Useful if, like me, you’re not so hot on the different antelope species.

 

 

Accomodation:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Richard Powell

richard_powell1905 @ btinternet.com

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