Report by Elena Russell
Saturday 5 December 2015
Photos by Frankie Berghorst
A very short report on our rainy ‘Christmas’ outing!
As I drove up Field’s Hill in a very hard drizzle which turned into thick mist as I hit Hillcrest and then heavy rain, I presumed I would be the only birder to turn up at Springside. How wrong can one get there were 15 birders all waiting to go birding!! Eternal optimists.
At first we sheltered on the veranda of the Conservancy/Activities centre until Peter said that if he went and brewed a pot of tea (he has a little primus stove and kettle!) and as soon as the tea was brewed the rain would stop – funnily enough we believed him and it almost worked.
The rain did ease off so we all set off in anticipation of some good birding but within 10 minutes the heavy drizzle returned. Forever hopeful we soldiered on. And did we take a short-cut? Of course not, we took the long and winding path back to the veranda looking forward to the toasted cheese and tom sarmies.
However Frankie did manage a photo or two – interesting critters. Too wet for bird photography.
Thank goodness for Marion and John who had brought their gas braai and this was set up under cover and John toasted our sarmies to perfection. He deserves a Michelin star or two! Thanks to Marion who supplied the cheese and toms, I forgot the salt and pepper but nobody seemed to mind. Plus a big thanks to Liz and Anne for putting the sandwiches together.
A few were keeping tabs on the bird count which was in the region of 40. In total we raised R370 for the conservancy. Well done!
Lots of good wishes for Christmas and an excellent birding New Year.
Cheers
Elena
