Report by Sandi du Preez
Wednesday 19 September
The weather wasn’t great but 12 birders attended the outing and for once there were more males than females! The reserve is looking absolutely stunning at the moment as a portion of the grassland was burnt earlier this year, resulting in a fantastic display of Spring wild flowers. In fact, the flowers outshone the birds by far!
A Southern Ground Hornbill (nick-named Chester) was spotted in the reserve the day before but he obviously didn’t get the WhatsApp ordering him to wait for us.
Walking down the steep “steps” at the start, a Southern Boubou flew across and and we were treated to excellent views.
The pathway through the grassy area towards the forest area yielded the usual birds such as Neddicky, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Black-headed Oriole, African Hoopoe, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Violet-backed Starling, Black-bellied Starling, African Palm Swift, Olive Thrush, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Spectacled Weaver, Purple-crested Turaco. Surprisingly, the only sunbird seen was an Amethyst Sunbird.
For a full species list of the birds recorded, click here. Unfortunately, many of the 65 species were recorded on call only.
While we were having our picnic, a Yellow-bellied Greenbul was complaining about his “belly-ache!
There was not much opportunity for bird photos so all the flower photos will just have to be tolerated instead! Thanks to Dave Rimmer for his photos.
I had a special treat on the way out. A Black-backed Puffback flew in front of my car with it’s “puff” up and landed on a branch for a superb view.
Sandi du Preez
