Report by Terry Walls

Saturday 2nd March, 2019

An excellent morning for birding, overcast but not a breath of wind. About twenty birders arrived. It was encouraging to meet a number of new birders and also others who have not been active for some time.

The first bird that stood out was a Yellow-billed Kite sitting quietly nearby.

We split into two groups of ten, one to do the clockwise route while the other, counter clockwise.

Both groups reported the usual birds one would expect in the riverine forest/bush-clump mosaic habitat.

Significant numbers of birds were encountered by each of the groups for the small reserve.

Highlights were: Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, (bird of the day)

Cinnamon-breasted Bunting – John Bremner

Blue-mantled Crested- Flycatcher, Lemon Dove (revealed by the soft call which seemed to come from the undergrowth, while the bird was seen in the forest canopy). Orange-breasted Bush-shrike,

Little and Black Sparrowhawks, Booted Eagle and a stunning view of a Common Buzzard.

Common Buzzard – Sandi du Preez

Common Buzzard – John Bremner

Also heard calling were a Red-throated Wryneck and a Knysna Turaco, but could not be confirmed with a sighting.

Some of the other sightings photographed include:

Rosemary Cooke

Fork-tailed Drongo – John Bremner

Golden-tailed Woodpecker – John Bremner

Lesser Honeyguide – John Bremner

Speckled Mousebird – John Bremner

Thick-billed Weaver – John Bremner

A feature of the reserve is the biodiversity of the grassland with the beautiful flowers and insects.

Butterfly – Forest Sandman – Sandi du Preez

Butterfly – Common Meadow Blue -Sandi du Preez

The Pink Watsonia at this time of year is always a sight to behold.

Watsonias – John Bremner

Watsonias – John Bremner

One can also expect to see Yellow-throated Longclaw

and Little Bee-eater although only one of these was seen.

Contrary to the weather forecast and our expectation, the cloud did not “burn off”, and in fact closed in. The outing was concluded with refreshments under the cover of the interpretive centre due to the light drizzle.

A total of seventy seven birds were recorded. Click here to see the list.

Thanks to the photographers – Sandi du Preez and John Bremner.

Terry Walls