Saturday 1st June 2019
Report by Terry Walls
We could not have asked for better weather as 20 birders met at the entrance of the park. We welcomed two new members and four visitors, who joined us for the outing.
The Village Weavers were highly vocal and quite active on the nests in the large tree in the neighbouring garden.
We split into two groups, one led by Sandi and Jane and the other by myself.
As expected, when we set off, many of the forest birds could be heard calling but were not seen.
Our first interesting sighting was in fact a Red Duiker on the pathway.
A pair of Dark-backed Weavers entertained us with their beautiful call as they occupied themselves with what seemed to be unseasonal nest building They were undisturbed by our presence.
We were rewarded with a nice display by a Red-capped Robin Chat. Terrestrial Brownbul was the prominent bird of the day with numerous sightings. While the Tambourine Dove was heard calling throughout the walk.
The forest fringe bordering the grassland was the most productive spot for both groups.
Here, we saw Sunbirds, Thick-billed Weavers, Bronze Mannikins, Cape White-eyes and Cape Batis were also present.
Sadly none of the target birds (Spotted Ground Thrush, Green Twinspots, Buff-spotted Flufftail ) were recorded.
We finished off with a walk up to the Black Sparrowhawk nest as we had heard it calling in that area. We were soon rewarded with the bird flying directly above us.
Sandi’s group were fortunate to get a view of it perched in a tree. They also had a nice view of Black Cuckooshrike both Male and female, Black-backed Puffback, Golden-tailed Woodpecker and Purple Banded Sunbird.
The total bird count for the day was 52 (click here to see the list) to which Sandi added another three after doing some birding with Crispin Hemson when most had left.
Cheers
Terry
Reblogged this on Wolf's Birding and Bonsai Blog.