My first introduction to Afriflora was on a lovely warm winters day when I had the pleasure of wandering around this delightful nursery and enjoying the birdlife it had to offer.  This is a mainly indigenous aloe and succulent nursery that supplies wholesale to nurseries and landscapers.

Just inside the gate there is a small patch of forest with indigenous trees that runs along one fence line.  In this patch there was African Oriole, Black–backed Puffback and an Orange-breasted Bushshrike which was first heard calling before it came out and gave us some good views.

African Harrier Hawk was heard most of the morning and just before we left it graced us with a view as it sat in a tree and observed us.  African Goshawk dashed quickly through the trees on a morning hunt. In the nursery itself there was a fruiting Trema orientalis and this attracted African White–eye, Dark–capped Bulbul, Sombre Greenbul and a host of weavers and starlings. 

The winter flowering aloes were host to Double–collared, Amethyst, Olive and White–bellied Sunbirds in profusion.

A stand of proteas on the property could prove very interesting as I have seen Malachite Sunbird here before and once many years ago a Gurney’s Sugarbird.

Trip report and photos – Jane Morris