SANParks.org Forums

Well done Deefstes!

Move me up to 437 please.

New lifers:
Forest Canary - Magoebaskloof.
African Crowned Eagle - Duivelskloof.
African Yellow White-eye - Crookes Corner.
Village Indigobird - Pafuri.
Crested Guineafowl - Punda Maria.
Great Spotted Cuckoo - Punda.
Cape Vulture - Punda.
Pennant-winged Nightjar - Punda.
Yellow-throated Petronia - Hans Merensky NR.
Green Sandpiper - Hans Merensky NR.
Dark Chanting Goshawk - Hans Merensky NR.

My target fot the year is 500.

Hi Ferdelance.

Please update my new total to 550, with latest lifers being:

Drakensberg Siskin, Oliviershoekpas
Cape Parrot, Benvie Garden, Karkloof
Green Malkoha, Pigeon Valley,
White-eared Barbet, Pigeon Valley
Grey Sunbird, Umvoti River forest
Eastern Olive Sunbird, Umvoti River forest
Rufouswinged Cisticola, Jex Estate
Orange Ground Thrush, Benvie Gardens Karkloof
Botha's Lark, Harrismith
Palmnut Vulture, Mtunzini
Trumpeter Hornbill, Mtunzini
Bearded Vulture, Sterkfontein Dam
White-necked Raven, Oliviershoekpas
Swift Tern, Umhlanga Lagoon
White-fronted Plover, Umhlanga Lagoon
Woodwards Batis, St Lucia
Rudds Apalis, St Lucia
Brownthroated WEaver, St Lucia
Darkbacked Weaver, St Lucia & Umvoti River
Yellow Weaver, Umvoti River Estuary
Pink-backed Pelican, Barberspan
Sanderling, Umvoti River Estuary
Mongolian Plover, Umvoti River Estuary
Cape Gull, Umhlanga Beach

Some other great sightings I had during this trip, althought not lifers.

At Harrismith;
Southern Bald ibis,
Pink-billed, Red-capped, Spike-heeled, eastern long-billed larks with the Botha's Larks.
Blue Korhaan x2 right next to the road.
Barrows korhaan
Plenty of Amur falcons.

Then on the Oliviershoekpas & Sterkfontein Dam area:
A few jackal buzzards, white-necked ravens in the road together with a huge troop of baboons refusing to get out of the way.

Plenty of Yellow-billed and black kites in Kzn.
As well as Osprey, Crowned Eagles

Chorister Robin Chats at Umhlanga Lagoon Nature Reserve as well as at Benvie Gardens.
Also at Benvie gardens: Narina trogon.

A rather strange place for a sighting of 4 Southern Bald Ibis, of one was a juvenile being fed by mom: in the sugarcane plantations at the Jex Estate Umvoti River Estuary.

Wow some excellent sightings there Yolandé! And congrats on the new total!

Hi fellow twitchers

I am new to this forum and relatively new to birding, and looking at some of the numbers posted here makes my modest 315 seem very ordinary. I am off to Sabi River Bungalows for a week on Friday and then to my first Big birding weekend in KNP at Olifants, so hope to add many more in the next 10 days.
Hope to see some fellow forum members at the birding weekend. Is anyone else going to be at Olifants?

Happy birding!!

Awesome list, Yolande. Sure you didn't see the apalis in St Lucia rather than Karkloof?

Congratulations to Déwald and Hanno for reaching the big 800 and to Yolandé for reaching 550 in double-quick time. And of course to everybody else who might have reached some personal milestones during the holidays (Joel and others).

I had a trip to Kruger at the beginning of January via some Limpopo birding spots (Doorndraai dam, Roodewal forest & Muirhead dam). In Kruger we stayed over at Mopani, Pafuri and Punda Maria. While mammal sightings weren't all that great it was my best birding in Kruger ever. Managed to get 230 species passing my previous best of 208 quite easily. Got 5 lifers in all, moving my total up to 556.

552 Green-capped Eremomela Eremomela scotops Donkerwangbossanger - Doorndraai dam near Mokopane & few days later at Crooks' Corner
553 Pallid Harrier Circus macrourus Witborsvleivalk - Nshawu near Mopani, saw more after that south of Mopani & near Klopperfontein dam
554 Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus minor Swerfvalk - 1km north of the Luvhuvhu bridge at Pafuri, they've been reported to breed in nearby Lanner Gorge
555 Common Quail Coturnix coturnix Afrikaanse Kwartel - S60 near Punda Maria
556 Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus Europese Koekoek - S60 near Punda Maria

Well done Yolandé, some great birds there and a handsome total. Are you gunning to catch up with Niall or something?

I have to say though that I share JoelR's perplexity with a Rudd's Apalis at Karkloof. I don't know that Rudd's Apalis occurs any further south than St. Lucia or at most Richard's Bay.

More significantly though, are you sure you got the Drakensberg Siskin at Jex Estate or did you see it somewhere closer to the Berg? Not only is Jex Estate also well and truly out of range but the habitat is just completely unsuitable. The Drakensberg Siskin has a very specific altitudinal preference and they are only found above 2600m. They do show some altitudinal movement in winter and come down as low as 2000m but that is still MUCH higher than Jex Estate which isn't much higher than sea level really.

I don't mean to shoot down your sightings but I just thought you'd like to know if you recorded the locality incorrectly or perhaps got the bird wrong.

Hi Deefstes.

Yes the apalis was indeed in St Lucia and not Karkloof- I downloaded St lucia's photos together with Karkloof's - therefore the mishap.

Well done Johann on all the new lifers! Especially the pallid and peregrine!

I checked the siskin - wrong location too - it was at the lookout point at the top of the Oliviershoekpas, between Sterkfontein Dam and that Little Drakensberg resort halfway down the pass. Suppose this is what happens when you try downloading photos/drawing up lists while preparing a powerpoint presentation at the same time
Thanks for pointing it out though.

My Total is up to 109.
Sightings include the following

Long-tailed Widowbird
Red-winged Starling
African Paradise-Flycatcher
Black-collared Barbet
Fiscal Flycatcher
Black-crowned Tchagra

Ferdelance, please move my total up to 696.
Got Thrush Nightingale at Skukuza.
Inching forward and hope to cross the 700 barrier some time this year.

new total are 467 with Abdims stork as the latest lifer my target for this year are 500
well we are off to punda for our first BBW hope to meet some forum members on the way

Well I got a thick-billed weaver group on the weekend in Natal. Puts me up to 318. Hoping for some good birding on the weekend at the BBW! Will meet all the LS birders on Friday.....

Will update Januarys list next week!