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Yes they are quite large, I saw one kill a chameleon it the Matambeni hide last year.

My best birds would be:

Buff-breasted Sandpiper (6th record for South Africa)
Greater Sheathbill (Shows up every 2 or 3 years at Boulders Beach)
Taita Falcon (An easy bird to see at the Abel Erasmus Pass but otherwise probably the most difficult raptor to find in all of Africa)
Striped Crake (10th record for South Africa)
Cape Parrot (At last count there where 396 members of this bird left in the wild)
Asian Dowitcher (1st record for Africa)
Red-throated Twinspot (First record for South Africa since 1984)
Western Reef Heron (2nd record for Southern Africa)
Boulder Chat (1st confirmed sighting in South Africa and probably the 3rd sighting overall)

O.K. You win!!!!!!!!!

Now do you want to please help me with the Bird's Feet Quizz

Great to have the serious pro's here though, look forward to your posts.

I could hardly qualify as a pro. There are birders in this country who's seen 800+ birds. Ian Sinclair is leading the pack with 929!

Bird's Feet Quizz? Have I missed something?

For me seeing the following was special:
Elegant Tern
Lesser Crested Tern
White-rumped Sandpiper
Gull-billed Tern

and not rare but nice to see
Male Pennant-winged nightjar

OKay so this short list might not include the birds previously mentioned, however these are the "rarities" we spotted in just 2 weeks in KZN, in June/July (bear in mind, mid-winter)

- Pel's Fishing Owl
- Narina Trogon
- Southern Banded Snake Eagle
- Bearded Vulture
- Palm Nut Vulture
- Retz's Helmet-Shrike
- Eastern Nicator

Here's a few of the more interesting birds I've seen that I can think of right now:
Balearic Shearwater
Salvin's Albatross
Spectacled Petrel
Madagascar Squacco Heron
Rufous-bellied Heron(in kruger)
Taita Falcon
Ayre's Hawk Eagle
Allen's Gallinule
Racket-tailed Roller
Thrush Nightingale
Variable Sunbird (in kruger)
White-starred Robin (in Skukuza)
Cape Parrot
Black-rumped Buttonquail (kruger)
African Crake
I've also seen a lot of the other interesting species in kruger, Narina Trogon, Pel's, Finfoot, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Black Eagle, Corncrake, Dickinson's, Thick-billed Cuckoo etc etc. all on more than 1 occasion

Deeftes and Johnd, very impressive.

My rarities are:
African finfoot
Narina trogan
Monteira's hornbill
Greyheaded parrot
Mashona Hyliota
Ruppels Parrot
Violet Woodhoepoe
Slaty Egret

I want to make a suggestion that we look at REAL rarities and where they may be seen / or have been seen (for the hysterical twitchers). HAs anyone seen them?
How about:
Rose-coloured Starling
Shoebill
Little blue heron
Grey wagtail
White throated bee-eater
Pacific golden Plover

Hope I let loose the cat among the pigeons....excuse the pun... !!

I'm not sure what the definition of a REAL rarity is and how Little Blue Heron that's been around in one spot for 5 years makes it onto the list while Pallid Swift (that's been seen recently only for the second time in over 100 years), or Asiatic Dowitcher (of which no bird has ever been recorded in all of Africa) are not on the list.

Either way, I've seen Little Blue Heron at Papendorp just the other day in fact and I've seen Grey Wagtail at the Debengeni Falls in Magoebaskloof a couple of years ago.

You're probably kidding with Shoebill It used to be on the Southern Africa list but was removed after the decision was made that it must have been included in the first place based on erroneous ID. The Shoebill you only find in north-east Africa (Uganda etc.)

Had a look at what most of you posted here and updated my list with the following
Meyer’s Parrot
Grey-headed Parrot
Narina Trogon
Yellow-breasted Canary (close to Crooks corner on 2 occasions)
Taita Falcon
Lesser Crested Tern
Elegant Tern
Black Tern
White-rumped Sandpiper
Gull-billed Tern
White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike
Yellow-breasted Pipit
White-starred Robin

And as to the new twist will these be seen as really rare birds then?:
Elegant Tern (seen on 16/02/2006 at Strandfontein)

White-rumped Sandpiper (seen on 18/03/2005 on the farm Voëlvlei near Bredasdorp)
Gull-billed Tern (seen on 18/03/2005 on the farm Voëlvlei near Bredasdorp)
Yes, two MEGA birds on one morning

Is White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike seen as rare? (seen near Punda on the S60 during Birding Weekend 2007)

White-breasted Cukoo-shrike does not exist. I've tried many times and I assert that, along with Racket-tailed Roller and Thick-biled Cuckoo, it is no more than a figment of the imagination of a few drunk field guide artists.

@deefstes. Thought I'd get you going with that one!

Hi Deefstes
My list of the rare birds were really just a random choice of some names that I have seen in the past - did not mean to make it too scientific or to compare . It will be interesting to see what everyone comes up with...

How can anyone post Narina Trogon as a ultra-rare sighting? Come on guys, ultra-rare would one offs or first time in a decade kidda thing.

I agree, while Narina Trogon certainly is a very special bird and one that many birders work hard for before they finally get to see it, I don't think it is nearly in the same league as Elegant Tern, Irania or Asiatic Dowitcher.

A bird that was a bogey bird of mine for very long and one which I finally got after many attempts was the African Finfoot. That might suggest to me that it is an ultra rare bird when in fact it is actually very common, just rather ellusive.

I have in fact seen more White-winged Flufftails and Blue Swallows than African Finfoots but that doesn't mean they are more common than Finfoot.