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Ja, it should be easy with a weekend to Cape Town, one to Windhoek or maybe one to the Okavango delta or one to Mozambique A pelagic trip from Simonstown could easily net me 10-15 lifers. Hint hint. Some serious driving and flying required over weekends in the future.

Moved to 458 with 8 more after four days in KNP:

Dusky Lark
African Dusky Flycatcher
Black Sparrowhawk
Wood Sandpiper
Bushveld Pipit
Tawny-Flanked Prinia
Brown-Throated Martin
Green-Backed Cameroptera

Nice haul, particularly as February was one of my bogey months with not a single lifer until then...!

Black Coucal in Kruger push me up to 638 and Laine to 587.

Welcome on 638 !!!! Wish I could visit Kruger as regularly.

Thanks LB!

I now wish I could elsewhere, such as Cape Town where I would rack up a stack of lifers!

I went to the first page 'by mistake' and saw the very first list posted 6 years ago.

I started on 399 and my Gautie mates Johan van Rensburg and Wildtuinman on 330 and 342 respectively. In about 2009 the 3 of us spent a delightful day picking up lifers on the Zaagkuil? road. Since then, Oom, who seems to commute regularly to Kruger has progressed to 638, and Joh to 650 within the borders of SA.

Well done chaps. I am on a distant 558.

Sjeesh, BB. Now you go donkey years back!

I have been very fortunate in getting around to see places in the last few years. My moving year was 2009 when I ticked a whopping 100 lifers in the year.

I've also birded Gauteng with a fine comb since then.

Kruger did not produce too many lifers since 2009, but it still remains one of my best birding destinations in the country. You just never know what to expect around the next bend in the road.

Laine and I stopped in a stream running over the S137 on Saturday morning to look for African Crake. We saw this fella instead - perfectly camouflaged 5m from the car. No way we would've seen it had we been non-birders.


Leopard2 by Laine2005, on Flickr


Leopard by Laine2005, on Flickr

Wiltuinman, since I was little my Dad used to say: "look up and down the creeks, there could be a leopard", so glad your did, that means by Dad was wright!

We've seen a group of 5 Hamerkoppe down a creek once and a huge monitor lizzard, just by stopping and looking for water fowl down the creeks.

Well done on the leppie!

I started birding mid April last year and it's been a awesome journey into another world, not even a full year yet!

I'm still in the lower numbers and my new telly stands on 196 (previous 166). My new target for 2013 is 250 and I'm still enjoying the "honey moon" stage ticking off the birdies.

My new lifers since my last post include a long weekend in Dinokeng where we saw our first Woodland Kingfisher and an afternoon at Rust de Winter Nature Reserve where we saw our first African Jacana.

(Rust de Winter dam had surprisingly little bird life for a dam of its size, I think there were about 200 to 250 fisherman all on the Northern side of the dam and at least 30 boats, that maybe isn't ideal for water fowl. We spotted only one African Jacana (we really looked hard for more), only one Green backed heron and one Fish Eagle among the 14 species we saw the afternoon at the dam.)

Please move me up to 587 after Big birding weekend, december birding and a few others

You shouldn't really complain about that BB... That's still over 150 lifers in the last 6 years, hardly something worth complaining about...

Although I am not listed here, I have not had as much success as you in the last 6 years and have only added a mere 8 birds to my list... And it's not like I don't spend enough time out in the field... So, if you want to feel depressed, try 8 birds in 6 years and then we can talk again...

You are a valued contributor to these pages, Trevor. I'm wondering if you'd like your total to be part of our list (modest as our list is...)

Nobody wants to see that total.

Well, there you have it Johan right from the horse's mouth...

I really don't mind either way, so I can be added or left off... I'll leave it up to others to decide...

Double-Banded Sandgrouse.

Total 237 - Target 250