8/9/2024
We left my friend’s place at 10.30 and drove up to Bev’s niece’s place where we left our car. Emma took us to warwick station then we got the train to the airport, for our 17.20 flight with Singapore Airlines to Singapore. We found our gate for the leg to Cape Town and saw a sign showing the way to a butterfly garden, intrigued we found found it. The butterflies were all roosting, if that’s what butterflies do, but we found a few in the hot humid outside air. They are of course in a huge cage complete with waterfall and lots of flowers and rotting pineapple to feed on.
9/9
At 01.30 we were off to Cape Town via Johannesburg. We had to stay on the plane whilst the cleaners worked around us, we’ve had this before and I don’t think it’s a fair practice for the cleaners, I’m betting it saves the airline money. The only bird I managed to spot out of the plane window? Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon of course. We got into Cape Town early and eventually made it out to meet up with all the other travellers on our trip and got ferried to the Fountains Hotel in the city after waiting for a long time for a couple who had come to Cape Town early so were not on the flight. Good old communication eh? We met up with Glynis and Melanie from honeyguidebirding (admin@honeyguidebirding.co.za or whatsapp 27834522916) and we were soon heading south. Spotted House Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Jackal Buzzard, Pied Crow, African Sacred Ibis, Yellow-billed Kite, and Egyptian Goose. We stopped at Silvermine which if Fynbos habitat or heathlands, finding Cape Sugarbird, Karoo Prinia and Orange-breasted Sunbird with lots of proteas and other flowers out, but it was a windy cool day which kept a lot of the birds from being visible. From there we headed down to Boulder Bay where we paid to get in to see the African Penguins on the beach, also finding Kelp Gull, Cape Cormorant, Cape Robin Chat, African Oystercatcher, Blacksmith Lapwing and Crested Tern. From there we turned back north along the coast to Strandfontein wetlands where in a whistlestop tour we found Common Starling, Rock Kestrel, Black-winged Kite, Grey Heron, Hartlaub Gull, Double-collared Sunbird, Pied Crow, African Sacred Ibis, Egyptian Goose, Jackal Buzzard, Lesser Swamp Warbler, Common Moorhen, Black-headed Heron, Red-billed Duck, Little Grebe, Cape Canary, Cape Wagtail, Yellow-billed Duck, Eared Grebe, Cape Teal, Common Tern, Great-crested Tern, Great Cormorant, Cape Shoveler, Kelp Gull, Lavaillant’s Cisticola, Cape Spurfowl, African Marsh Harrier, Cape Sparrow, Purple Swamphen, White-necked Raven, Common Greenshank, Blacksmith Lapwing, Greater Flamingo, Speckled Pigeon, Western Cattle Egret, Moccoa Duck and Black-winged Stilt, Southern Pochard, Southern Fiscal and Red-knobbed Coot. We then had to race to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens to get a few birds in before they closed. We got, Olive Thrush, Double-collaered Sunbird, Egyptian Goose, Sombre Greenbul, Dusky Flycatcher, Malachite Sunbird, Cape Canary, Cape White-eye, Cape Robin Chat, Hadada Ibis, White-necked Raven, Common Buzzard, Guinea Fowl, Black Sparrowhawk, Southern Boubou, Forest Canary and with the help of another birder Spotted Eagle Owl. We then checked out a few spots for night birds as it got dark finding an African Wood Owl at Constantia. From there we headed back to the hotel where we said goodbye to our new friends and went up to our room and collapsed into bed.
10/9
The breaky at the hotel was very good with a good selection of yummy food. We were down in the lobby on time and got ourselves checked off the list. It was about 8.30 when we boarded the bus/truck and headed north. We skipped the trip up Signal Hill and Lion’s Head which was disappointing, instead we went to a spot by the sea with a view across to Table Mountain which had no cloud over it. We then went to a shopping centre nearby for the crew to buy all the food. Bev and I went for a walk around the streets and got Cape Weaver, Cape Sparrow, Laughing Dove, Red-eyed Dove, Speckled Pigeon, House Sparrow, Hartlaub’s Gull, Hadad Ibis, Cape White-eye, Pied Crow and Red-faced Mousebird. We passed by the shanty town and were soon out in the country. It’s difficult birding from a moving bus but a splash of red was a Southern Red Bishop, and an all black swift was African Black Swift. As we passed through the Malmsbury area. We stop about every 2hrs, so Winkelshoek was the first one. Just on the outskirts of the town I spotted a Ground Squirrel, and with a walk around the wayside stop I found Rock Martin, more Cape Weavers making at different stages of breeding, Greater Striated Swallow. As we headed on north the Red Bishops became abundant, some large swifts were Alpine Swifts, and some large geese in some paddocks were Spur-winged Goose. We had a brief stop at Pikeneerskloof as we laboured up the hill for a view of the lowlands. We camped at Markuskraal, an orange farm and had our tents up by mid afternoon, so we had plenty of time for a look around. I found Cape White-eye, Common Starling, Pied Crow, Cape Weaver, Common Waxbill, Ring-necked Pigeon, Laughing Dove, Yellow Bishop, Cape Wagtail, Cape Robin Chat, Cape Canary, Cape Sparrow, Rock Martin, Cape Bunting, Hadeda Ibis, Southern Masked Weaver, Guinea Fowl, Greater Striped Swallow, Cape Bulbul, Cape Spurfowl, Southern Red Bishop, Fiscal Flycatcher, Red-eyed Dove and Olive Thrush. We had dinner supplied by the camp and not long after it was bed time.
11/9
Up before dawn, packed the tent, had breaky and we were on the road by 7.30. First stop was Klawer where I got Red-eyed Bulbul, Yellow Canary and White-backed Mousebird as new with more breeding Cape Weavers and some Cape Sparrows. We stopped to look at the flowers at Steenkampshraal Rd south of Bitterfontein where some Rock Martins were breeding and I had a brief look at a Long-billed Pipit. Our trip through Namaqualand was all about views with flowers. Our lunch spot at a rest stop 20km south of Springbok was probably the best as far as variety in a small area, but in others a hillside would be a sea of one colour. At the lunch spot I found Karoo Scrub Robin, Layard’s Tit Babbler and Southern Double-collared Sunbird. In Springbok I found some Pale-winged Starlings, along with lots of House Sparrows. Not far north of Springbok there was a dramatic change in scenery. We were still rolling through rock strewn hills but all of a sudden not only did the flowers stop but most of the vegetation, leaving barren hillsides and barren flats as well with only a sparse smattering of ground cover. We passed through into Namibia with no drama and camped at Felix Unite camp by the Orange River. It was nearly dark by the time we had pitched our tent, I had a quick look down by the river but didn’t find anything new. Dinner was at 20.00 cooked by the crew.
12/9
Up at dawn, breaky and at 8am we boarded the old Felix Unite bus to take us nearly back to where we crossed the border. Not long after we arrived an African Fish Eagle came and perched on the other side of the river which everyone got to see. The canoes eventually arrived and we set off down stream for a 13km paddle on mostly still waters with three easy rapids, each time we came to a rapid there would be a new bird that I couldn’t stop to photograph. The cost was 525Rand in old patched up canoes some leaked badly, ours was good. They did track well through the water. The birds that I got on the canoe trip and around the camp were. Great Cormorant, House Sparrow, Rock Martin, Cape Wagtail, Common Waxbill, Hadeda Ibis, Southern Red Bishop, Orange River White-eye, African Darter, Great Egret, Bradfield’s Swift, Egytpian Goose, Karoo Thrush, African Sacred Ibis, Grey Heron, Long-tailed/Reed Cormorant, Pied Kingfisher, Little Egret, Blacksmith Lapwing, Red-knobbed Coot, African Pied Wagtail, Common Sandpiper, African Shelduck, Yellow-billed Duck, African Spoonbill, African Marsh Warbler, White-throated Swallow and African Black Duck. We had lunch and pulled down the tents then headed off north to Ai Ais. On the way in we spotted Springbock and Klipspringer Antelopes. After we’d set up the tents I wandered off north to the the old dam and found atroop of Chacma Baboons then went back through the camp to the small sewerage pond. I found African Shelduck, Red-knobbed Coot, Common Moorhen, Southern Acacia Barbet, Familiar Chat, Mountain Wheatear, Pale-winged Starling, Three-banded Plover, Cape Wagtail, Little Grebe. I was just approaching the pond when I flushed what looked like Black Crake, so I wandered down to the river which was too salty for waterbirds and was more cautious on my return to the pond and was rewarded by some nice views of a pair of Black Crake in the fading light. Dinner was had not long after that, then it was time for bed.
13/9
It was a 4.30 wake up this morning for a 5.15 departure for the 80km drive to Fish River Canyon. The truck drove us to the north lookout then we waited for sun up, then walked back along the rim to the main lookout point, about 2km, we then had breaky. It’s pretty barren habitat here. There was a large flock of Pale-winged Starlings begging for food, some Rock Martins and a Familiar Chat, and that’s that. On our way out of the canyon we found some Oryx and Mountain Zebra, Black-chested Snake Eagle and Southern Pale Chanting Goshawk. The trip into Keetmanshoop was so uneventful that we both nodded off. The town was pretty birdless. We are in rooms tonight at the Schutzenhaus. The room is huge. We headed out again at 16.00 to Giants Playground where there are large rocks stacked on top of each other. I got Rock Agama and Cinnamon Breasted Bunting. A short drive away is the Quivertree Forest where we watched the sun go down, then back to the hotel where John had stayed behind to cook dinner for us. As usual bed soon after.
14/9
We set off after breakfast at 8am. Both Bev and I are coming down with colds, so I struggled through the day with a headache, sore throat and runny nose. It was a mostly transit day with no new birds until we stopped at Hammerstein Lodge. It’s back to camping for us, so we pitched the tent then I went out looking for new birds and found Crimson-breasted Gonolek one of the must see passerines with a bright red breast, black back with a white stripe through the wing, but I couldn’t get a good shot of them. I also found Ashy Tit and Chestnut-vented Tit-babbler.
15/9
4.30 in the morning to rise is very difficult after a poor night’s sleep due to my cold, but we managed to get our tent de-pitched and ger into the truck for our 5.30 departure. We got to the gate at Sossusvlei a bit early so some went for a coffee. After sunrise the gates were opened, the queue had grown considerably by then, by the time we got to Dune 45 there were already many people climbing it, the walk up wasn’t that hard with plenty of foot holes to plonk my boots into so I was at the top, which isn’t really the top of the dune in quick time for some magnificent views of dunes in the early morning light. We had breakfast by the truck then went down to Deadvlei. The truck isn’t 4wd so we were transfered to 4x4s to where we walked the last bit to the valley which has lots of dead trees looking stark against the towering dunes. There were hardly any birds around, and nothing new. By the time we got back to the tuck it was lunch time then we headed up to Sesriem Canyon, which is a slot canyon with some small pools of stagnant water in one section. We then drove to Bushman’s Desert Camp north of Solitaire along rough corrugated gravel roads, not far from our destination we found a Lappet-faced Vulture and Martial Eagle soaring nearly over the road and a pair of Bat-eared Foxes. We arrived late in the afternoon. My energy level was low, so by the time we’d pitched our tent with a view over the valley I was knackered and lay down for a rest. It took all of my willpower to get up when Bev said that they had a small floodlit pool that had some birds around it, I knew what they were going to be, and I was right, a few Double-banded Sandgrouse, being a new bird it was worth getting up for. I managed to get some food into me, and was very grateful when some of the ladies on the the trip who were medically trained and carrying suitable drugs with them offered to give them to me. Bed as soon as I could.
16/9
It was 7am when we piled into the open 4wd truck and headed out into the desert along private tracks. The habitat here is just a bit better than much of what we’ve passed through recently and it showed with Oryx grazing all over the place. We flushed a Kori Bustard and found some Ruppell’s Bustards that were too far away and into the sun to get a decent shot. They make the wierdest call somewhat like what you might expect to be a frog. When we got back we had breakfast, de-pitched the tent and headed off. Just as we neared the highway we found a pair of Double-banded Courser. First stop was the Tropic of Capricorn where I heard frogs calling, but I wasn’t fooled, I found a small group of Ruppell’s Bustards and managed a shot of them. Next stop was Kuiseb Canyon which is also described as a moonscape, only a pair of Pied Crows here. The leader had to do do some shopping for lunch in Walvis Bay, then we drove to the edge of the big lagoon for lunch. There were both Greater and Lesser Flamingos close to shore along with Pied Avocet and a pair of Common Greenshank. We then drove north to our hotel in Swakopmund where we’ll be for two nights. We’re at the Dunedin Star Guest House where we got a pleasant room. We had enough time to walk down to the river mouth just on the south edge of town where there is a wetland. We added Caspian Tern, Little Stint, Chestnut-breasted Sandpiper, Three-banded Plover, White-fronted Plover, Kitlitz’s Plover Curlew Sanpiper and Common Ringed Plover. We had just enough time to get back and change before we headed down for a group dinner at Kuckis pub where I had an Oryx burger for 140Rand. It was 22.30 before we got back to the hotel where I crashed.
17/9
Up at 6.30 when we arose and went for breakfast ten we walked down to the bike hire shop at Fat Bikes and got 2 city bikes for 250Rand each. We went down to the river again adding Plain Martin and African Palm Swift, before heading north along the shoreline picking up Grey-headed Gull, Whimbrel and Ruddy Turnstone. The bikes we’d hied had no gears so the ride north to the salt works was hard work and the only bird of conequence was Eared Grebe. The birds here were mostly a long way away so my scope came in handy, but I was disappointed to have ridden all that way for little reward. On the way back the wind had picked up so by the time we got back into town we were both knackered. We dropped off the bikes and found that when we had layed the bikes down at some stage the lock that was looped around the handlebar had slipped off, so we had to pay 250Rand to replace it. We had a late lunch of a pie each from a small cafe, then bartered a Malachite bowl down from 1500Rand to 650Rand. They must have been desperate for a sale as it’s probably worth around US190. By the time we got back to the hotel it was time to collapse again.