Dear Birders
I have just completed a wonderful 6-day birding trip to some very good lodges in Limpopo Province, South Africa, and below is a brief trip report. Highlights of the trip were Bat Hawk, Short-clawed Lark, Black-fronted Bush-shrike, Cape Parrot and all the other usual suspects we find close to Kurisa Moya, and at Pafuri, Pel's Fishing Owl, another Bat Hawk (both this and the owl at dusk and active, i.e. not roosting) and Three-banded Courser along with the more widespread (in SA) Bronze-winged Courser. Day 1, 8 Oct: I fetched Sture from Johannesburg airport just before 8 am and we headed immediately north. We stopped briefly at Zaagkuilsdrift
Road to find some dry western birds such as KALAHARI SCRUB-ROBIN,
SCALY-FEATHERED FINCH, GREEN-WINGED PYTILIA (MELBA FINCH), NORTHERN
BLACK KORHAAN (heard only), BLACK-CHESTED PRINIA and others. We then continued north to Polokwane, from where we headed to Kurisa Moya Nature Lodge. Here, it is amazing how one can find a rich assemblage of dry western birds and only 20 minutes' drive away then see a fine suite of temperate forest birds. The dry area birds included the likes of SHORT-CLAWED LARK (brilliant views of several individuals on the ground and sitting atop bushes), SABOTA LARK, RED-CAPPED LARK, KALAHARI SCRUB ROBIN, BLACK-CHESTED PRINIA, DESERT CISTICOLA, LAZY CISTICOLA, SCALY-FEATHERED FINCH and AFRICAN QUAILFINCH. Then on the Kurisa Moya property we found forest birds such as YELLOW-STREAKED GREENBUL, NARINA TROGON, GREY CUCKOOSHRIKE, BLUE-MANTLED CRESTED FLYCATCHER, CAPE BATIS, SQUARE-TAILED DRONGO, CHORISTER ROBIN-CHAT, GREEN-BACKED CAMAROPTERA, nesting SWEE WAXBILL and that night a duetting pair of AFRICAN WOOD OWLS (which we saw only briefly as one flew past). David Letsoalo, the brilliant Kurisa Moya birding guide, helped us find many of these species. Day 2, 9 Oct: before light we headed to Woodbush Forest (again with David) and found super birds such as YELLOW-STREAKED GREENBUL (many), BLACK-FRONTED BUSH-SHRIKE, OLIVE BUSH-SHRIKE, CAPE PARROT (a tiny isolated population of this rare bird occurs in Limpopo Province here at Woodbush), KNYSNA TURACO, MOUNTAIN WAGTAIL, RED-BACKED MANNIKIN and BAT HAWK roosting near its nest.
Mid-morning, we proceeded to Kruger's Punda Maria gate, finding nice birds en route, such as STRIPED KINGFISHER (many), GABAR GOSHAWK and SHIKRA. We then entered Kruger and while having a late lunch at Punda Maria Rest Camp we saw four species of sunbirds feeding only metres away from us in the Aloe garden near the camp gate (one of the features of many of Kruger's camps in winter are the blooming aloes with attendant sunbirds and beautiful Impala Lilies). Driving northwards towards Pafuri we found other good birds such as LIZARD BUZZARD, LAPPET-FACED VULTURE, KORI BUSTARD and ASHY FLYCATCHER. After arriving at Pafuri, we found AFRICAN GOSHAWK, TROPICAL BOUBOU, MEVE'S STARLING, YELLOW-BILLED OXPECKER, GREY-BACKED CAMAROPTERA and many other birds before the sun set. We spent the night at the superb Pafuri Camp, excitingly situated overlooking the Luvuvhu River.
Day 3, 10 Oct: we left on an early morning drive to look for coursers at their day-time roosts. Johnson, another brilliant birding guide employed by Wilderness Safaris and previously based at Ndumu, knew the whereabouts of these special birds. After a bit of searching, we eventually found a pair of THREE-BANDED COURSERS standing only 4 metres from the vehicle. We also had good views of a few BRONZE-WINGED COURSERS nearby. During the morning drive, we also saw/heard four woodpecker species including BENNETT'S WOODPECKER. A cluster of baobabs yielded excellent views of BOHM'S (BAT-LIKE) SPINE-TAIL and MOSQUE SWALLOW.
A late afternoon drive to Crooke's corner at the confluence of two rivers (the Luvuvhu and Limpopo) and three countries (South Africa, Zimbabwe and Mozambique) generated DOUBLE-BANDED SANDGROUSE en route and at Crooke's Corner itself a PEL'S FISHING OWL (which landed on a low branch on a small island in the Limpopo, then swooped up into a larger tree on the bank), a BAT HAWK (or second one for the trip) flying over the Luvuvhu and SQUARE TAILED (MOZAMBIQUE) NIGHTJARS hawking over the Limpopo. On the night drive back to the lodge we saw FIERY-NECKED NIGHTJARS and some nice mammals such as PORCUPINE (poor views though), LESSER BUSHBABY and LARGE-SPOTTED GENET. Back at the camp we had close views of THICK-TAILED BUSHBABY and AFRICAN CIVET.
Day 4, 11 Oct: Chris heard PEL'S FISHING OWL before dawn from Pafuri Camp (the previous morning Sture heard AFRICAN WOOD OWL). After an early breakfast we embarked on the long drive traversing half the length of Kruger, to Phalaborwa Gate. One of the mammal highlights was ROAN ANTELOPE not too far south of Pafuri. Both our mammal and bird lists
were growing steadily with all the usual suspects as well as the odd more special one. Our destination for the night, after a full day of driving, was the well-recommended Toro Yaka Bush Lodge in Balule Game Reserve. Balule is one of the big private reserves bordering on Kruger -
and there are no fences between the two parks. Here at Toro Yaka, a resident AFRICAN BARRED OWLET entertained us day and night (like other Glaucidium owls, these are not just nocturnal but can be active even at midday). LESSER BUSHBABIES provided close views around the bar area at night.
Day 5, 12 Oct: The morning was occupied by an 8 km walk along a stretch of the Olifants River - we took part in the South African Pel's Fishing Owl survey, this section led by Steve Baillies. General birding along the river was excellent, but disturbingly we did not find any Pel's Owls
- even though we thoroughly searched every potential site including two breeding sites from the previous survey. We did find a pair of GIANT EAGLE OWLS, which the fishing owl competes with for roosting/nest sites. We are very worried about the conservation status of Pel's Owl in South Africa. Although not considered globally threatened, in South Africa this bird is under severe threat. Recent surveys along the Luvuvhu and Olifants Rivers indicate that there might potentially have been a marked recent decline in numbers. The entire South African population has been estimated at only 60 pairs - well over half of them in Kruger and adjacent reserves, but these populations might be declining. Historically, Pel's Fishing Owl occurred in the Eastern and even probably in the Western Cape - but it's range has now contracted so it now occurs only from Zululand northwards - and I believe the remaining South African population needs to be watched very carefully (as does the Namibian population; the Okavango of Botswana is a stronghold, but even there its population may be decreasing in some areas).
While doing the owl survey walk, we had excellent views of a GREATER CANE RAT scampering from the river up the bank (it looks like a Rock Hyrax with a long tail). Another highlight was a flock of four HORUS SWIFTS (resident here although a summer visitor over much of the rest of
its South African range) flying around a sandbank also full of WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATERS. LITTLE SPARROWHAWK, PURPLE-CRESTED TURACO, HOODED VULTURE, GREY-HEADED BUSH-SHRIKE, RED-FACED CISTICOLA and many other birds entertained us while we tried in vain to locate owls.
Day 6, 13 Oct: after a second night staying at Toro Yaka in Balule Reserve, we briefly birded Trackers Guest Farm for excellent species such as STIERLING'S WREN WARBLER and CUT-THROAT FINCH (at the feeders). We then looked at the stunning TAITA FALCON on the Abel Erasmus Pass before finally heading straight back to Johannesburg. The total bird
list for the trip was 226 species, plus 29 mammals.
Good birding!
Chris
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Chris Lotz
BIRDING ECOTOURS
http://www.birdingecotours.co.za
Cell Phone: +27 72 635 1501
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