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South Africa Mega Birding Tour II 14Th January to 7Th February 2017 (25 Days) Trip Report

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South Africa Mega Birding Tour II 14Th January to 7Th February 2017 (25 Days) Trip Report South Africa Mega Birding Tour II 14th January to 7th February 2017 (25 days) Trip Report Blue Crane by Leon Fouche Trip report compiled by Tour Leader André Bernon Trip Report – RBT SA Mega II 2017 2 Tour Summary South Africa is such a diverse country with many different plant biomes and also includes the smallest Floral Kingdom in the world – the Cape Floristic Region. This obviously comes with a huge amount of endemic species, fauna and flora. South Africa also has a great infrastructure in terms of roads, accommodation and is able to facilitate a great tourist experience. We had a fantastic 25-day round- trip of South Africa and raked in some fantastic sightings! We did very well with the endemics and near-endemics of southern Africa and our trip total ended up with 522 species of birds and 59 species of mammals! Top 10 list of birds as voted for by the participants: 1. Blue Crane 2. Drakensberg Rockjumper 3. Wattled Crane 4. Double-banded Courser 5. Long-tailed Paradise Whydah 6. Lesser Jacana 7. Orange-breasted Sunbird 8. Chestnut-banded Plover 9. African Penguin 10. Terek Sandpiper _______________________________________________________________________________ The Tour in Detail Our first day was set aside as an arrival day. We met each other as our different flights brought us all together in the largest city of South Africa - Johannesburg. Our lodge, close to the OR Tambo International Airport, had a surprising amount of bird activity. While everyone got to know one another, we managed to tick off endemics and near-endemics to the southern African sub-region, such as Karoo Thrush, Cape Robin-Chat, Cape Sparrow, Cape White- eye and Fiscal Flycatcher. Other species included the handsome Red-headed Finch, Southern Masked Weaver, the gaudy Grey Go-away-Bird, Southern Red Bishop and Speckled & Red-faced Mousebirds. We even had fly-by views of many African Darters, Grey Heron and Little, African Palm & White-rumped Swifts. We all congregated for our first dinner together and discussed the proceedings for the tour Cape Robin-Chat by Adam Riley ahead and our plans for the following day. We had an early start this morning, and headed north of Johannesburg towards an area with species typical of the more western and interior part of southern Africa. After grabbing a cup of coffee on the go, we reached our destination that we planned to bird for half the day. Desert Cisticola, Swainson's Spurfowl, White-winged Widowbird, Red-backed & Lesser Grey Shrikes, Scaly-feathered Weaver, Black-chested Prinia and Chestnut-vented Warbler were evident from the start. Species that we had to work a little harder for included the sporadic Monotonous Lark, the attractive Crimson-breasted Trip Report – RBT SA Mega II 2017 3 Shrike, Icterine Warbler, Great Sparrow, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver, Gabar Goshawk, Lilac-breasted Roller, Pearl-breasted Swallow and Village Indigobird. We neared a massive wetland which had filled up with a lot of rain recently. This proved to have attracted a large amount of waterbirds, and first up was fantastic sightings of many displaying Yellow-crowned Bishops. The wetland proper held Intermediate, Little, Western Cattle & Great Egrets, Squacco, Purple & Black Herons, a flock of Black-winged Pratincoles, a few White- winged Terns, Fulvous- & White-faced Whistling Ducks, African Swamphen, Marsh & Wood Sandpipers and Little Stint. A Greater Spotted Cuckoo perched for what seemed an endless amount of time, whilst Black-chested Snake Eagle, African Fish Eagle and Lesser Kestrel were the raptors evident. We had a picnic lunch in the most welcoming shade after enjoying a nice surprise in the form of a Dusky Lark and Pallid Harrier. We left this area after having great success and moved on to our home for the next night, Dusky Lark by Glen Valentine Polokwane. A reserve near our accommodation was visited in the afternoon and delivered the goods. Our main target was the endemic and range-restricted Short-clawed Lark, and it was found relatively quickly as we had a couple of birds displaying atop small bushes. We enjoyed this endemic amongst other great species such as Eastern Clapper, Rufous-naped & Sabota Larks, Common Ostrich, European Roller, African Hoopoe, Marico & White-bellied Sunbirds, Marabou Stork, Red-breasted Swallow and African Hawk Eagle. We retired to our accommodation after a long day and enjoyed our dinner while tallying our total amount of species for the day - a whopping 146 species of birds! Not even mentioning mammals such as Common Eland, Steenbok, Black- backed Jackal, Nyala, Plains Zebra and many Giraffe. On this morning, our adventure took us back to a reserve near Polokwane. A brief walk around the entrance produced more Diederik Cuckoo, Marico Sunbird and a stunning male Fiscal Flycatcher. We heard the call of Burnt-necked Eremomela and no sooner did a few birds give us spectacular views as they sang away atop an acacia. We ventured further into the reserve and noticed a large Cuckoo, which turned out to be Levaillant's Cuckoo, sunning himself in the glorious morning rays. We managed to pick out more Short-clawed Lark, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Spotted Flycatcher, Wahlberg's Eagle, Long-billed Crombec and Red- breasted Swallow. New birds for our trip were targets such as Ashy Tit, the magnificent Long-tailed Paradise & Shaft-tailed Whydahs, a singing Kalahari Scrub Robin, Greater Honeyguide, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, the large Bearded Woodpecker, colourful and Long-tailed Paradise Whydah by Adam Riley Trip Report – RBT SA Mega II 2017 4 inquisitive Klaas's Cuckoo, Tawny-flanked Prinia and Red-chested Cuckoo. Some thermals provided us with soaring White Stork and both Cape & White-backed Vultures together for comparison. We moved further west from Polokwane to the Soutpansberg mountain range to target some forest species. After lunch, we headed further up the mountainous terrain, into some moss- covered escarpment forest and were welcomed with some heavy rain and mist. After waiting patiently for it to pass over, we accepted defeat and headed on to our accommodation nearby. The rain had set in, but we still managed to see a beautiful pair of Southern Double- coloured Sunbird, African Dusky Flycatcher and Bar-throated Apalis. We had a great home-cooked meal and enjoyed the great conversation before heading to a Black-fronted Bushshrike by Adam Riley nice, warm bed. We were up at dawn and headed to a section of pristine forest nearby to try our luck at the targets that we were unable to try for yesterday, because of the rain. Leaving our accommodation, we had luck after the recent rains. Three species of Robin-Chat were seen together, foraging on the road out in the open. Firstly, Cape then Red-capped and lastly two Chorister Robin-Chats! We arrived in the forest to a glorious sighting of a male Narina Trogon out in the open. Not too long after, we heard the call of our main target and went in search of the Black-fronted Bushshrike. We had great views of many Yellow-throated Woodland Warblers, Knysna Turaco and glimpses of a Barratt's Warbler. We neared the sound of our target and after some searching, we had fantastic views of a stunning male calling out in the open – Black-fronted Bushshrike! We enjoyed this sighting of a very localised bird for a few moments before we continued and ticked off a pair of Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Many Yellow-streaked Greenbuls with their characteristic wing-flicking and also a Grey Cuckooshrike. We had to move on, as the drive ahead of us to the Wakkerstroom area was a long one. Birding en route proved entertaining and highlights included a flock of about 150 White Stork, two sightings of out-of-range Pale-chanting Goshawks, another flock of Storks - this time made up primarily of the nomadic Abdim's Stork and a single dark phase Booted Eagle. Also of interest was a 'pan' or reservoir with about 80 Greater and 300 Lesser Flamingoes. As we neared Wakkerstroom, we could immediately see why this area is renowned for birding. A haven for endemics and near-endemics was proven almost immediately, with views of the breeding-endemic South African Cliff- Swallow, Cape Longclaw, Amur Falcon, Greater Kestrel, a huge flock of Black- winged Pratincoles, Cape Weaver, Ant- eating Chat, Wing-snapping Cisticola and Banded Martin. A great highlight came in the form of three Blue Korhaan - right next to the road! A quick scan produced South Africa's national bird - Blue Crane. It was not long after that we found the monotypic Secretarybird striding across a field, out in the open. We checked into our favoured accommodation before moving onto the Knysna Turaco by Keith Valentine Trip Report – RBT SA Mega II 2017 5 wetland on the fringes of town. We managed to find a pair of South African Shelduck, Southern Pochard, African Reed Warbler and African Wattled Lapwing as we witnessed a huge flock of Southern Bald Ibis flying overhead. We headed to a different section of wetland, where we’d had some luck previously with Marsh Owl, and we were not to be disappointed. A stunning sighting was had as it sat out in the open for all to see! As the light faded, we headed for dinner in celebration of a fantastic 'travel' day. Today started early with a cracking sighting of two White-bellied Bustards in an open field right next to us! We even witnessed them calling to each other. A great way to start the day in this magnificent and scenic region of South Africa. We moved up to about 2,000m and looked for our next big target.
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