RARE

2009, August 2012, July and August 2014 and January 2015. All of these birds were once-off sightings and it wasn’t until the very confiding immature turned up at Still Bay in December 2016 and stayed for a number of weeks that many of the subregion’s twitchers finally had the op- portunity to add the species to their lists. Another extremely popular find and eighth record for southern Africa was that of a Lesser Yellowlegs at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park. It showed sporadically for a few weeks, giving many keen listers an opportunity to see it. The first record of Lesser Yellowlegs was from Harare in in December 1979. This was followed by two consecutive records of the species at the Berg River estuary in Velddrif, in August 1983 and Black-tailed Godwit, Etosha December 1999. The fourth record was sean braine at the Sappi wetlands in Stanger in De- Cape pelagic trips were nice finds and a and plenty of good birds were reported. cember 2008 and that was followed by White-tailed Tropicbird seen about 15 At least two American Golden Plovers Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, Maputo individual birds seen at Moremi Game kilometres offshore south of the Wild were present in Walvis Bay and another Reserve in Botswana in April 2009, at Coast Sun was also noteworthy. was reported from the Nyae Nyae Pans in justin rhys nicolAu sightings Woodbourne Pan in Knysna in Novem- The only vagrant gulls reported were Bushmanland, and a Pacific Golden Plov- ber 2010 and, most recently, at Rundu Franklin’s Gulls, with singletons found at er was seen at Mpempe Pan in KwaZulu- in the subregion Sewage Works in August 2011. the Stony Point penguin colony in Betty’s Natal. Other good records included a Elegant Terns seemed to be on the in- Bay and at the mouth of the Sundays Riv- Eurasian Oystercatcher in Walvis Bay crease, with at least two seen at Mile 4 er near Colchester in the Eastern Cape. and a Black-tailed Godwit at the Andoni Mid-January to mid-March 2018 Salt Works in Swakopmund, one at Cape Plains in Etosha National Park. Common Cross Lagoons and another at Gansbaai. Waders Redshanks were observed at Walvis Bay Late summer proved extremely exciting for twitchers as lots of great birds were reported, Another great find was a male Eura- Wader numbers (or should that be wader- and at De Plaat in Velddrif and no fewer including a new record for the subregion. sian Blackcap along the always produc- watcher numbers?) were at their peak than three Broad-billed Sandpipers > tive Zaagkuildrift Road. The immature Egyptian Vulture continued to be seen Headline News Sharp-tailed Sandpiper was discovered at regularly in the central parts of the Kru- What better way to start this report than Macaneta in Maputo, Mozambique, and ger National Park. with a new for southern Africa, the it got even better when, a couple of days Other top birds included a juvenile second new addition to the subregional after the initial discovery, it transpired Lesser Frigatebird seen at St Lucia Estu- list in 2018! There was elation when a that there were in fact two individuals ary (possibly the same individual that there, moving around and feeding to- had previously been seen at Richards gether. Not only was this a new record for Bay and Durban), a moulting Northern the subregion, but it was also the first rec- Rockhopper Penguin that came ashore at ord for mainland Africa, with previous Goukamma between Knysna and Sedge- records close by only in Yemen, Mada- field, an hepatic Lesser that was gascar and the . Naturally, the found at Gleneagles Forest at Aberfoyle sandpipers generated plenty of interest Lesser Yellowlegs, Geelbek in the Honde Valley in Zimbabwe, and among twitchers and a steady flow of the Yellow-throated Leaf-loves that were birders visited the site in the subsequent john graham still present in the gardens of Caprivi weeks. (Read more on pages 23 to 25.) seen at Rundu Sewage Works for one af- Houseboat Safari Lodge in Katima Muli- Southern Africa’s sixth Great Knot ternoon only. Following the first record lo, Namibia. continued to parade around on the mud- for the subregion in the Kalahari in Au- flats at Walvis Bay Lagoon and attracted gust 2001, the northern parts of Botswa- Coastal and Seabirds a steady stream of admirers. na and the Caprivi Strip in Namibia have There wasn’t much to report on the sea- Red-necked Buzzard, Rundu Not as twitchable was southern Africa’s enjoyed the lion’s share of the sightings, bird front, but a Southern Royal Alba- Red Phalarope, Mkhombo Dam eighth Red-necked Buzzard, which was with the species being reported in March tross and a few Spectacled Petrels on John Davies rod humphris

20 african birdlife may/june 2018 rare birds report 21 Hluhluwe iMfolozi Game Reserve and at Macaneta and Costa do Sol in Ma- puto. A dead individual was found near Meob Bay, roughly half way between Walvis Bay and Lüderitz, a strange loca- tion for this species to occur. Other records of note included West- ern Marsh Harriers at Rainham Dam in Harare, at Marievale Bird Sanctuary and at Polokwane Bird Sanctuary. A Grey Wagtail was seen at the Bridal Veil Falls in Chimanimani National Park, Zimbabwe. TREVOR HARDAKER

None of the records included here has been adjudicated by any of the subregion’s Rari- ties Committees. Pectoral Sandpiper, Mkhombo Dam If you are interested in joining the SA Rare rod humphris Bird News e-mail group to receive breaking showed well at Geelbek in the West Estate in Midrand, near the Kruger gate news alerts about rarity sightings, e-mail Coast National Park. in the Kruger National Park, at Gaboro- Trevor Hardaker at [email protected] It was definitely a period for lots of ne Game Reserve and at a wetland just to request membership. If you locate a rare phalarope reports. Single Red Phala- beyond Katima Mulilo. bird, contact Trevor on 082 780 0376 as ropes were noted at Walvis Bay Salt soon as possible to inform him of your find, Works, at Mile 4 Salt Works in Swakop- The best of the rest so that he can alert other birders in the area mund, at a small pan south of Bloem- A number of Spotted Crake reports who might also wish to see it. If you are able fontein and at Mkhombo Dam. A close were received: there were at least two to photograph­ the bird, please e-mail your cousin, the Red-necked Phalarope, was individuals at Marievale Bird Sanctuary, image to Trevor. The sooner your rare sight- also well represented and as many as and single birds were noted at the Sappi ing is reported, the more chance there is for 12 individuals were recorded at Walvis wetlands in Stanger, at Mphafa hide in other birders to see it. Bay Salt Works and another two at Cape Cross Lagoons. At least two were pre- sent at the salt works on the banks of the Berg River at Velddrif, and a further three individuals were recorded from another salt works between Velddrif and Dwarskersbos. One more singleton was found at Rietvlei in the Table Bay Nature Reserve, while perhaps the most unusual of all was that of a single bird at Molatedi Dam in North West Province, a very atypical inland locality for what is primarily a coastal species. Pectoral Sandpipers were widely dis- persed: two were noted at Strandfontein Sewage Works, two on a farm dam out- side Bapsfontein and another two at Ma- caneta in Maputo, while singletons were reported at Mkhombo Dam, at Sunset Dam in the Kruger National Park and at Mile 4 Salt Works in Swakopmund. Green Sandpiper numbers seemed to be slightly down, though; there was just a handful of records of singletons at Spotted Crake, Marievale Kgomo Kgomo in Gauteng, at Waterfall justin rhys nicolAu

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