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South Africa Rallid Quest 15Th to 23Rd February 2019 (9 Days)

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South Africa Rallid Quest 15Th to 23Rd February 2019 (9 Days) South Africa Rallid Quest 15th to 23rd February 2019 (9 days) Buff-spotted Flufftail by Adam Riley RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 2 Never before in birding history has a trip been offered as unique and exotic as this Rallid Quest through Southern Africa. This exhilarating birding adventure targets every possible rallid and flufftail in the Southern African region! Included in this spectacular list of Crakes, Rails, Quails and Flufftails are near-mythical species such as Striped Crake, White-winged, Streaky-breasted, Chestnut-headed and Striped Flufftails and Blue Quail, along with a supporting cast of Buff-spotted and Red-chested Flufftails, African, Baillon’s, Spotted and Corn Crakes, African Rail, Allen’s Gallinule, Lesser Moorhen and Black-rumped Buttonquail. As if these once-in-a-lifetime target rallids and rail-like species aren’t enough, we’ll also be on the lookout for a number of the region’s endemics and specialties, especially those species restricted to the miombo woodland, mushitu forest and dambos of Zimbabwe and Zambia such as Chaplin’s and Anchieta’s Barbet, Black-cheeked Lovebird, Bar-winged Weaver, Bocage’s Akalat, Ross’s Turaco and Locust Finch to mention just a few. THE TOUR AT A GLANCE… THE MAIN TOUR ITINERARY Day 1 Arrival in Johannesburg and drive to Dullstroom Day 2 Dullstroom area Day 3 Dullstroom to Pietermaritzburg via Wakkerstroom Day 4 Pietermaritzburg and surrounds Day 5 Pietermaritzburg to Ntsikeni, Drakensberg Foothills Day 6 Ntsikeni, Drakensberg Foothills Day 7 Ntsikeni, Drakensberg Foothills to Johannesburg Day 8 Johannesburg to Zaagkuilsdrift via Marievale and Zonderwater Day 9 Zaagkuilsdrift to Johannesburg and departure RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 3 TOUR ROUTE MAP… RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 4 THE TOUR IN DETAIL… Day 1: Arrival in Johannesburg and drive to Dullstroom. This morning we will depart the bustling metropolis of Johannesburg after breakfast and embark on the three- hour drive out east through the grasslands and agricultural lands of the “Highveld” to the delightful and quaint little town of Dullstroom situated in the rolling grasslands of western Mpumalanga province. During the drive from OR Tambo International Airport to Dullstroom we are likely to encounter a number of typical “Highveld” birds such as Crowned and Blacksmith Lapwings, Egyptian and Spur-winged Geese, White-winged Flufftail by Warwick Tarboton Black-headed Heron, Red-eyed, Ring-necked and Laughing Doves, Speckled Pigeon, Cape Sparrow, Helmeted Guineafowl, Cape Wagtail, displaying Fan-tailed and Long-tailed Widowbirds and if we are fortunate perhaps even the regal Secretarybird as we approach Dullstroom. After a delicious lunch in town we will make our way to a nearby wetland at the edge of Dullstroom where we will attempt to see our first of many rallids on this exciting and action-packed tour in the form of African Rail. If we are lucky we may even manage to catch a glimpse of the very shy but widespread and fairly common Red-chested Flufftail as dusk approaches. Red-winged Francolin and African Yellow Warbler are also often seen in this area with the former species more easily seen in the late afternoon and early morning. Our accommodation for the next two nights will be at a very comfortable guest house in town and the perfect base from where to explore this bird-rich part of eastern South Africa. Day 2: Dullstroom area – White- winged Flufftail Flush. Today will be an extremely exciting day indeed as we position ourselves alongside a number of other intrepid birders for a once-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing the world’s rarest Flufftail, a species on the brink of extinction and one that has been seen by very few birders, the beautiful and delicate White-winged Flufftail. This iconic species is currently only known from the seasonally flooded highland marshes of Ethiopia’s central plateau to the north of Addis Ababa where it is also known to Blue Crane by Glen Valentine RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 5 breed during Ethiopia’s wet season between April and October and the permanent marshes of eastern South Africa where it is known to occur at a few isolated sites between November and March. Our timing is thus perfect for this species and we will position ourselves at the edge of the Middelpunt Wetland, a strictly protected marshland reserve situated on private property near Dullstroom village, where we’ll watch intently as a few designated flushers enter the marsh in the attempt to flush a male White-winged Flufftail for all to admire is it buzzes low over the marsh. This is a once-every-few-years kind of event that is heavily planned, intensely monitored Buff-streaked Chat by Adam Riley and very carefully orchestrated and managed in order to allow as many people as possible to see this critically endangered and little-known species, while keeping disturbance to an absolute minimum. An all-round winner for everyone involved since hundreds of people are given the unique opportunity to see this otherwise impossible-to-see species, while generating a decent amount of revenue that goes directly to protecting the White-winged Flufftail through the Middelpunt Wetland Trust and the White-winged Flufftail Fund, both of which Rockjumper is heavily involved with and to which we donate a considerable amount through our Rockjumper Conservation Fund. After hopefully acquiring excellent views of this much sought-after species we will head out to another nearby wetland where we’ll try our luck at Red-chested Flufftail and we may also find African Rail lurking about at the edge of the reeds should we not have been fortunate enough to encounter these tricky species yesterday afternoon. Striped Flufftail has also been reported from areas of dense bracken in the Dullstroom area but we’d be very lucky to see this species here and much better chances exist later on in the trip in south-western KwaZulu-Natal. If we have had good luck so far with the area’s Flufftails, we have the opportunity to head out on some gravel back-roads that negotiate the grassland dominated hills around town in search of a number of South African endemics and near-endemics that frequent the Dullstroom area and these include the elegant Blue and spectacular Grey Crowned Cranes, Buff-streaked Chat, Yellow-breasted Pipit, Ground Woodpecker, Southern Bald Ibis, Sentinel Rock Thrush and Eastern Long-billed Lark. Other range-restricted or noteworthy species that we may encounter include the migratory Amur Falcon, Gurney’s Amur Falcon by Clayton Burne RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 6 Sugarbird, Denham’s Bustard, Pale- crowned and Wing-snapping Cisticolas, Black-winged Lapwing, Rufous-chested Sparrowhawk, the dazzling Malachite Sunbird, Long- billed Pipit, Mountain Wheatear and the impressive Secretarybird. Day 3: Dullstroom to Pietermaritzburg via Wakkerstroom. We have a long drive today to reach our destination in the midlands of KwaZulu-Natal. Our route does however take us via the tiny and rather quaint town of Wakkerstroom that is extremely Baillon’s Crake by Adam Riley famous in birding circles for being the best site in South Africa for seeing a number of very special and localized species. We won’t however have time to search for these on this tour and species like Rudd’s and Botha’s Lark will be out of the scope of this trip but we may still encounter eye-catching specialties such as Blue Korhaan, Secretarybird, Southern Bald Ibis, Blue and Grey Crowned Cranes, Grey-winged Francolin and possibly even Pallid or Montagu’s Harriers or the rare and nomadic Cuckoo-finch en route to the Wakkerstroom Wetland. The grasslands also hold several interesting mammals such as the endemic Blesbok, as well as Yellow Mongoose and bands of endearing and quizzical Meerkats. Upon arrival in Wakkerstroom town we will stop in for a short scan of the Wakkerstroom Wetland that lies alongside the village. Here we will attempt to lure out a Red-chested Flufftail or African Rail should we not have managed to see these at Dullstroom. We would however be very fortunate to see either of these species during the time of day when we are likely to arrive at Wakkerstroom. Baillon’s Crake also occurs in small numbers at this time of year but as with the previous two species, we’d be very fortunate to see it at this site. We should however find several Black Crakes scurrying about at the wetland edge. Other wetland species that we are likely to encounter while searching for Wakkerstroom’s rallids include Southern Pochard, Cape Shoveler, Red-billed and Hottentot Teal, South African Shelduck, Great Crested Grebe, Purple Heron, Little Bittern, African Swamphen, White-breasted and Reed Cormorants, Giant, Pied and Malachite Kingfishers, nesting Cape and Southern Masked Weavers, Southern Red Bishops and Fan-tailed Widowbirds, Lesser Swamp, African Reed, Sedge, Little Rush and African Yellow Warblers and Levaillant’s Cisticola. This vast wetland sanctuary is also home to several groups of Spotted- necked Otter that are sometimes seen from the long bridge over the marsh. Southern Bald Ibis by Markus Lilje RBT Rallid Quest Itinerary 7 Wakkerstroom is also justly famous as one of the best places in the world to see Amur Falcon on their wintering grounds. Having safely navigated their way from eastern Russia and northern China, the majority of the world’s population ends up in south-eastern Africa. We can expect hundreds, if not thousands of these small falcons hawking over fields throughout this high-altitude grassland area. After a short but bird-rich and productive stop at Wakkerstroom, we’ll continue our journey south towards Pietermaritzburg where we can expect to arrive in the evening after Harlequin Quail by Glen Valentine a long travel day.
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