Budget Western South Africa II 24Th June to 5Th July 2016 (12 Days)
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Budget Western South Africa II 24th June to 5th July 2016 (12 days) Male Southern Black Korhaan by Gareth Robbins Trip report by compiled by tour leader Gareth Robbins Tour photos by Gareth Robbins, Stefan Johansson and Chuck Holliday. RBT Trip Report - Budget Western South Africa II 2016 2 Today was the first day of the tour and we all met at our lodge in Noordhoek before heading to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Despite the cloudy conditions, we spent a decent amount of time walking amongst the Proteas, Cycads and Yellowwoods and saw a good variety of birds. Southern Double-collared Sunbirds were abundant and were attached to every Erica available. We also had regular sightings of Red-winged Starlings, Cape White-eyes and Cape Bulbuls. We walked on the open lawns and saw a small family of Cape Spurfowls as well as Southern Boubou, Bar- throated Apalis and pair of Karoo Prinias. We then walked onto the Boomslang Canopy Walkway and Male Cape Batis by Gareth Robbins saw a pair of Cape Batises, African Olive Pigeon and a few Forest Canaries. As we made our way through the succulent garden, we came across a couple of the trees that were fruiting, these attracted good numbers of Olive Thrushes and after a long search, we eventually saw a Sombre Greenbul. We then came across another open lawn and saw an African Dusky Flycatcher happily hunting in the open. We had another look at Forest Canary when, suddenly, the Egyptian Geese and Hadada Ibises got upset as a Black Sparrowhawk landed in the same tree they were in. We met a small group of very relaxed Helmeted Guineafowl before leaving the gardens. We opted to take the scenic Chapman’s Peak drive back, where we had great views overlooking Hout Bay and the sentinels - at the same time admiring some of the more decent South African roads. Today the group split in half. Some went on the pelagic trip while the rest visited the Strandfontein Sewage Works and the Cape of Good Hope. Those of us that did not do the pelagic decided to take a relaxed drive to the sewage works via Muizenberg, where we stopped at an area called Zandvlei, seeing Little Egret, Caspian Tern, Reed Cormorant, Hartlaub’s, Kelp and Grey-headed Gulls, White-breasted Cormorant, Yellow-billed Duck and a few Sacred Ibises here. We continued along the coastal road and saw large numbers of Kelp Gulls flying over the road, as this was the area where the Cape Town rubbish dump was located. When finally arrived at the Strandfontein sewage, immediately seeing large numbers of flamingos in the distance. We saw Black-headed Heron, which was Southern Double-collared Sunbird by Stefan Johansson RBT Trip Report - Budget Western South Africa II 2016 3 stalking something in the Hottentot Figs before striking suddenly and catching a Four-striped Field Mouse. Once we arrived at the sewage work’s pans, we were greeted by a small group of Greater Flamingos, Cape Teal, Red-knobbed Coots, Little Grebes, Cape Shoveler and an African Marsh Harrier. As we moved along, we saw Southern Pochard, Black-winged Stilt, Red-billed Teals, Blacksmith Lapwing, Glossy Ibis, Cape Wagtail and three Water Thick-knees. Our drive between a few more pans yielded Levaillant’s Cisticola, Lesser Swamp and Little Rush Warblers, Cape Canaries, Southern Red Bishops, Grey Heron, Greater Flamingo and Maccoa Duck. We were also very fortunate to see a very relaxed male Grysbok. Cape Siskin by Gareth Robbins We then headed to the bird hide/blind where we saw a small group of Lesser Flamingos. We left the Sewage Works, getting a brief glimpse of an African Fish Eagle before making our way to the Cape of Good Hope. Along the way, we saw a Southern Fiscal and a Cape Sugarbird. We saw one Bontebok inside the reserve as we neared the entrance gate. We took the main road through the park, stopping at the information centre, successfully managing to see Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Siskins. Once we arrived at the information centre, we saw a few more Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Rock Kestrel, Cape Bunting and a Cape Sugarbird. After getting some superb photos of the sunbirds, we headed to Simons Town where we met up with the guys who were on the pelagic trip. We took a relaxed drive past the small suburb of Kommetjie, managing to get more sightings of Cape Sugarbird, Cape Siskins, Karoo Prinia, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Greater Crested Terns and an African Oystercatcher. On the pelagic trip, the group managed to see Cape Gannets, Sooty Shearwater, Southern Giant Petrel, Antarctic Prion, Greater-crested Terns and White-chinned Petrel. Three Albatross species were seen, namely the Shy, Indian Yellow-nosed and Black- browed Albatross. Some of the other pelagic birds seen were the Cape Petrel, Wilson’s Storm Petrel and Brown Skua. Humpbacked Whales and Africa Fur Seals were also a treat to see on the pelagic. Orange-breasted Sunbird by Gareth Robbins RBT Trip Report - Budget Western South Africa II 2016 4 Our plan for the day was to search for the endemic Cape Rockjumper. We left our guest house and made our way over Ou Kaapse Weg down to Baden Powell Road (otherwise known as the Coastal Road). There was a thick mist and as we neared the Khayelitsha Informal settlement (Xhosa for New Home), the mist lifted, giving us a brief sighting of an immature Jackal Buzzard. We made our way through Somerset West and Gordon’s Bay before eventually arriving in Rooiels. By this time the sun had finally come out. Unfortunately, the wind had picked up which made things a little tricky. Nevertheless, we persevered and as we walked along the Cape Grassbird by Gareth Robbins path, we could hear the Rockjumpers calling - but we could not see any birds. We did, however, see an antelope that is called a Klipspringer (the English translation being - Rockjumper). A Klipspringer possesses a rounded hoof to adapt to the rocky terrain it lives in. Suddenly, two Cape Rockjumpers were seen a fair distance up the hillside and we all had good views through the spotting scopes. Other birds we saw were Orange-breasted Sunbird, Fiscal Flycatcher, Cape Rock Thrush, Cape Grassbird and Yellow Bishop. In fear of having a spotting scope being blown over by the wind, we made our way back to the car and drove to the Stony Point Penguin Colony. This area was originally a whaling station between 1917 and 1930 but has become a safe haven for more than 2000 breeding pairs of African Penguins. At the colony, we saw a good number of African Penguins as well as a healthy number of chicks. We were also fortunate to get great views of Crowned, White-breasted, Bank and Cape Cormorants. We then stopped for a coffee and a late breakfast and observed a pair of Familiar Chats that had made this area their feeding ground. We then visited Harold Porter Botanical Gardens, named after Harold Nixon Porter who acquired the land in 1940 and turned it onto a Nature Reserve in 1955. As we entered the botanical gardens, we immediately saw a small group of Swee Waxbills. We then ventured up the garden and saw Southern Double-collared and Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Cape Bulbs and Cape White-eyes. On our way back down, we got excellent views of Cape Siskins and we saw another pair of Familiar Chats. We then made our way back to the car and drove to Gordon’s Bay for a light lunch and re-visited the Strandfontein Sewage Works. Cape Sugarbird by Gareth Robbins RBT Trip Report - Budget Western South Africa II 2016 5 As we arrived we saw a Black-winged Kite, Great White Pelicans and an African Marsh Harrier. We made our way around the ponds, managing to see Yellow-billed Ducks, Black- winged Stilts, Grey-headed, Kelp and Hartlaub’s Gulls and a few Cape Teals. An interesting sighting we had was of an African Jacana - which is very uncommon in this part of South Africa. Greater Flamingos, Red-knobbed Coots, Brown-throated Martins, Lesser Swamp Warblers, Cape Shovelers, Pied Avocets, Grey and Black-headed Herons, Spur-winged Goose and Maccoa Ducks were also seen at the sewage works. We then exited the sewage works and headed back to our lodge in Noordhoek before heading out for a great dinner. During the night, we experienced a large storm. Karoo Prinia by Gareth Robbins With the weather having turned for the worst, we drove straight to the Paarl Nature Reserve. We marvelled at the huge granite batholith called Paarl Rock and had good views of Cape Weaver, Southern Fiscal and Fiscal Flycatcher. We then drove up the muddy road to the Wildflower Reserve near the top of the mountain. Even though there was still a slight drizzle, we still successfully spotted Malachite Sunbird, Cape Sugarbird, African Olive Pigeon and Brimstone Canary before the heavy rain set in on us. We took a slow drive down and had better looks at another Brimstone Canary. We left Paarl and went through the Huguenot Tunnel, turning towards Ceres just before the town of Worcester. We visited a small hotel, unfortunately, the restaurant was closed but we still birded in the garden and found an Olive Woodpecker. We then stopped for lunch at the Déjà brew Coffee Shop before heading up the Gydo Pass. On the pass, we had very poor weather conditions so we took a farm road at the back of Ceres where we saw Karoo Scrub Robin, African Shelduck, Blue Crane, Cape Spurfowl, Helmeted Guineafowl and Grey-winged Francolins.