Birds of the Agulhas Plain www.blackoystercatcher.co.za Birds of the Agulhas Plain – how to see them “Whether you love bird-watching or not, a trip to the Black Oystercatcher will always include a vast array of bird life en route.” www.blackoystercatcher.co.za The Black Oystercatcher Wine farm is based on (and is a member of) the Nuwejaars Wetland Special Management Area. It’s a conservation agricultural area home to some of the most endangered bird, plant and animal species in the world. That makes the region perfect for bird lovers – whether you’re an experienced bird-watcher, or are just starting to record your sightings for the first time. So if you’re new to bird-watching, or new to the area, here are a couple of tips to record bird species you may not have seen before: REMEMBER TO BRING YOU BINOCULARS. Loads of DON’T ASSUME ANYTHING. You may think the raptor birds sit along the fence posts on the journey to the sitting on the fence is a Common Buzzard. But don’t Black Oystercatcher. But they usually don’t hang discount the possibility that it may be something more around if you stop. So a pair of binoculars will help you exotic and more rare. Some of the bird species spotted on check their colour, shape and size, even when they take or close to the Black Oystercatcher include the Long to the skies. Crested Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier and Blue-cheeked Bee- HAVE YOUR BIRD GUIDE READY. Whether it be Sasol, eater – species not known to frequent the Agulhas Plain. Roberts or a field guide of your choice, have it on hand. HAVE YOUR CAMERA READY. It’s always lovely to capture MAKE USE OF TECHNOLOGY. Many online bird guides the region’s beautiful birds on film. But if you think the bird include the calls of the birds listed. So sitting at the is a more unusual sighting, then a photographic record not Black Oystercatcher Restaurant over lunch, you’ll be only allows a bird to be identified by the experts; it also able to identify birds – even when you don’t see them. serves as wonderful evidence of your sighting. The Black The rare call of the Red-chested Flufftail and Black Oystercatcher always loves seeing your birding photos – so Cuckoo have recently been heard in the area. But be please share with us: [email protected] sure to tell our Black Oystercatcher founder Dirk ENJOY EVERY MOMENT OF IT. Birding is an opportunity to Human of your conclusions. connect with nature. So a lovely hike over the Black LOG YOUR SIGHTINGS. There are also apps available Oystercatcher Wine Farm is the ideal way to not only to help you log and share your sightings. For example, witness some exquisite bird life, but to also remember the BirdLasser lets you tag sightings and log the date and things that really matter to us – our natural world, our exact place of the sighting. This information is also friends and our families. used for conservation purposes. Overberg Bird ID list for our wonderful region – check these off and log your sightings. www.blackoystercatcher.co.za VERY SPECIAL, EXTREMELY SPECIAL, AND BUT LIKELY TO SEE A WONDERFUL SIGHTING VERY RARE, AND ONLY SEEN African Harrier-Hawk African Black Swift HERE ON A FEW OCCASIONS (Polyboroides typus) (Apus barbatus) African Marsh Harrier African Goshawk Blue-cheeked Bee-eater ((Circus ranivorus) (Accipiter tachiro) (Merops persicus) Agulhas Long-Billed Lark African Grass Owl Lark-like Bunting (Certhilauda brevirostris) (Tyto capensis) (Emberiza impetuani) Black Harrier Amethyst Sunbird Lemon Dove (Circus maurus) (Chalcomitra amethystina) (Columba larvata) Black Shouldered Kite Amur Falcon Neddicky (Elanus axillaris) (Falco amurensis) (Cisticola fulvicapilla) Blue Crane Lanner Falcon Red-chested Flufftail (Anthropoides paradiseus) (Falco biarmicus) (Sarothrura rufa) Denham’s Bustard Lesser Flamingo Tambourine Dove (Neotis denhami) (Phoeniconaias minor) (Turtur tympanistria) Greater Flamingo Martial Eagle Wattled Starling (Phoenicopterus roseus) (Polemaetus bellicosus) (Creatophora cinerea) Rock Kestrel Montagu’s Harrier (Falco rupicolus) (Circus pygargus) Spotted Eagle-Owl Peregrine Falcon (Bubo africanus) (Falco peregrinus) Southern Black Korhaan (Afrotis afra) .