South Africa Mega Birding III 5th to 27th October 2019 (23 days) Trip Report The near-endemic Gorgeous Bushshrike by Daniel Keith Danckwerts Tour leader: Daniel Keith Danckwerts Trip Report – RBT South Africa – Mega Birding III 2019 2 Tour Summary South Africa supports the highest number of endemic species of any African country and is therefore of obvious appeal to birders. This South Africa mega tour covered virtually the entire country in little over a month – amounting to an estimated 10 000km – and targeted every single endemic and near-endemic species! We were successful in finding virtually all of the targets and some of our highlights included a pair of mythical Hottentot Buttonquails, the critically endangered Rudd’s Lark, both Cape, and Drakensburg Rockjumpers, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Pink-throated Twinspot, Southern Tchagra, the scarce Knysna Woodpecker, both Northern and Southern Black Korhaans, and Bush Blackcap. We additionally enjoyed better-than-ever sightings of the tricky Barratt’s Warbler, aptly named Gorgeous Bushshrike, Crested Guineafowl, and Eastern Nicator to just name a few. Any trip to South Africa would be incomplete without mammals and our tally of 60 species included such difficult animals as the Aardvark, Aardwolf, Southern African Hedgehog, Bat-eared Fox, Smith’s Red Rock Hare and both Sable and Roan Antelopes. This really was a trip like no other! ____________________________________________________________________________________ Tour in Detail Our first full day of the tour began with a short walk through the gardens of our quaint guesthouse in Johannesburg. Here we enjoyed sightings of the delightful Red-headed Finch, small numbers of Southern Red Bishops including several males that were busy moulting into their summer breeding plumage, the near-endemic Karoo Thrush, Cape White-eye, Grey-headed Gull, Hadada Ibis, Southern Masked Weaver, Speckled Mousebird, African Palm Swift and the Laughing, Ring-necked and Red-eyed Doves. From there, we drove north out of the city and through Pretoria – the administrative capital of South Africa. Leaving Pretoria from its northern edge, we finally arrived at the famed Zaagkuilsdrift Road which is where we spent the remainder of the day. Raptors were extremely well represented here, and we encountered the Black-winged Kite, African Harrier-hawk, Black-chested Snake Eagle, African Fish Eagle, African Goshawk and a surprise Ovambo Sparrowhawk. Other highlights included the Red-billed Firefinch, Common Scimitarbill by Daniel Keith Danckwerts Green-winged Pytilia, both the Blue and Violet-eared Waxbills, Chestnut-vented Warbler, Crested Barbet, the full complement of possible hornbills (including Southern Red-billed, Southern Yellow-billed and African Grey), Northern Black Korhaan, Crowned and African Wattled Lapwings, the diminutive Cape Penduline-tit, Burnt-necked Eremomela, White-backed Mousebird, Capped Wheatear, African Pipit, and Magpie Shrike. A real highlight was also finding a pair of Temminck’s Coursers with two recently hatched chicks. This incredible site also gave us several wonderful mammals including the uncommon Sable Antelope, Eland, Blesbok, Impala, Greater Kudu, and Common Warthog. Finally, after an enjoyable first day of birding, we reached the open road again as we continued onwards to the city of Polokwane where we spent just a single evening. Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to South Africa Trip Report – RBT South Africa – Mega Birding III 2019 3 The following day started with a morning outing to the nearby Polokwane Nature Reserve. Here we were successful in finding our primary avian target – the incredible localised Short-clawed Lark – a near- endemic shared only with the neighbouring country of Botswana. It took some effort, but we were eventually rewarded with views of at least three birds, including a single individual in full display. Other notable sightings included the Sabota and Rufous-naped Larks, Common Buttonquail, Violet-eared and Blue Waxbills, a kettle of soaring Marabou Storks, Natal Spurfowl, Crested Francolin, Cardinal Woodpecker, Common Scimitarbill, Ashy Tit, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Chinspot Batis, Cape Penduline-tit, Orange-breasted Bushshrike and both Kalahari Brubru by Daniel Keith Danckwerts and White-browed Scrub-robins. We additionally encountered small numbers of Nyala, a single Giraffe, a large troop of Banded Mongooses, Sable Antelope and Topi. From there, we returned to Polokwane for a short lunch break before continuing onwards to Kurisa Moya – our base for just a single evening. From there, we explored the Woodbush Forest Reserve where we enjoyed a superb afternoon of birding with many of our key targets seen and seen well. These included the gorgeous Black-fronted Bushshrike, Cape Batis, Yellow-streaked and Sombre Greenbuls, a group of 4 Cape Parrots, Chorister Robin-chat, Starred Robin, African Dusky Flycatcher, the impressive Crowned Eagle, Brown Scrub-robin, Yellow-throated Woodland Warbler, Grey Cuckooshrike, Knysna Turaco, and both male and female African Emerald Cuckoos. Our day ended with a short post-dinner night walk, however, our key target (the African Wood Owl) was unfortunately only heard in the distance after calling endlessly just outside our lodge during dinner. The next day started with just a short walk around the grounds of our lodge, where we recorded small numbers of Red-backed Mannikin and Swee waxbill, as well as a single individual of each of the Black Sparrowhawk, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, and the Grey-headed Bushshrike. We also recorded a number of good birds that we had already seen Swee Waxbill by Daniel Keith Danckwerts previously including the Southern Boubou, Cape and Chorister Robin-chats, Cape Batis, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, and African Dusky Flycatcher. We then departed for the highland town of Wakkerstroom – the drive took the better part of the day, broken up by a few birding stops along the way. New birds seen en route included the African Cuckoo, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Southern White-crowned Shrike, Blue Crane (the national bird of South Africa), Lazy Cisticola, and Striped Pipit. Closer to our destination, we explored some back roads and Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to South Africa Trip Report – RBT South Africa – Mega Birding III 2019 4 recorded the Pied Starling, Red-capped and Spike-heeled Larks, Southern Fiscal, Blue Korhaan, Spur- winged Goose, Common Greenshank, Wing-snapping and Levaillant’s Cisticolas, Giant Kingfisher, Red- knobbed Coot, and finally both Buff-streaked and Ant-eating Chats. We arrived in Wakkerstroom in the late afternoon and settled into our luxurious lodge, where we would spend the next two nights. Our full day in the Wakkerstroom was devoted to trying to find a number of key endemic and near-endemic species that occur in the area. Foremost among these was the South African critically endangered endemic Rudd’s Lark, which we enjoyed prolonged walk-away views of in an area of uncharacteristically short- cropped grassland. Botha’s Lark, another Rudd’s Lark by Daniel Keith Danckwerts South African endemic, proved considerably more challenging and we eventually drew a blank after several hours of searching in prime habitat. Other notable near-endemics included the Eastern Clapper and Eastern Long-billed Larks, Cloud Cisticola, Blue Crane, Blue Korhaan, South African Shelduck, and the barrowii race of the White-bellied Bustard. The grasslands in the area also produced Jackal Buzzard, Ant-, eating Chat, Capped Wheatear African Pipit, Spike-heeled Lark, and Southern Fiscal. Finally, the Wakkerstroom Wetland Reserve gave us a gorgeous male Red-chested Flufftail, African Rail, Hottentot and Red-billed Teals, Yellow-billed Duck, African Swamphen, Lesser Swamp and African Reed Warblers, Red-knobbed Coot, Common Moorhen, Little Grebe, Intermediate Egret, and Grey Heron. A few mammals were also encountered including the Sable Antelope, Blesbok, Springbok (the national animal of South Africa), the near-endemic Black Wildebeest, Meerkat, Rock Hyrax, and Yellow Mongoose. From Wakkerstroom, we continued south in the direction of Zululand – the tropical northern section of the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, that borders with Mozambique. En route, we enjoyed sightings of another pair of White-bellied Bustards, Southern Bald Ibis, Pin-tailed Whydah and our first White-necked Raven. We arrived at our Grey Heron by Daniel Keith Danckwerts comfortable lodge, set in a remnant patch of sand forest, in time for lunch and with time enough for an afternoon outing to a nearby seasonal pan. Though we added several new species to our ever-growing list, the rainy weather soon drove us back to the lodge where we rather enjoyed some fantastic forest birding instead. Key species seen included the near-endemic Rudd’s Apalis and Pink-throated Twinspot. Other more-common residents of the forests here included the Crested Guineafowl, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Green-backed Camaroptera, Red-capped Robin-chat, Bearded Scrub-robin, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Rockjumper Birding Tours View more tours to South Africa Trip Report – RBT South Africa – Mega Birding III 2019 5 Black-backed Puffback, Long-billed Crombec, Square-tailed Drongo, and both Dark-backed and Spectacled Weavers. At dinner this evening, we enjoyed a wonderful prolonged encounter with a Greater Thick-tailed Galago – surely one of the most endearing animals of the entire trip! We were up early the following morning, wandering the trails that surround