Best of South Africa – Cape & Kruger III Trip Report 4th to 14th December 2015 Lion by Wayne Jones Trip report by tour leader Wayne Jones RBT Trip Report Best of SA – Cape & Kruger III 2015 2 In the first week of the last month of the year, we began our 10-day exploration of South Africa’s most popular destinations, the Western Cape and Kruger National Park. Everyone had arrived the day before, which afforded us an extra morning – an opportunity we couldn’t pass up! After a scrumptious breakfast overlooking False Bay we followed the coast south along the Cape Peninsula until we reached Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve (Cape Point). We had hardly entered the park when a splendid male Cape Sugarbird grabbed our attention as he sat feeding on big orange “pincushions” and a male Orange- breasted Sunbird sat nicely for pictures before realising he needed another nectar fix. Cape Siskin and Common Buzzard also gave good views nearby, along with a number of spiky, pitch- coloured Black Girdled Lizards. After turning towards Olifantsbos we happened upon four (Cape) Mountain Zebra right alongside the road. This species is not common in the park so we Mountain Zebra by Wayne Jones were very fortunate to have such excellent views of these beauties. Equally beautiful and scarce were the Blesbok (Bontebok) we found closer to the beach. But back to the birds, which were surprisingly plentiful and easy to see, probably thanks to the lack of strong winds that one is normally blasted away by, in the area! Grey-backed and Levaillant’s Cisticolas, Cape Grassbird, Cape Bulbul, Fiscal Flycatcher, Alpine Swift, Rock Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, White-necked Raven, Karoo Prinia, Malachite Sunbird and Yellow Bishop showed well in the fynbos areas while African Oystercatcher, Greater Crested, Common and Sandwich Terns, Kelp and Hartlaub’s Gulls, Egyptian Goose, White-breasted Cormorant and Sacred Ibis were found along the shoreline. When we arrived at the hilltop lighthouse, it was shrouded in mist (a good demonstration of why a more effective lighthouse was later built closer to sea level!) so we forfeited the scenic hike to the top and headed, instead, to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. The gardens were beautiful but sun was beating down. Consequently, the birding wasn’t as rewarding as we’d hoped but we still enjoyed looks at Southern Boubou, Cape Spurfowl, Cape Batis by Markus Lilje delightful Cape Batis, Sombre Greenbul, Cape White-eye, African Dusky Flycatcher, Cape Robin-Chat and a pretty male Common Chaffinch. We called it a day and returned to our luxurious guesthouse in Simon’s Town. RBT Trip Report Best of SA – Cape & Kruger III 2015 3 We were up a bit earlier the following day passing early morning anglers along sand-blasted Baden- Powell Drive. At Gordon’s Bay, on the other side of False Bay, we drove up to a viewing area for breakfast but the wind was gusting so strongly that none of us wanted to stay long, despite the magnificent vista. We tucked into our packed breakfasts close to the main road where there was less chance of us being blown off the side of the mountain! This wind was the reason our pelagic boat trip was postponed for a day, and it was toying with our attempts at terrestrial birding as well. In a relatively sheltered gully, we managed to locate a shy Victorin’s Warbler, which allowed brief looks as it darted back and forth in the shrubbery. Further along at Rooi Els – the spot to find Cape Rockjumper – the wind still howling, scuppering any realistic attempt to find our company namesake, although we did see Jackal Buzzard, many Cape Siskins, Cape Bunting, Rock Martin and a lovely pair of Cape Rock African Penguin by Markus Lilje Thrushes. Just around the mountain was Betty’s Bay where we stopped in at Stony Point, one of only two mainland African Penguin colonies in the world. There were thousands of these little black and white characters, much to everyone’s delight. Many were moulting, suffering varying degrees of losses to their dignity. All four of South Africa’s marine cormorants were present – Crowned, White-breasted, Cape and Bank. The latter two were nesting and there was a constant stream of birds flying back to the boulder-top nests with mouthfuls of seaweed for lining. With our penguin lust well and truly sated we returned to Rooi Els to have another go at the Rockjumper. Instead, we found another type of “rockjumper”, a lovely male Klipspringer which peacefully sat on a boulder while we admired him through the scope. We started making our way back to Cape Town, a little deflated at not finding this special bird. The wind had died down by the time we reached Gordon’s Bay so we decided to give it one last shot… and there it was! We found a pair of Cape Rockjumpers right on top of the mountain and scoped them for about five minute until they dropped out of Klipspringer by Adam Riley view. We arrived at Strandfontein Sewage Works in high spirits and almost didn’t move from the entrance area as there was just so much about! Greater Flamingos, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-billed and Cape RBT Trip Report Best of SA – Cape & Kruger III 2015 4 Teals, Southern Pochard, Cape Shoveler, Black-headed Heron, Red-knobbed Coot, Common Moorhen and Levaillant’s Cisticola all showed well in the late afternoon light. A little down the road we enjoyed close looks at Maccoa Duck, breeding-plumaged Black-necked Grebe, Blacksmith Lapwing, Black- winged Stilt and a Grey-headed Gull. Trailing an inquisitive Cape Grey Mongoose, we moved further into the massive treatment works, finding Glossy Ibis, Great White Pelican, African Swamphen, Pied Avocet, Common Ringed Plover, Brown- throated Martin, White-throated Swallow and Common Waxbill. All too soon, the sun dipped behind the mountains of the peninsula, signalling time to head home. By the Sunday, the wind had died down enough for our pelagic to go ahead. We set course for the continental shelf about 25km offshore, hoping to find a trawler Maccoa Duck by Markus Lilje that our guides knew was in the area, thanks to a new phone app. After passing through a thick blanket of fog we finally started picking up a few pelagic species: White-chinned Petrel, Cape Gannet, Sooty Shearwater, Arctic Tern, Parasitic Jaeger and Cory’s Shearwater. Careful scanning of the horizon revealed the location of the trawler, which had, by this stage, switched off its tracking software. Bird activity picked up and by the time we were a few hundred metres behind the trawler, birds were swirling all around us. Shy Albatrosses and the occasional young Indian Yellow- nosed Albatross soared past on unmoving wings while Wilson’s and European Storm Petrels tip-toed on the water. We passed a Great Shearwater sitting on the water close to the boat, a couple of Great-winged Petrels dashed past, both Northern and Southern Giant Petrels gave us multiple excellent views and at one stage a few Long-beaked Common Dolphins played in our wake. Other highlights included a beautifully patterned Oceanic Sunfish, a leaping Blue Shark and good looks at Afro- Australian Fur Seals. Once we were confident that we’d seen all there was to see around the trawler we began the long ride back to Simon’s Town where Shy Albatross by Glen Valentine we savoured a delicious dinner at our guesthouse that night. Early the next morning we took a scenic diversion along South Africa’s most famous coastal route, Chapman’s Peak Drive, along the stunning Atlantic Seaboard and down into the colourful Cape Malay RBT Trip Report Best of SA – Cape & Kruger III 2015 5 suburb of Bo-Kaap. At Dolphin Beach Ponds we weaved between the cars stalled in the morning rush-hour, to have a look at White-backed Duck, Reed Cormorant and a few other waterbird species we’d seen the afternoon before. Only a kilometre or so further on we pulled over at Bloubergstrand and ate our picnic breakfasts facing Table Mountain in all its glory, with Robben Island – where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison – off to the side. Cape Canary, Cape Sparrow and three lost- looking Black-crowned Night Herons ensured we could count this as a birding stop! Once our tummies were full we continued north to the Darling area. A side road leading through fynbos and Capped Wheatear by Glen Valentine wheatfields provided sightings of Bokmakierie, Pearl-breasted Swallow, Ant-eating Chat, European Bee-eater, White-backed Mousebird, Capped Wheatear and a family of four Blue Cranes, two of which were chicks only a foot-tall. Joining the main road once again, we were soon at West Coast National Park. The low, densely packed strandveld vegetation held Chestnut-vented Warbler, Common Ostrich, Grey Tit, Bar-throated Apalis, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Karoo Lark, Banded Martin, Grey-backed Cisticola, Karoo Prinia, Karoo Scrub Robin, Cape Robin-Chat, Cape Weaver, Lark-like Bunting and Southern Black Korhaan. Angulate Tortoises were out on the roads en masse – we stopped counting individuals after reaching 20! At the bird hides situated on the edge of the lagoon we saw Greater and Lesser Flamingos, Grey Plover, Kittlitz’s Plover, Whimbrel, Common Greenshank, Sanderling, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper and Caspian, Greater Crested, Common, Sandwich and Little Terns. It was a very windy day and we watched a tiny White-fronted Plover chick scuttle along the dune in front of us. It was just a cute ball of fluff leaning into the wind on outsized legs! As we left the park we had one more bit of excitement – a large, black Mole Snake in the road – before setting course for Ceres, a couple of hours away.