Lotta Berg Western Cape Day Trips 5th to 7th September 2015 (3 days) Cape Rockjumper by Cliff Dorse Day 1, 5th September: West Coast National Park & Darling Hills Loop. After meeting Lotta at 05h30 at the Southern Sun Waterfront Hotel, we were off on our first of three day trips. The weather forecast was perfect with very little wind and temperatures of around 30oC predicted. As such, we decided to do the West Coast first in order to fully optimize the good weather. We arrived at the gate of the West Coast National Park at sunrise, shortly before the gate opened. There we encountered our first birds of the trip, including Bokmakierie, Cape Weaver, Karoo Prinia, and Karoo Scrub Robin. Once in the Park we had good views of Southern Black Korhaan, Karoo Lark and White-backed Mousebird. We proceeded to the small freshwater wetland and bird hide known as Abrahamskraal. Wetland birds included Yellow-billed Duck, Cape Shoveler, Lesser Swamp Warbler and Little Grebe. A pair of confiding White-throated Swallow were building a nest in the hide and they gave exceptional views. We had a Black Crake flying across the reeds before we decided to head on to the popular area for flower displays, before it became too busy. The Flowers did not disappoint and there were fields of multi-coloured flowers in the Postberg section of the Park. When the flower area started to get very congested, we decided to retreat to quieter areas of the park. We had a good lunch at the Geelbek Restaurant before continuing our birding. We added numerous species but the highlights included Malachite Sunbird, Black Harrier, Rock Kestrel by Cliff Dorse Cardinal Woodpecker, Karoo Thrush, Wattled Starling as well as Greater and Lesser Flamingo. We decided to head back to Cape Town via the Darling Hills loop. This proved to be a good move as we encountered several pairs of Blue Crane, Spotted Thick-knee, Cape (Orange-throated) Longclaw and Klaas’s Cuckoo. Day 2, 6th September: Kogelberg Mountains and Strandfontein Sewage Works. We departed Cape Town at 06h00 for the eastern side of False Bay – the Kogelberg Mountains. After a quick stop for some coffee and a snack, our first birding spot for the day was near the quaint coastal town of Rooi Els, the famous Cape Rockjumper site! Here we enjoyed many delightful Orange-breasted and Southern Double-collared Sunbirds as well as Familiar Chat, Cape Rock Thrush and two White-necked Ravens which patrolled overhead. We walked the entire path scanning and listening for the Rockjumpers. Other birds included a group of four Ground Woodpeckers, Yellow Bishop, Grey-backed Cisticola and Cape Grassbird. It was on our way back that we heard the distinctive call of the Cape Rockjumper and shortly afterwards Lotta saw a beautiful male alighting on a rock. It soon flew right past us to join in with a group of birds clearly mobbing something near a large rock. It then lost interest and began foraging back up the slope. While watching it, it suddenly started alarming again and two other Rockjumper arrived to join it as did three Ground Woodpeckers. We were enjoying the spectacle for some time before we realised that a Spotted Eagle Owl, sitting quietly on the ground, was the cause of all the excitement. It really was a great wildlife experience and the rockjumpers and woodpeckers called incessantly and danced around the owl which looked rather unfazed by all the commotion. On our way out we visited the rock that had caused the initial excitement and on top of it was about a quarter of a large Olive House Snake that had been killed and mostly eaten by a bird, most likely the Spotted Ground Woodpecker by Cliff Dorse Eagle Owl! We then went to the picturesque Harold Porter Garden where we encountered Amethyst Sunbird, Swee Waxbill, Olive Thrush and Cape Batis. In addition we glimpsed a Giant Kingfisher as it called and flew upstream. After a great lunch at the local restaurant, we decided to pop down to the Stony Point Penguin colony. Besides having plenty of delightful African Penguins to keep us entertained, we had good scope views of all four of South Africa’s marine Cormorants, namely; Bank, Crowned, Cape and White-breasted. We then headed back towards Cape Town and stopped in at the Strandfontein Sewage Works. Despite the impressive north-westerly gale blowing we managed to get a good number of species including, African Marsh Harrier, South African Shelduck, Hottentot Teal, Purple Swamphen, Brimstone Canary and Pied Avocet. Day 3, 7th September: Cape Peninsula Area. The north wester had brought in a cold front and was still blowing strongly bringing intermittent rain squalls. We decide to head straight to Cape Point to put in a short sea watch. On route we had a Peregrine Falcon sitting on top of a lamp post in Simon’s Town. Upon arrival we put up the scope both at the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Point but were only rewarded with White-chinned Petrel, Sooty Shearwaters and Cape Gannets. Elsewhere in the park we encountered Fiscal Flycatcher, Bokmakierie, and Southern Boubou. We were also entertained by some Bontebok and Chacma Baboons. We then headed on to Kirstenbosch where it was still raining intermittently. We African Penguin by Cliff Dorse enjoyed a delicious lunch in the Restaurant before braving the conditions for some birding in the world famous gardens. We had great views of Forest and Cape Canary, Southern Double Sunbird and a brief African Goshawk but the rain was not conducive to birding and we decided to target some of the gaps on our list by visiting a few local sites. The first, the Black River did not disappoint and we found our first Darter and Pied Kingfishers of the trip. A quick drive past an urban wetland in the suburb of Ottery produced an African Spoonbill as well as Southern Masked Weaver. We then returned to Strandfontein Sewage Works where we had much better conditions than the previous day. We enjoyed a great diversity of Zitting Cisticola by Cliff Dorse wetland birds and added African Jacana (a local vagrant), Maccoa Duck and Zitting Cisticola. It was then time to get Lotta back to the Hotel so that she could prepare for the conference which facilitated her visit to South Africa. All in all, it was a productive three days with 163 bird species recorded. The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly the interaction of the Cape Rockjumpers, Ground Woodpeckers and Spotted Eagle-Owl. Total species recorded: Birds: 163 (7 heard only) Mammals: 12 Reptiles: 4 Frogs: 1 Total species recorded: Birds:163 (7 heard only) Mammals: 12 Reptiles: 4 Frogs: 1 Annotated List of Birds recorded Nomenclature and taxonomy follows the IOC List of Please cite: Gill, F. and M. Wright. 2006. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names, version 2.5, Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press. Key: (E) = Endemic to southern Africa; (NE) = Near-endemic to southern Africa; (BE) = Breeding Endemic (southern Africa is defined as the area south of the Cunene and Zambezi Rivers). West Coast National Park – WCNP Strandfontein Sewage Works - SSW Ostrich Struthionidae Common Ostrich Struthio camelus Wild Ostrich were encountered in WCNP and in Cape Point. NOTE: IOC now considers Common Ostrich and Somali Ostrich S. molybdophanes of dry East Africa, two distinct species. Guineafowl Numididae Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris Seen on all three days. Pheasants, Fowl & Allies Phasianidae Cape Spurfowl (Francolin) (E) Pternistis capensis Seen on all three days. Grey-winged Francolin (E) Scleroptila afra Heard at the WCNP. Common Quail Coturnix coturnix Heard at the WCNP. Ducks & Geese Anatidae Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis This very large goose was seen on the Darling Hills Loop and at SSW. Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiaca Very common and seen on all three days. South African Shelduck (E) Tadorna cana A single male seen at the WCNP and a pair at the SSW. Cape Teal Anas capensis Seen at the WCNP and the SSW. Mallard (Introduced) Anas platyrhynchos A single female of this introduced species was seen at SSW. Yellow-billed Duck Anas undulata Seen on all three days. Cape Shoveler (NE) Anas smithii Recorded on all three days of the tour. Red-billed Teal (Duck) Anas erythrorhyncha Seen at SSW. NOTE: The Clements common name for this species is Red-billed Duck. Hottentot Teal Anas hottentota A pair of this diminutive teal the SSW. Southern Pochard Netta erythrophthalma Several birds at the SSW. Maccoa Duck Oxyura maccoa Several birds at the SSW. Penguins Spheniscidae African Penguin (E) Spheniscus demersus This charismatic and Endangered species was seen at the Stony Point breeding colony. Petrels, Shearwaters Procellariidae White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis A few birds observed during a sea watch from Cape Point. Sooty Shearwater Puffinus griseus A few birds observed during a sea watch from Cape Point. Grebes Podicipedidae Little Grebe (Dabchick) Tachybaptus ruficollis Seen at the WCNP and SSW. Black-necked (Eared) Grebe Podiceps nigricollis Seen at SSW NOTE: The Clements common name for this species is Eared Grebe. Flamingos Phoenicopteridae Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus Seen at SSW and the WCNP. Lesser Flamingo Phoenicopterus minor Seen at the WCNP. Ibises & Spoonbills Threskiornithidae African Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus Seen on every day of the tour. Hadada Ibis Bostrychia hagedash This ubiquitous bird was seen on every day of the tour. Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus Seen at the SSW. African Spoonbill Platalea alba A single bird observed at a wetland in Ottery. Bitterns & Herons Ardeidae Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax A single bird disturbed at its day time roost in the WCNP.