Birdwatching the South-Western Kruger National Park

Please note that the asterisk refers to new bird species that has been added to my list.

Any South African who has an avid interest in birds or nature in particular would name the Kruger National Park as one of South Africa's best birdwatching destinations.

This year I had the opportunity to visit the Kruger National Park again - which was exciting because the KNP was one of my family's favorite holiday trips - though we didn't go as often - and absolutely loved it because of:

- the history surrounding the Park due to it being one of the first conservation areas established in South Africa.
- the biodiversity in fauna, flora and avifauna that exists in the Park due to the diversity of savanna biomes that make up the National Park
- the amazing and interesting stories that come from tourist accounts visiting this world-famous destination.

But my focus on this visit this year will be recording the birdlife that I have encountered specifically in the Southern Region of the Park as we have family that lives in Malelane in Mpumalanga quite close to the Park Gate and they also live on the bank of the Crocodile River.

And the birds did not disappoint. The birds seen from the view of the porch included:

• Laughing Dove
• Hadeda Ibis
• *Water Thick-Knee
•  Egyptian Goose
• Blacksmith Lapwing
• *Reed Cormorant
• Pied Kingfisher
• Little Egret
•  Cattle Egret
• *Great Egret
• *Purple Heron
• Grey Heron
• Black-winged Stilt
• *Woodland Kingfisher
• *Green-backed (straited) Heron
•  *Dark-capped Bulbul
• *Yellow-billed Kite
• *African Fish Eagle
• Southern Grey Headed Sparrow
• *Bronze Mannikin
• *Natal Spurfowl
• *Pied Wagtail
• *Western Osprey
• *Cut-throat Finch
•  Arrow-marked Babbler
• Cape Glossy Starling
• *Crested Barbet
• *Village Weaver
• *Red-faced Cisticola
• *Trumpeter Hornbill
•  White-breasted Cormorant
• *Saddle-billed Stork
• White-faced Whistling Duck
• *Red-billed Oxpecker
• *White-throated Robin-chat

And this was only on the outside of the Southern part of the Kruger. On the third day of my visit, we got up early to visit the Park (and to avoid the crowds) and entered at the Malalane Gate.

All I can say is Wow! What a fantastic and spectacular experience. Not even a full minute inside, we already found elephants and that was only the beginning of a few spectacular encounters, which included *lions, *rhinos and even *wild dogs feeding on a kill near Skukuza.

But what especially made the visit memorable were the number of spectacular birds!

On the road between Malelane and Skukuza and even at Lake Panic (though Lake Panic was a bit of a disappointment) - we found innumerable numbers of birds, with quite a percentage of them going on to my life list.

My bird list for that first trip and the addition of new species (to be marked by a star) looks to be something like this:

• *Woodland Kingfisher
• *Magpie Shrike
•   Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
• *Rattling Cisticola
•   Arrow-marked Babbler
• *Red-backed Shrike
• *European Roller
•   Cape Glossy Starling
• *Wahlberg's Eagle
• *Grey Lourie
• *Swainson's Spurfowl
• *Red-billed Oxpecker
•   Black-headed Oriole
•   Red-eyed Dove
• *Brown-hooded Kingfisher
• *Red-faced Cisticola
• *Saddle-billed Stork
• *Chinspot Batis
• *African Green Pigeon
• *Dark Chanting Goshawk
• *Marabou Stork
•   Amur Falcon
•   Bateleur
• *Green (Red-billed) Wood-Hoopoe
•   African Paradise Flycatcher
• *Levaillant's Cuckoo
•   African Grey Hornbill
• *Southern Red-billed Hornbill
• *Hooded Vulture
• *Southern Ground-Hornbill
• *Crested Francolin
•   Helmeted Guineafowl
•  *Southern Carmine Bee-eater
•    Fork-tailed Drongo
•   Burchell's Starling
• *Emerald-spotted Wood Dove
• *Green-backed Heron
• *Pied Wagtail
•   White-faced Whistling Duck
• *Water Thick-Knee
•   Blacksmith Lapwing
•   Pied Kingfisher
• *African Fish Eagle
• *Wood Sandpiper
•   Black Crake
• *Blue Waxbill
• *Lilac-breasted Roller
• *European Bee-eater
•   Secretarybird
• *Tawny Eagle 
•   Sacred Ibis
•   Grey Heron

On the second trip taking a different route along some riverine woodland - my list grew with some more with exciting additions and the discovery of an excellent (if not peaceful) birdwatching spot in a beautiful rocky wetland with a dam which provided for a very enjoyable hour of birdwatching, the birds found here included :

•   Pied Kingfisher
• *African Jacana
•   White-faced Whistling Duck
• *Common and Wood Sandpiper
• *Hamerkop
• *Green-backed Heron
• *Black Stork
• *Saddle-billed Stork
•   Blacksmith Lapwing
•   Bateleur
• *Martial Eagle (which was especially exciting)

Overall, the bird list for that day looks like this (asterisk - new birds):

• *Brown-headed Parrot
• *European Bee-eater
• *Red-billed Oxpecker
• *Grey Lourie
•   African Hoopoe
• *Saddle-billed Stork
•   Lappet-faced Vulture
•   White-backed Vulture
• *Hooded Vulture
• *European Roller
• *Southern Red-billed Hornbill
• *Lilac-breasted Roller
• *Red-backed Shrike
• *Natal Spurfowl
• *Rattling Cisticola
• *Crested Francolin
• *Black Stork
•   White-faced Whistling Duck
•   Blacksmith Lapwing
• *Common Sandpiper
• *Green-backed Heron
• *African Jacana
•   Egyptian Goose
•   Pied Kingfisher
• *Hamerkop
•   Bateleur
• *Martial Eagle
• *Water Thick-knee
• *Woodland Kingfisher
•   Fork-tailed Drongo
• *Dark-capped Bulbul
•   Burchell's Starling
• *Wood Sandpiper
•   Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill
•   Black-shouldered Kite
• *Brown Snake Eagle

Overall - I found myself quite enchanted by the charm, magnificence and beauty of the Kruger and that was my experience with only a tiny section of this vast and enormous National Park.

Next time - I'm hoping to tackle the Central, Northern and the other Southern sections of the Kruger and looking forward to more exciting experiences and new birds.

And as a huge and vast area with a bird list of 520 species - it is certainly guaranteed that a few visits will needed to spot all 520 of these birds and I am looking forward to future visits to this amazing place to accomplish my goal of spotting all of Kruger's bird population. Wish me luck!

Current count: 85/520 - 16.3%

Birding in the Kgalagadi - Dec 2017

Caw!

And a Happy New Year from the Where the birds at blog!

This post aims to highlight the incredible bird watching opportunities the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park offers to the avid bird enthusiast.

Therefore the annual Kgalagadi camping trip was met with great anticipation due to the opportunity of expanding my bird list and I must say that the Kgalagadi didn't disappoint - it delivered beyond expectation. In my memory, I saw more birds on this trip than any previous trips - especially at Nossob! Wow!

My bird list went from 175 birds to 206! It was incredible!
In addition to the common/regular species that were spotted on previous trips, my Kgalagadi list included new species I have either haven't seen in a while or have never encountered before. How exciting!

Unfortunately for some bizarre reason there was a noticeable absence of raptor encounters through the Park - we only encountered a increase of raptors on the Eastern part of the Park in Botswana.

And don't discount the wildlife of the Kgalagadi either especially at the campsites.

My Kgalagadi bird list consists of:
1. Sociable Weaver
2. Red-crested Korhaan
3. Northern Black Korhaan
4. Common Ostrich
5. Familiar Chat
6. Yellow Canary
7. Laughing Dove
8. Kalahari Scrub Robin
9. Cape Glossy Starling
10. Groundscraper Thrush
11. Swallow-tailed Bee-eater
12. White-browed Sparrow-weaver
13. Cape Crow
14. Common Fiscal
15. African Hoopoe
16. Namaqua Sandgrouse
17. Fork-tailed Drongo
18. Kori Bustard
19. Pale Chanting Goshawk
20. Gabar Goshawk
21. Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
22. Crimson-breasted Shrike
23. Cape Sparrow
24. Cape Turtle-Dove
25. Burchell's Starling
26. Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler
27. Black-chested Prinia
28. African Grey Hornbill
29. Common (Greater) Scimitarbill
30. Red-billed Quelea
31. Shaft-tailed Whydah
32. Namaqua Dove
33. Great Sparrow
34. Scaly-feathered Finch
35. Red-eyed Bulbul
36. Lilac-breasted Roller
37. Lappet-faced Vulture
38. White-backed Vulture
39. Yellow-billed Hornbill
40. Red-billed Spurfowl
41. Violet-eared Waxbill
42. Bateleur
43. Greater Kestrel

Thank You for visiting this blog and feel free to check out the rest of the blog's content such as my recommended book list and my previous entries that can found on the right hand side under archive.

Thank You!

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden - a spectacular birdwatching hotspot

Kirstenbosch National Botanical Gardens is one of South Africa's ten NBG , which include the following:

1. Free State Botanical Gardens
2. Harold Porter Botanical Gardens (the 2nd one in the Western Cape).
3. Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens
4. Pietermaritzburg Botanical
5. Pretoria Botanical Garden

The Joy of Garden Birdwatching

Caw!

Welcome back to Where the birds at.

When it comes to the activity of bird-watching in the garden, my opinion is that birding in the common garden should not be underestimated - as personally I have encountered quite a surprising diversity of birdlife in my own garden since moving into a new house with a list that includes seed-eaters, nectar feeders and insect-eaters. Even now I am still surprised with some of the birds that I have never seen in the garden before or the birds that have notably been absent from the garden for a certain amount of time.

Some of my most memorable garden sightings include most notably a quite recent and surprising encounter (only yesterday) with the discovery of a quite nonchalant

Return of the migrants (September to April) - Birding in the South African Spring (and Summer) Season.

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Welcome to another entry of Where the birds at.

As it may have been noticed by South Africans, the cold days of winter has faded (as had the rainfalls  in the Western Cape in particular) transforming into warm and sunny days characteristic of that of the spring and summer months (with rain showers now expected in the western parts of SA).

As the temperatures rise and the days are becoming brighter and longer - what is immediately noticeable is the sound of birdsong filling in the air and the flashes of color from flying avians and also from among the green vegetation.

Dyer Island Cruises - Kleinbaai (Gansbaai) - a (Wintery) Birding Activity

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Welcome to a late posting of Where the birds at.

For this entry, I am going to discuss a bird trip that I participated in Mid-June last month

Pelagic Bird Trips (more specifically the Dyer Island Pelagic Birding Cruise).

Located in the world-famous Great White Shark hotspot and the well-known location where people have the chance to have close encounters with this endangered shark, the Dyer Island Cruises operates from the town of Kleinbaai, near Gansbaai.

The reason behind choosing this revolves mainly around the fact that I already highlighted Pelagic trips as a recommended winter birding activity (see my post Birding through the seasons - winter) along with the fact that this was my first pelagic trip experience (as I missed out on the one that operates in Simon's Town).

Momma Bird - a Mother's Day dedication

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Welcome to another entry of Where the birds at.

On this special day - known globally as Mother's Day (in South African time anyway), I will celebrating Mother's Day in this special segment of Where the birds at.

In dedication to my own mother, the other mothers in my family, and any other mother reading this blog, my gift to them will be a post that includes what this blog is about: birds.

My inspiration for this special post came about when deciding on what I can give to my mom on her special day that (as the cliche and/or proverb) that comes from the heart and put a personal spin on it.

After many ideas (ranging from chocolates, flowers and DIY Mother's Day gifts), it struck me that the perfect gift could be a written work from my own brain and fingers that reflects who I am as a person, but also reflecting what my Mom means to me, and what it means an avian mother in the natural world.

May - August - Winter Birdwatching

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Welcome to another part of Where the birds at.

It is officially winter in this part of the Southern Hemisphere - specifically the Western Cape - with its winter rainfall season and colder temperatures serving to emphasise the start of this freezing cold season. The time of the year that leads to warmer clothing choices (which include scarves, sweaters, hoodies and others); shorter days and longer nights; spending more time indoors; and other winter-related activities.

In dedication to the current season, I decided to highlight what Bird-Watching will be in this chilly season - after consulting several websites that I felt that held some promise for you.

Looking at the information that I have collected it is surprising to there are so many birding opportunities during this time of year and some opportunities presented include:

Vermont Salt Pan (Greater Hermanus area) - a Bird-Watching Hot Spot

Please note that as of 25 January 2019 - I have been informed that the Pan has completely dried up due to the Western Cape's current drought and giving off quite a powerful smell!

Update as of 15 December 2022 - Please note that due to moving to Limpopo in August 2018 - I was not aware of the Salt Pan’s condition. But having driven past now in 2022 - the Salt Pan is looking beautiful and full of water!

Caw!

Welcome to this week's segment of Where the birds at's Bird-Watching Hot spots - where the focus will be put on another potential bird-watching destination within one of Hermanus' suburbs - Vermont - better known as the Vermont salt pan.

This potential bird-watching destination is even recognised - like the previously explored Prawn Flats - among the top 10 bird-watching destinations along the Cape Whale Coast at no. 5 as "a variety of water birds at the Vermont salt pan.

Identifying Little Brown Jobs

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Welcome to another entry of Where the birds at  - where I will highlighting the key features of the different LBJ species found in Southern Africa that will hopefully improve your skills in identifying them.

One of the terms encountered by the everyday birder in the field of bird identification is the dreaded LBJs - otherwise known as the Little Brown Jobs which refers to "any of the large number of species of small brown passerine birds - which are notoriously difficult to distinguish". A very apt statement that summarizes how we birders feel about this particular category of birds.

If you American birders thought you had a LBJ problem, I ask you to find a South African Bird Field Guide, page through all those little drab brown birds that all look EXACTLY THE SAME, and then come back to me!

Seriously! One look at all those LBJs and it induces a freaking headache!

Which is unfortunate for birders, because in an addition to their nightmarish appearance,  most of South African LBJs are endemic and mostly sought after by bird enthusiasts because of this and that they make up a large portion of SA's bird species!

In this post, I will be providing a few key features in a few LBJ species that will HOPEFULLY make LBJ identification a little easier but don't get your hopes up!

Prawn Flats, Hermanus - a Bird-Watching Hot Spot

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Welcome to Where the birds at - in this segment I will be introducing a feature known as Where the birds at's Bird-Watching Hot spots where I will be exploring potential bird hot spots for you bird enthusiasts out there.

The Hot spot in question is located in Hermanus, more specifically the Kleinrivier Estuary near Grotto Beach.

This bird-watching destination (to no surprise) is ranked among the top 10 bird-watching destinations along the Cape Whale Coast - at least by Birdlife Overberg - in the Spring season. Ranked at no 7, it is described as "Greater Flamingos and waders at Prawn Flats along the shores of the Kleinrivier Estuary."