Soutpansberg Birding August Updates

Hi Birders,

Birding is becoming very exciting up here in the Soutpansberg lately with the early arrival of some migrants birds already in our area.I have been taking birders from local and abroad to various soutpansberg birding hot spots always rewarded with good sightings of special birds.I have been up to various sites lately and I am very happy with the activity of calling and sightings of birds that were difficult to see but lately from this mid-August they are showing up well enough.

From Entabeni Forest in the central Soutpansberg along the riverine forests birds becoming common and seen are amongst others African Broadbill,African Finfoot,White-Backed Night-Heron,Orange Ground Thrush,Narina Trogon and Green Twinspot.A nest of White-backed Night-Heron discovered in a small dam also a good start for researching and monitoring project.

This week at Roodewal Forest some nice sightings amongst others was a pair of African Crowned Eagles seen together in the nest with a male bringing building materials to the nest.African Broadbill continue to become very vocal and calling until late morning also another good indication that they will start breeding soon.

Another good sightings of special birds at Hanglip Forest in Makhado(Louis Trichardt)amongst others were Narina Trogon,Yellow Streaked Greenbul,Grey Cuckooshrike,Olive Thrush,Lemon Dove,Knysna Turaco,Olive Woodpecker,Crested Guineafowl,Yellow Throated Woodland Warbler.etc

Levubu area in the Levubu Post Office and surrounding with sightings of Grey-Headed Parrot is alive again.The sightings of several flocks of Grey-Headed Parrot spending their entire morning and afternoon feeding on Mabola plum fruit(Parinari Curatellifolia) is also good.Most of the flock I counted ranges between 8 and 6 birds.Other birds seen around Levubu were African Green Pigeons,African Cuckoo Hawk,Lizard Buzzard etc.

Happy Birding.

Another spectacular birding over the weekend on Saturday 10th of August with a birder Gareth Hazel from Gauteng in a mission of chasing some of the special birds in the Soutpansberg area.Although the weather was not favouring us most part of the day we saw some amazing sighting of birds during the trip from central Soutpansberg mountains;Muirhead Dams,Botanical Garden,Sagole Big tree travelling down in a misty mountains of Thathe Vondo sacred forest and ended up from the north of Entabeni Forest.

We recorded some marvellous list of birds and amongst many birds to name a few;a sighting of about a dozen of Mottled Spinetail was good,Blue-Spotted Wood-Dove,Pink-Throated Twinspot,African Broadbill,Orange Ground-Thrush,African Pygmy Goose,Blue-Mantled Crested Flycatcher,Southern White-Crowned Shrike,Olive Woodpecker,Lizard Buzzard,Chorister Robin-Chat,African Hawk-Eagle,Black- Chested Prinia,Kalahari Scrub-Robin and Marico Sunbird.

Happy Birding.

Soutpansberg Birding Trip Report June

Hi All,

Birding has been very exciting over the past weekend of 15th and 16th of June in the Soutpansberg with group of Birdlife Polokwane on Saturday and also two dedicated birders from Tourvestdm in Gauteng on Sunday despite the cold weather.Both the outings was impressive despite a short spell of cold weather early morning and all the good sightings from Roodewal Nature Reserve,Muirhead Dams and surroundings,Luvuvhu River,Ratombo and Entabeni Reserve was rewarding.

Here are some of the great sightings we had amongst many birds on Saturday and Sunday.On Saturday the group enjoyed a great sightings of a pair of African Crowned Eagle at Roodewal Reserve.Great news is that a nest has been repairing and the couple will start breeding soon.Other list of birds at various sites were African Finfoot,Scaly-Throated Honeyguide,African Pygmy Goose,Olive Woodpecker,Grey Cuckooshrike,Yellow-Streaked Greenbul,Olive Bushshrike,Long-Crested Eagle,Red-Faced Cisticola,African Firefinch,African Goshawk,White-Crested Helmet-Shrike,Red-Backed Mannikin,Brown-Hooded Kingfisher,Sombre and Yellow Bellied Greenbul.

On Sunday outings produced some notable sightings amongst many other birds were Blue Spotted Wood-Dove,Bat Hawk,Green Twinspot,White-Starred Robin,Scaly-Throated Honeyguide,Olive Thrush,Tambourine Dove,Crested Guineafowl,Blue-Mantled Crested Flycatcher,African Goshawk and Yellow-Streaked Greenbul to mention a few.

Good luck to members of the group who got some lifers and also some of the photo lifers Gauteng birders.

Happy birding.

Trip Report Western Soutpansberg

I spent a pleasant weekend at Madi A Thavha Farm Lodge,in the western 
Soutpansberg and had an exciting atlassing in 2300_2945 from early morning 
and the entire wildlife life around was exciting.

Some of the great birds I have seen while atlassing amongst others were 
Green Twinspot,Eastern Nicator,Gorgeous Bushshrike,a pair of Verreaux's 
Eagle,Scaly Throated Honeyguide,Crested Guineafowl,Tambourine Dove,Olive 
Bushshrike,Red-faced Cisticola,Fiery-Necked Nightjar and African Crowned 
Eagle.
I was also surprised to see some of few migrants birds that are still 
around there like Willow Warbler,Spotted Flycatcher and African Paradise 
Flycatcher.

Happy Birding and atlassing.

Trip Report From Mapungubwe national Park

Last week on Friday 22nd Of March I had a chance to do birding around 
Mapungubwe National Park with Hans and his wife a dedicated birder from 
Pretoria.
Just along the road by  Langjan Nature Reserve we saw a flock of about 100 
Marabou Storks circling and some few Amur Falcon.

We arrrived at  Mapungubwe late morning but the abundance of birdlife was 
quite spectacular with lots of birds to see and just entering the gate 
there is a dam before the newly built Interpretive centre and we saw water 
birds such as Little Grebe,Egyptian Goose,Blacksmith Plover,Grey 
Heron,Black Crake,White Faced Duck,Red-Billed Teal,Common Greenshank,Three 
Banded Plover and Marsh Sandpiper.

 From the dam and just around Mapungubwe Interpretive Centre we saw a 
resident pair of Mocking Cliff-Chat and other birds around there we saw 
many pairs of Cinnamon-Breasted Bunting,Rattling Cisticola,Red Winged 
Starling and many huge flocks of Red-Billed Quelea all over.

We slowly drove towards the confluence of Limpopo and Shashe River and 
birding on the main road was good with sightings of birds amongst others 
Meve's Starling,Southern-Pied Babbler,Flappet Lark,Sabota Lark.Southern 
Carmine Bee-Eater,European Bee-Eater,Kurrichane 
Buttonquail,Brubru,Yellow-Fronted Canary,Chinspot Batis,Laughing 
Dove,Namaqua Dove,Jameson's Firefinch,Spotted and Marico Flycatcher,White 
Crested Helmet-Shrike,African Grey and Southern Yellow-Billed 
Hornbill,Brown Hooded Kingfisher,African Paradise Flycatcher,Long-Tailed 
Paradise-Whydah,Lilac-Breasted and Purple Roller,Black-Chested Snake 
Eagle,Southern Grey-Headed Sparrow,Cape Glossy Starling,Barn,Wire-Tailed 
and Lesser Striped Swallow,Cape and Pied Wagtail,Red-Billed 
Buffalo-Weaver,Southern Masked and Lesser Masked-Weaver,Pin-tailed Whydah 
and Cardinal Woodpecker, and some big flocks of Wattled Starling just 
before the Confluence and the Picnic Site.

Around the Confluence Viewing Decks we spotted some few birds as it was 
mid day and there  was little activity and the birds around there were few 
Rock Martin,Familiar Chat,Golden Breasted Bunting,Blue Waxbill,Willow 
Warbler,Grey Go-Away-Bird and African Stonechat.There were some water 
birds along the Shashe and Limpopo confluence and special birds was a 
single Saddle-Billed Stock,Great Egret and African Spoonbill.One thing 
that was lacking was Raptors and Vultures around the Park although we saw 
a distance flock of Vultures in a distance.

Happy Birding

African Broadbill Nesting,Roodewal Reserve

I had a good day yesterday when one of the nest of African Broadbill at Roodewal Reserve,Soutpansberg hatched after monitoring it for about a months.The chicks are few days old and happy.Apart from the Broadbill I am so glad to see Green Twinspot with young ones as well.Other birds seen were Eastern Nicator,Scaly Throated Honeyguide,Tambourine Dove,Narina Trogon and African Crowned Eagle.

FEBRUARY UPDATES

Had again an opportunity to guide four
birders from Gauteng who stopped for morning birding before moving on
to Punda Maria for weekend birding.

Between them they got some few lifers and amongst other birds we saw a
pair of African Broadbill,Narina Trogon and Golden Weaver at Roodewal
Forest.We also chase for Gorgeous Bushshrike but with no luck as it
kept calling in a thick shrub.At Entabeni Forest along the Lutanadwa
River we picked up a pair of Mountain Wagtail.Other birds were Blue
Spotted Wood-Dove and Pink Throated Twinspot  at Botanical garden.

On Saturday morning I went to Roodewal Forest during my surveying and
monitoring of African Broadbill.I got two pair of African
Broadbill,several sightings of Narina Trogon,African Crowned
Eagle.Moving on to Luvuvhu River I was lucky again to spot a pair of
White-Backed Night-Heron an a single African Finfoot.The water at the
river is still dirty after a heavy rain last week.

I also went to Entabeni Forest and after a long search I got a single
Bat Hawk perched at the top branch of Gum tree.On the way back from
Entabeni I got several sightings of Steppe Buzzard and a single
sighting of Forest Buzzard.
Happy Birding.

JANUARY UPDATE

Last weekend Friday and Sunday morning I took out clients from
Pretoria and a family from Netherlands on a birding outing to Roodewal
Nature Reserve,Hanglip Forest,Muirhead Dams and Reserve and Luvuvhu
River in the Soutpansberg,Limpopo Province.

As always at Roodewal Reserve we saw a single male African
Broadbill.Other good birds we saw from other sites including Hanglip
Forest amongst others were African Finfoot,White-Backed
Night-Heron,several good sightings of Olive Bushshrike,African Pygmy
Goose,Narina Trogon,Scaly Throated Honeyguide,Mountain Wagtail,Forest
Buzzard,Olive Woodpecker,Knysna Turaco,Red-Capped Robin Chat and Red
Faced Cisticola.

Happy Birding and a prosperous new year to all birders.