2008 Tour Narrative
In Brief: We were all made aware of how cool and late the spring was on the Western Cape this year. At least the Kalahari Desert lived up to its reputation and provided some heat, as well as a nice selection of northern species. The Namaqua and Burchell’s Sandgrouse coming to drink at the waterholes were a classic spectacle of the arid northern Cape, and they were joined by huge flocks of Red-headed Finches, Cape Sparrows, hordes of Cape Turtle Doves, and dainty Namaqua Doves. Away from the waterholes we found a sleepy Verreaux’s Eagle Owl, Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters, Gabar Goshawks, Lappet-faced and White-backed Vultures, an obliging Kalahari Scrub Robin, Ashy Tit, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Secretarybird, Lanner Falcon, and numerous Tawny Eagles.
In Detail: We started with the short flight from Johannesburg to Upington, and from there drove north into the trans-frontier region of the Kalagadi National Park. The drive up gave us our first birds of the tour, with Acacia Pied Barbet and Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler at lunch and some Pygmy Falcons hanging around the huge Sociable Weaver nests. We retraced this route when we left the park, but the return journey gave us time for a bit more birding along the road; with the nice surprise of several displaying Eastern Clapper Larks and some great views of Pink-billed Larks near Upington, our lark list was well underway, having already seen several Fawn-colored Larks in the park. We made a brief visit to Augrabies National Park with time to see the famous Orange River Falls as well as African Pied Wagtail, Pririt Batis, Pale-winged Starling, and Alpine Swifts dashing above the falls.
Our “larkfest” continued around Pofadder, where we saw Red Larks in their usual haunts and had roadside views of Karoo Long-billed, Spike-heeled, and Sabota Larks. Elsewhere we saw an amazing 10 Ludwig’s Bustards in a single day, along with a few Karoo Korhaans and some Greater Kestrels.
The journey south from Springbok began with a tour around Goegap National Park, where we had Damara Canaries feeding on the abundant flowers, Mountain Wheatears bouncing around the boulders, and great views of Karoo Lark and Karoo Eremomela. The flowers just got better as we headed south, with some truly amazing displays in the Skielpad region. At Lambert’s Bay we saw Cape Clapper Lark in the fynbos and masses of Cape Gannets on Bird Island. An Arctic Tern in the large Crested and Common Tern flock was a surprise.
We broke up our long drive down to Saldana with a stop at Dassieport, just outside Lambert’s Bay, where we had a very obliging Little Rush Warbler and some of our first breeding-plumaged Southern Red Bishops. The tide was in by the time we reached Veldfift, but there were still hordes of Lesser Flamingos and a few Greater Flamingos present along with various shorebirds and waterfowl. Reaching Saldana in good time, we went to Marcus Island to see African Black Oystercatchers, our first African Penguins, and some Bank Cormorants, our fifth cormorant species for the day.
Wildflowers once again stole the show on a beautiful clear morning in the West Coast Nature Reserve, although great views of Black Harriers and some foraging Bat-eared Foxes were also a distraction. Leaving there, we traveled over the Cedarburg Mountains in worsening weather, picking up Cape Long-billed Lark and our first Blue Cranes along the way. From our comfortable yet slightly quirky guesthouse we ventured out into the wide-open expanses of the Karoo. The call of Ground Woodpeckers echoing around the gorge greeted us at our first stop, and soon we were enjoying good views of the birds, to be followed by Pririt Batis, Layard’s Tit Babbler, and an engaging Fairy Flycatcher. A large owl flushed from its roost turned out to be a large and well-marked Spotted Eagle Owl.
The flowers were superb on the karoo itself, and we managed to catch up with displaying Black-eared Finchlarks, Cinnamon-breasted Tit Warbler, and Namaqua Warbler before retreating to the warm guest house and a fantastic meal. An amazing storm set in for the night as we began our journey towards the Cape amid gloomy weather. A stop in Ceres produced a Giant Kingfisher perched above a heavily swollen river. We pressed on to Swellendam, breaking for lunch at Paarl Mountain Reserve, where we dodged showers to see Olive Woodpecker and some stunning proteas. We reached Swellendam in time for a brief visit to the Bontebok Reserve entrance, where we found 13 Stanley’s Bustards gathered in a field.
A return visit to the reserve next morning was hampered by strong winds, but we managed to get a nice look at an Olive Bush Shrike and Pearl-breasted Swallows battling against the winds. We headed south towards the coast through rolling wheat fields, adding Algulhas Long-billed Lark to our list. More entertaining were the huge flocks of Blue Cranes gathered in the sheep fields and the Cape Vultures circling around Potberg. Cresting the Overberg Mountains, we were treated to a fine view of False Bay and the Cape flats, though Table Mountain was covered in cloud.
Our pelagic trip, in fine weather and on calm seas, took us south of Cape Point. We were lucky enough to find a trawler surrounded by thousands of seabirds including Shy and Black-browed Albatrosses; Pintado, White-chinned, Northern Giant, and Wilson’s Storm Petrels; Great and Sooty Shearwaters; Subantarctic Skuas; and hordes of Cape Gannets. There were lots of Cape Fur Seals in attendance as well, and on the way out we saw both Southern Right and Hump-backed Whales.
Back on land, we again dodged the showers to try to see all the special birds of the area. We watched Cape Rockjumpers, Cape Rock Thrush, and Cape Sugarbirds on the far side of False Bay, while closer to our guest house we found Orange-breasted Sunbird, Cape Siskin, and Grassbird. Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens gave us Cape Batis, Southern Boubou, and a very obliging Spotted Eagle Owl. On our final day we traveled back up the west coast, picking up Cape Longclaw and Cloud Cisticola close to Darling, and a variety of shorebirds in West Coast National Park before a last fish-and-chips meal and the drive to the airport.
- Steve Rooke
Updated: October 2008