South Africa, 26 March 4 April 2016

Transcription

1 South Africa, 26 March 4 April 2016 Last year we had our first safari experience in Sri Lanka, which everyone enjoyed. I was particularly impressed that the drivers and guides knew and loved their birds as much as the animals. So this year we decided to take the family to Africa for more safari - and a new continent for all of us (excluding Sarah s day trip to Tangiers back in the 70s!). I d always wanted to go to Cape Town and the Cape area, and we found we could fairly easily combine that with the Kruger area. Because of our daughter s teaching commitments we could only go for 10 days, but with careful planning and some early starts we managed to do all the things we most wanted to do. As with most of our holidays, Sarah arranged everything direct rather than using a tour operator. We stayed in three places in Cape Town we had two self-catering flats in the Canal Quays Apartments in the docklands area; in the Kruger area we had cottages in the excellent Elephant Plains Lodge at Sabi Sands; then for the remaining nights we stayed in a superb villa within the Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve, a few miles west from Hoedspruit. We flew from Heathrow with Lufthansa, via Munich to Cape Town and back from Johannesburg via Frankfurt. We also had an internal flight from Cape Town to Hoedspruit (near Kruger) with South African Airways. At Hoedspruit Airport we hired an eight-seater minibus from Avis, which we returned at Johannesburg Airport. It had a high wheelbase and was fine for the dirt roads to get to Sabi Sands and within the Zandspruit reserve. Elsewhere all the roads we used were sealed; there were some quite large potholes but provided you drove at the recommended speed these could easily be negotiated around. Driving conditions were pretty good away from the big cities; generally more sedate than in Europe or North America. Apart from two exceptions outside our control, all the accommodation and travel arrangements worked out extremely well and proved much more affordable than any organized tour available. I only needed one bird book: SASOL Birds of Southern Africa which has excellent illustrations by Norman Arlott and Peter Hayman. I also downloaded lots of bird photos from the internet onto my phone for reference in the field. We took Pocket Guide: Mammals of Southern Africa by C & M Stuart for the animals. I downloaded a couple of useful apps: Kruger FieldApp Free and the inexpensive Wild About Kruger Park. The latter included bird calls of many species, which were helpful to hear beforehand. I had intended to buy the SASOL app but decided I didn t need it and managed well enough without it. Saturday 26 March: Cape Town We flew overnight and arrived at Cape Town airport at 7.30 in the morning. The Canal Quays Apartments company were supposed to meet us at the airport but there was no-one there and I had to phone them to get collected, so we were a little tired by the time we arrived at our accommodation. We d booked it for the night before so that we could get straight in and go to bed if we wanted, but I could hear gulls calling so I sat on the verandah for a couple of hours with a cup of tea and my camera and binos, enjoying my first African birds. We were in the former dockland which has seen a major regeneration in recent decades but beneath us was waste ground with a quiet canal basin. Life ticks (in bold type throughout) started immediately - and were to continue at pace throughout the holiday. Hartlaub s gulls, nesting on adjacent rooftops, were everywhere, a crowned cormorant sat on a capstan, and a couple of blacksmith lapwings and a kelp gull looked in. Cape turtle doves and red-winged starlings proved to be the common town birds, along with common starlings and feral pigeons. Outside in the waste ground were some speckled pigeons, a white-throated swallow, a Cape wagtail and a helmeted guineafowl.

2 Hartlaub s gull, Cape Town docklands Crowned cormorant, Cape Town docklands Speckled pigeons, Cape Town docklands Later that morning we walked to the International Convention Centre and got the Cape Town hop-on hop-off bus as far as the Bo-kaap district, where we had a wander and found a café for lunch in the Green Point market area. Back at Long Street we boarded the next bus to the Table Mountain cable car station. Unfortunately the weather had taken a turn for the worse since lunchtime and the cable car was closed because of high winds. A Cape bulbul made a brief appearance in bushes there. Although we d booked cable car tickets, we knew they were refundable and we got our money back on line later without any bother. Back on the bus we carried on to Sea Point and walked along the promenade to Mouille Point, seeing Cape sparrows, African (black) oystercatchers, and many more Hartlaub s and kelp gulls and Cape wagtails along the way. In the evening we returned to Long Street for an excellent eating experience in the Addis in Cape Ethiopian restaurant. Sunday 27 March: Cape Peninsula Tour We had pre-booked a day tour of the Cape Peninsula with Discovery Tours. Yaseen was an excellent guide knowledgeable and friendly. The bird list started at the first stop, Camps Bay, with a common fiscal and some

3 hadeda ibises nearby. Chapman s Peak was stunning, and a brief coffee and ice cream stop at leafy Noordhoek provided some Cape white-eyes and pied crows. At Scarborough Beach barn swallows were sweeping past, and a Cape canary was in the dunes. Entering Table Mountain National Park we saw a couple of common ostriches, which I understand are genuinely wild, and a white-necked raven. Yaseen started to spot our first mammals (in italics throughout): a couple of bontebok and several baboons by the roadside. Buffels Bay, on the sheltered side of the peninsula, had a party of sacred ibises (the only ones we saw) as well as more Cape bulbuls, Cape wagtails, red-winged starlings and an Egyptian goose. For lunch Yaseen took us to Cape Point, where the car park was already full. Sitting outside the take-away pizza place I watched Cape buntings, red-winged starlings and some hirundines that I never managed to get a good enough view of rock martins? Yaseen picked out a couple of eland below the car park viewpoint. On to the nearby Cape of Good Hope, where Cape cormorants, kelp gulls and African fur seals sat on the rocks, and a giant petrel (unidentified) flew past. When we drove out of the national park they were not letting any more cars in: if we d arrived later we d have had to be bussed to the Capes. It was a sunny Sunday, and the popular Two Oceans marathon had been held the day before, so a particularly busy day. Red-winged starling, Cape Point Café Cape bunting, Cape Point Cafe The next stop was Boulder Beach, famous for its colony of African penguins. I d never seen a penguin in the wild so I was very excited, and like any twitcher I was worried they wouldn t be there. I needn t have worried there were hundreds of them, nesting so close to the boardwalk you could touch them (not that that would be advisable!). Many pairs had full-size chicks starting to shed their brown down, while others appeared to be incubating. Everywhere you looked the birds were toddling about or just resting, and the sounds and smells were great. It was busy with people at the main viewing platform, but everyone was enjoying the spectacle so much the crowds added to the fun. As well as the penguins there were greater crested terns, more African oystercatchers and Cape wagtails. Rock hyraxes were on the rocks, and one was in bushes just above the boardwalk. Altogether, the place was a definite highlight of the trip.

4 African penguins, Boulder Beach Boulder Beach (from another, empty viewing platform!) Finally to Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens, where Yaseen dropped us at the Rycroft Gate at about 4.30, arranging to meet the others at the main visitors gate at There was still a bit of daylight and the place was open until 6.00 so I said I d make my own way back to apartment, as I wanted to have a good look for birds in the gardens. There was one bird in particular that I desperately wanted to see, having seen it on a TV programme, so I headed for the area labelled on the map proteas. I walked through there, seeing not very much at first a Cape spurfowl, hadeda ibises, hissing Egyptian geese, loads more Cape white-eyes. A quick venture into the native forest beyond the gardens proper was slightly more productive, with a Karoo prinia, a couple of southern double-collared sunbirds, and an African dusky flycatcher. It was quite cold, overcast and getting dark, so I went back to the protea area and sat disconsolately on a bench, where I saw my prize sitting at the top of a large protea tree: a Cape sugarbird. With it, feeding on the open blooms, were two more sugarbirds, a malachite sunbird and an orange-breasted sunbird. A splendid sight, with the bulk of Table Mountain behind. Cape sugarbirds, Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens Orange-breasted sunbird, Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens Leaving the nectar-feeder-fest I started making my way down towards the visitors gate. A little island of trees I walked into contained a Cape batis, an olive thrush, another southern double-collared sunbird and

5 more Cape spurfowls and cape white-eyes. From the Tree Canopy Walkway I watched another African dusky flycatcher and further on a forest canary was singing in the fading daylight. Cape spurfowl, Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens Forest canary, Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens It would have been great to have more time - and better light - at Kirstenbosch, but the entire day was fantastic, for spectacular scenery, wildlife, and for Yaseen s enlightening and entertaining commentary. On the way back he outlined brilliantly - and from personal experience - the country s complex and difficult history, and the social, political and economic problems it still faces. And it s not often I see 18 new birds in one day! Monday 28 March: Sabi Sands The next morning, however, was a low point. Our flight to Hoedspruit, via Johannesburg, left Cape Town at 7.00 am so we had arranged to be picked up by the apartment company s transport people at Despite repeated assurances on Saturday that the transport was booked, it did not arrive and some frantic calls were made to the transport people. Eventually the vehicle turned up at 5.15 and we were at the airport by 5.45, which should have been enough time, but the entire check-in area for South African Airways was clogged with people queuing, and the queue wasn t moving. We were all fraught, knowing that if we were late arriving at the game lodge we would miss the afternoon game drive. Eventually we checked our bags in, to find the flight was delayed by 1.5 hours. We phoned the lodge and reckoned we should just about arrive there in time. The plane left slightly earlier than they said, but there were more delays at the Avis desk and the journey from Hoedspruit to Sabi Sands took us over slow dirt roads. We arrived in time to grab a few food items before piling into the jeep. Sabi Sands Game Reserve was pioneered by local landowners in the 1950s, adjacent to Kruger National Park. There is no fence between Sabi Sands and Kruger, allowing animals to roam freely. We may have benefited from this as Sabi Sands had had recent rain, whereas much of Kruger was dry, including waterholes normally regarded as permanent. Elephant Plains, where we stayed, is one of several lodges within the reserve. We thought the standard of food, accommodation, and overall helpfulness there was outstanding quite apart from the wildlife. We stayed two nights, which entitled us to two afternoon game drives, two morning game drives, and two morning bush walks. Louis was our excellent guide and driver, supported by the redoubtable spotter Tom, who

6 was red hot on the birds. Birds and animals appeared as soon as we entered the bush: we stopped to look at Burchell s starlings, southern red-billed and yellow-billed hornbills, lilac-breasted rollers and Natal spurfowl all of which proved to be quite common - and an African hoopoe (given full species status by SASOL but others treat as a subspecies); animals included bushbucks, steenbok, impala, waterbuck, warthogs and blue wildebeest. By a large waterhole, where a hippopotamus wallowed, were crowned lapwings, threebanded plovers, an African openbill, some blacksmith lapwings and a wood sandpiper. A side-striped jackal walked close to a crowned lapwing s nest, and we watched the bird lure the jackal safely away. While watching red-billed buffalo weavers at their nests, Louis received a call which got us moving rapidly to an open grassy space, where five male lions emerged from the forest to drink and laze. Louis said the five have operated as a coalition for several years, hunting, feeding and sleeping together, and impregnating the females in the reserve and across the border in Kruger. These wild lions showed the same utter disregard for our vehicle as the ones in Longleat Safari Park back home in the UK. Lilac-breasted roller, Sabi Sands African openbill, Sabi Sands Coalition of male lions, Sabi Sands

7 Tuesday 29 March: Sabi Sands The morning game drives start at 5.30, so we had another early start. We all enjoyed seeing big animals up close, in particular a female leopard that had just made a kill, with three spotted hyenas prowling around in search of food. More large animals today including herds of about 30 African elephants, 100 buffalo, 150 impala and three giraffes. Red-billed oxpeckers accompanied the buffalo herd. Because the animals in the reserve are well habituated to vehicles, Louis was able to drive our vehicle into the midst of these herds without disturbing their feeding. Apart from Louis and Tom, I was the only person interested in the smaller birds, so we agreed to stop only for the rarer birds as opposed to the ones I could easily see around the lodge. In this way we enjoyed good views of hammerkops, bateleurs, a saddle-billed stork, and a fine red-backed shrike; I also picked up a pair of Jacobin cuckoos, lots of fork-tailed drongos, and a couple of glossy starlings, which I later identified as greater blue-eared as far as I can tell I didn t see a Cape glossy, which I expected to be commoner. Buffalo with red-billed oxpeckers, Sabi Sands Bateleur, Sabi Sands After breakfast the bush walk was interesting, and I picked up a Retz s helmet-shrike and some southern grey-headed sparrows. It was getting hot in the sun by mid-morning but there was shade around our cottage in the lodge grounds, where I added some excellent birds: a lovely pair of chinspot batis, an ashy flycatcher, two black-backed puffback shrikes, some blue waxbills and a group of Retz s helmet-shrikes huddling together on a branch. Unfortunately the best birding was around the honeymoon cottage at the end of the path, so I had to be a little cautious where I looked! From the verandah of our cottage we watched a family party of white-bellied sunbirds and grazing animals including an elephant, an impala and some wildebeest. The highlights of the afternoon game drive were both animal encounters. Near to the lodge Louis took us very close to a female leopard with her young, both completely relaxed about the vehicle. Later, a female white rhino and her calf leapt out of a mudhole next to the track as we sped past. Louis and Tom were just as surprised as they were; they knew the pair were in that area but had no idea they were so close to the road. Once they d realised we were just another safari jeep thingy the rhinos relaxed and moved to a grassy plain, where they joined a large herd of elephants. We ended the evening with another sunset look at the five male lions. Amid all the animal excitement, a crested barbet was a new bird.

8 Leopards mother and young, Sabi Sands Wednesday 30 March: Sabi Sands and Zandspruit Everyone in our party had seen all the Big Five animals on the previous afternoon drive, so Louis was able to relax the pace and show us some interesting birds, as well as more animal encounters. In the early dawn we stopped to listen to a fiery-necked nightjar and a red-crested korhaan, and a ground hornbill flew over the vehicle. It flew between treetops, presumably looking for a nest site, showing the striking white primaries which aren t visible at rest. At a waterhole we watched two African jacanas and a malachite kingfisher. Later in savannah scrub we watched brown-headed parrots, black-collared barbets, grey go-away birds, and African green pigeons. Another close encounter with a leopard: one was sitting on top of a large termite mound next to the track. Louis parked up for a while amidst a hyena colony in a termite mound very interesting to watch the matriarch of the tribe sorting out the bickering young animals. We left Elephant Plains mid-morning and drove to Hoedspruit, where we d booked a villa in the Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve a couple of miles west of town. This fenced reserve has low-density housing and a large wilderness area, with acacia scrub and grassland, and some man-made dams providing water for the animals. Once we d had lunch and been shopping for food, we went for an evening drive to the main dam, where there were comb ducks, Egyptian geese, spur-winged geese,three-banded plovers and some barn swallows. There were a few animals mainly grey duiker, wildebeest, nyala, and impala but only in small numbers. Thursday 31 March: Zandspruit and Blyde River Dam It was good to be able to wander around in the Zandspruit reserve, which has no dangerous animals. Down the road from our villa in the early morning I saw Marico sunbird, Drakensburg prinia, golden-breasted bunting, two pied kingfishers flying overhead, an unidentified eremomela (probably burnt-necked) and a Natal scrubfowl. At the end of the road I found a large waterhole that wasn t marked on the reserve map and spent some time birding there, where I saw red-faced mousebird, brown-crowned tchagra, red-eyed dove, African green pigeon, red-billed hornbill and grey go-away bird. As I left the waterhole the owner of the nearby villa pointed out I was on private land, so evidently I had been birding in her garden!

9 Red-faced mousebird, Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve African green pigeon, Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve After breakfast we headed out for Blyde River Dam, where we got the last seats on the boat. I wasn t sure what to expect, but as it turned out the boat guide had sharp eyes and seemed to know the local birds and animals. The trip was a good introduction to the Blyde River Canyon (as everyone tells you, it s the third biggest in the world) and we had good views of the birds on the reservoir: African pied wagtail, African fish eagle, half-collared kingfisher, white-breasted cormorant (given full species status by SASOL but others treat as a subspecies of great cormorant), and Egyptian goose. There were animals to see from the boat too: baboons, klipspringers, Samango monkeys, hippos and crocodiles. Afterwards, we ate our lunch in the picnic area above the dam, where I saw my first (of many) dark-capped bulbuls. African pied wagtail, Blyde River Dam Half-collared kingfisher, Blyde River Dam Back at the villa, another late afternoon game drive gave us good views of a saddle-billed stork, a grey heron, some crowned lapwings, and a crested francolin on the way back, as well as birds we d already seen in the reserve. There were more animals this time: four giraffes, about 20 impala, four wildebeest, and a lively troop of about 12 vervet monkeys.

10 Saddle-billed stork, Zandspruit Grey go-away bird, Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve Friday 1 April: Kruger National Park An early start today, to get into Kruger National Park while the birds and animals were out. The Orpen Gate is only about an hour from Hoedspruit, and from there we drove to Satara, seeing Swainson s spurfowl and Wahlberg s eagle en route. Near Satara I spotted some distant Temminck s coursers in a grassy field. There were lots of vultures circling the Satara restcamp and as we headed out we saw the reason: a buffalo carcass was being stripped clean by white-backed, Cape and lappet-faced vultures, marabou storks and blackbacked jackals. A terrific sight and a great opportunity to figure out the identification of the vultures. I d seen a few probable white-backeds in flight, which I was now able to confirm. Marabou stork, Satara, Kruger NP Lappet-faced, Cape and white-backed vultures, Satara, Kruger NP North of Satara the park is more arid and today the Ngotso dam was dry, but a secretary bird stalked past there, and nearby three ground hornbills gave close views from the road. Our next stop was the Timbavati picnic area, where we had lunch. A bird feeder there was visited by red-winged and greater blue-eared starlings, dark-headed bulbuls and a crested francolin. On the way back we saw magpie shrikes, arrowmarked babblers, common ostriches and lilac-breasted rollers. Those large birds in the afternoon vultures, storks, ground hornbill, secretary bird and ostrich stole there show but we also saw some good animals,

11 including a group of 1 male and 6 female lions. At Orpen village we enjoyed ice creams and coffee, with Burchell s starlings and grey go-away birds for company. The only animal species we saw in Kruger that we hadn t already seen in Sabi Sands were the black-backed jackals, but we had our best views of giraffe and zebra here, and the only female lions of the trip. It was good to be doing our own safari and stopping where we wanted to, but it was a long day, especially for me as driver. I needed that cappuccino at Orpen! Ground hornbill, Kruger NP Greater blue-eared starling, Kruger NP Back at Zandspruit the bushes around the villa were quite lively in the late afternoon. A mixed species feeding flock seemed to be moving through, containing dark-capped bulbuls, blue waxbills, white-bellied sunbirds, arrow-marked babblers, and a long-billed crombec. A green wood-hoopoe settled into a tree close by, and an African palm swift flew over. Saturday 2 April We started out at 6.00 am again to get to the Blyde River Canyon before the heat and the crowds. As we left the Zandspruit reserve, a party of green wood-hoopoes flew across the road. Our route took us through the Strydom Tunnel, where we stopped briefly to scan for the well-publicised taita falcons there was even a roadside sign about them but without success. Shortly after turning east at Mapareng I noticed a group of about 100 largish birds on wires running above a field. When I checked with binoculars I was surprised to see they were small falcons, reminding me strongly of red-foots I d seen on passage in the eastern Mediterranean. I took some quick photos which confirmed they were Amur falcons, a bird I d never imagined I would see and certainly not in such numbers. Evidently this corner of Africa is the main wintering area for the species, which is still fairly abundant in its eastern Asian breeding grounds. Pressing on, we arrived at the high Three Rondavels viewpoint in warm sunshine and with the place to ourselves. The day was clear and still and the views were stunning. While the others visited the craft stalls in the car park I checked out the birds: Cape rock-thrush, familiar chat, cinnamon-breasted bunting, greater double-collared sunbird and red-winged starlings. With its low vegetation, rocky outcrops and singing chats the place was weirdly like Mediterranean maquis in the spring such a contrast from the dry savannah we d been in the day before.

12 Cape rock-thrush female, Three Rondavels Viewpoint Blyde River Canyon from Lowveld Viewpoint The Lowveld Viewpoint was equally spectacular, enhanced by the presence of a lanner circling below the clifftop, and a mocking cliff-chat on a nearby ledge. Further on Bourke s Luck Potholes were well worth a visit and the Lisbon Falls were in a nice montane setting, although not much bird life at either site. We weren t particularly impressed by Wonder View or God s Window too many people, overhyped views but Pinnacle Rock, where we had our picnic lunch, was better. Here were more Cape rock-thrushes and an African stonechat. By then we d seen everything we wanted and it was getting hot so we headed back by the quickest route, via Acornhoek, and enjoyed some time by the pool. Sunday 3 April This was our last day at the Villa, so we decided to stay local. In acacia scrub near the villa I found whitebrowed scrub-robin, Jameson s firefinch, green-winged pytilia, chinspot batis, and another brown-crowned tchagra. European bee-eaters and little swifts flew over, and a probable Wahlberg s eagle. A couple of male nyala were around the dry riverbed. For lunch we drove to the Three Bridges restaurant at Oliphants Outpost, where alpine swifts, African palm swifts and some African openbill storks flew over. On our final wilderness drive we found a new dam, where an African paradise-flycatcher was skimming insects from the surface. Nyala male, Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve Three-banded plover, Zandspruit Game and Aero Reserve

13 Monday 4 April I was up early again and as I stood at the kitchen sink, two zebras walked past There was time for me to have quite a successful walk before we set off, with a new bird: a brown-hooded kingfisher, as well as Swainson s spurfowl, Jameson s firefinch, chinspot batis, white-bellied sunbird. Driving to Dullstroom through high grassland landscape we saw jackal buzzard, black-shouldered kite, pied crows, barn swallows and a Cape crow. Dullstroom was a very pleasant place to stop for lunch, before we headed on to Johannesburg airport to return our hire car and board our plane back to London via Frankfurt. Conclusion This was another wonderful family holiday, with plenty of interest for all, and genuine bird and animal excitement. The combination of Cape Town and the Kruger area worked out well and gave us a taste of the country, leaving us feeling we d like to see more of the Cape province and KwaZulu-Natal. We felt we couldn t have done better for our safari experience than Sabi Sands. It was good to be able to self-drive in Kruger itself as well, and the large birds we saw north of Satara were exceptional. However, there are very few places where you can get out, making it a long day in the vehicle unless you stay in the Park. The Blyde River Canyon was very beautiful, especially as we had perfect weather there. The density and diversity of large animals in the Kruger area was amazing, quite unlike anywhere else I ve been, and I was delighted to see the unique and beautiful fynbos habitat in Cape Province. For me, birding as a first-timer in Africa, the experience was wonderful birds were generally easy to see and straightforward to identify (I hope - I m still not certain about the glossy starlings, even the ones I photographed!) I only had two target birds: African penguin and Cape sugarbird, both of which I saw early on, so all the other birds were a bonus! I saw 126 species in total, of which 106 were lifers more than double the number I d expected. Birds seen in South Africa, 26 March 4 April 2016 Species African penguin White-breasted cormorant Cape Cormorant Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula 500+ Boulder Beach C20 Cape of Good Hope Sev. Boulder Beach Sabi Sands Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam 3 Blyde Dam Elsewhere Crowned cormorant 2 Waterfront C10 Mouille Point African sacred ibis C10 Buffels Bay Hadeda ibis 4 Kirstenbosch C10 Camps Bay 5 Hoedspruit Grey heron 1 1 Western cattle egret C10 2 Saddle-billed stork 1 2 Marabou stork 2 African openbill 1 5 Oliphants Outpost Little grebe 1 Spur-winged goose C10

14 Species Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula Sabi Sands Egyptian goose Buffels Bay 10+ C10 2 Cape vulture 10+ White-backed Sev vulture Lappet-faced vulture 2+ African fish eagle Bateleur 2 2 Wahlberg s eagle 1 1 Jackal buzzard Black-shouldered kite Lanner Amur falcon Common ostrich 2 4 Helmeted guineafowl C Crested francolin 3+ 1 Cape spurfowl 6+ Kirstenbosch Natal spurfowl 4+ 2 Swainson s spurfowl 2 1 Secretarybird 1 Black-winged stilt African jacana 2 African (black) oystercatcher 1 Mouille Point 2 Boulders Beach Temminck s courser 4+ Blacksmith lapwing 2 Waterfront Crowned lapwing C10 4 Three-banded plover 2 3 Wood sandpiper 1 Kelp gull Hartlaub s gull C100 Greater crested tern 8+ Boulder Beach Speckled pigeon 5 Waterfront Rock dove/feral pigeon Abundant Red-eyed dove 2 4 Cape turtle dove Abundant Abundant Abundant Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam 2 Dam boat trip 1 Lowveld viewpoint C100 between Mapareng and Three Rondavels Elsewhere 1 nr Dullstroom 1 nr Dullstroom 100+ by road from Cape Town airport Laughing dove 1 waterfront African green pigeon 2+ 2 Brown-headed parrot 3 Grey go-away bird Jacobin cuckoo 2 Alpine swift Common (European) swift C10 C10 Oliphants Outpost 1 nr Dullstroom Little swift 10+ C20 African palm swift 1 1 Oliphants Outpost Red-faced mousebird 2 Pied kingfisher 2 Half-collared 1 Dam boat trip kingfisher

15 Species Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula Sabi Sands Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam Elsewhere Malachite kingfisher 1 European bee-eater C50 over C30 over Lilac-breasted roller 4+ 3 Southern ground 1+ 3 hornbill Southern yellowbilled 8+ hornbill Southern red-billed 6+ C6 2 hornbill Green wood-hoopoe 5+ African hoopoe 1 Black-collared 4 barbet Crested barbet 2 Barn swallow Sev. nr Dullstroom White-throated swallow 1 Waterfront Fork-tailed drongo C African black-headed oriole 1 White-necked raven C6 Pied crow nr Ohrigstad Arrow-marked babbler Dark-capped bulbul C Cape bulbul 1 Table Mountain 6+ Buffels Bay Olive thrush 1 Kirstenbosch Cape rock-thrush 4 Mocking cliff-chat 1 Lowveld Viewpoint Familiar chat 2 Three Rondavels African stonechat 1 Pinnacle Rock White-browed scrub 2 robin Long-billed crombec 1 Lazy cisticola Karoo prinia 1 Kirstenbosch Drakensburg prinia 1 African dusky 2 Kirstenbosch flycatcher Spotted flycatcher 1 Ashy flycatcher 1 African paradiseflycatcher 1 Cape batis 1 Kirstenbosch Chinspot batis 2 2 Cape white-eye 10+ Kirstenbosch 4+ Noordhoek Cape wagtail African pied wagtail Magpie shrike 3+ 2 Red-backed shrike 3+ 1 Common fiscal 1 Camps Bay Retz s helmet-shrike 4+ Black-backed puffback 2 1 Lowveld Viewpoint 1 Dam boat trip

16 Species Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula Sabi Sands Brown-crowned 2 tchagra Greater blue-eared 2 4+ starling Burchell s starling Red-winged starling 10+ Abundant 2 Common myna Common starling Red-billed oxpecker C20 2 Cape sugarbird 3+ Kirstenbosch Malachite sunbird 1 Kirstenbosch Orange-breasted 1 Kirstenbosch sunbird Greater doublecollared sunbird Southern doublecollared 3+ Kirstenbosch sunbird Marico sunbird 2 White-bellied 3 4 sunbird Cape sparrow 5 Mouille Point Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam 1 Three Rondavels Elsewhere 1 Hoedspruit House sparrow 1 1 Hoedspruit Southern greyheaded 2 sparrow Red-billed buffalo weaver Blue waxbill 2 4+ Jameson s firefinch 2 Cape canary 1 Scarborough Beach Forest canary 1 Kirstenbosch Cinnamon-breasted bunting Cape bunting Golden-breasted bunting 1+ Cape Point Three Rondavels 1+ Bourke s Luck Mammals (all counts approximate) Species Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula Sabi Sands Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam Savannah (Chacma) baboon Vervet monkey 3 20 Sykes s (Samango) 3 monkey Plains (Burchell s) zebra Square-lipped (White) 2 rhinoceros Common hippopotamus 1 8 Common warthog Giraffe African (Savannah) buffalo Common eland 2 Elsewhere

17 Species Cape Town (including Kirstenbosch) Cape Peninsula Sabi Sands Zandspruit Kruger Blyde River Canyon and Dam Greater kudu 1 Nyala Bushbuck 2 1 Common waterbuck 8 Blue wildebeest Bontebok 2 Impala Klipspringer 4 Steenbok 10 1 Common (grey) duiker 3 Savannah (African) 40 elephant Black-backed jackal 2 Side-striped jackal 1 Slender mongoose 1 Dwarf mongoose 1 Spotted hyena 14 Leopard 4 Lion 5 7 Rock hyrax 4 Tree squirrel 1 Scrub hare 1 Cape fur seal 10 Elsewhere Geoff Upton, Southern England