Fairest Cape to Kruger 10 th 25 th January, 2014

Fairest Cape to Kruger 10 th 25 th January, 2014 Set Departure tour Tour leader: Charley Hesse Report & photos by Charley Hesse Additional photos by Karen Harris. Blyde River Canyon is one of the scenic wonders of South Africa (Charley Hesse) January is a fascinating time to visit South Africa and our tour was full of surprises. The weather can be a bit hit and miss although luckily we didn t lose any time to the rain. Even though we may have missed a couple of endemics due to the breeding season already having passed, other late breeders like Melodious and Dusky Larks would not be seen on a September/October tour. With the beautifully colored bishops & weavers plus the long-tailed whydahs & widowbirds, the sheer volume and diversity of attractive migrants makes the timing of this tour an enticing proposition. The long summer days allow those with the energy to bird to the max and in Kruger we were clocking up 16 hour birding days. The heat in the middle of the day, does however make a good excuse for siestas. We did a good number of night drives and night excursions and were rewarded with some wonderful prizes, like Aardwolf, African Wild Cat, genets and porcupine along with all the Big 5 in Kruger. In fact our total mammal list numbered a whopping 57 species. Birdwise we clocked up over 440sp, remarkable considering there was no pelagic or extension. This total included an impressive 17 larks species, 13 swallows, 12 eagles, 11 cisticolas, 8 bustards, 8 cuckoos and 4 nightjars. The high quality of accommodations and food on the tour was also commented on by all participents and the sheer variety of habitat types, from misty montane forests to fynbos and from the semi-desert of the Karoo to the typically African savannas of Kruger, are mindblowing. A Tropical Birding trip to South Africa is not one you forget in a hurry. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 1

10 th January Kirstenbosh Botanical Gardens Today was the official arrival day which would have given everyone a good day of birding if it hadn t have been for record breaking low temperatures and blizzards delaying 2 Canadian clients until tomorrow. We started off with the remaining clients and a bit of relaxed birding in the world famous Kirstenbosh Botanical gardens. These gardens have a stunning location at the base of Table Mountain with wonderful vistas of the plain below. We walked the gentle slope up through the gardens and enjoyed the warm sunshine of the Cape Town summer. We found many common birds easily, with Helmeted Guineafowl and Cape Francolins strutting the lawns, Cape White-eye, Southern Double-collared & the beautiful endemic Orange-breasted Sunbirds feeding on the nectar from a large variety of colourful flowers, and Redwinged Starlings flying overhead. We slowly added to our list with Cape Bulbul with its distinctive white eye-ring, the very vocal Karoo Prinia, both Cape & Forest Canaries and a pair of delightful Swee Waxbills nibbling grass seeds next to the path, just a few feet away. We went through the IDs of LBJs like Levaillant's Cisticola, Spotted & African Dusky Flycatchers and stalked for skulkers including Sombre Greenbul, Cape Robin-Chat and Cape Batis. We then walked back to the bottom of the gardens spotting a large African Harrier-Hawk soaring overhead. After a late lunch we decided to go and look at some waterbirds at a reserve not far away. We found these delightful, miniature endemic Swee Waxbills most confiding (Charley Hesse) In the northern suburbs of Cape Town, on the site of a formerly more extensive wetland lies a huge shopping mall and a small wetland reserve called Intaka island. It made a nice introduction to some common wetland birds on our first day. After making our way through a maze of apartment buildings and car parks, we finally found the reserve, and after paying our entrance fees started walking around the reed-fringed ponds. On the open water we saw a few Cape Shovelers, Eurasian Moorhen and many Red-knobbed Coots, and around the edges a few Long-tailed Cormorants, Purple Heron, Little Egret, Sacred Ibis and Blacksmith Plover. We also found a single Gray-hooded Gull amongst the locally common Hartlaub's Gulls. The reed beds were alive with brightly covered Red Bishops and the songs of the skulking Lesser Swamp-Warbler. We saw our first Cape Sparrows and Cape Weavers and from a blind we spotted a few Common Waxbills and a male Pin-tailed Whydah. On the way out we found a family of White-throated Swallows perched in the reeds. It had been a nice introduction day of birding and tomorrow we were keen to start our packed birding itinerary. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 2

11 th January Simonstown, Cape of Good Hope, Kommetjie & Strandfontein We started off our whistle-stop tour of the Cape Peninsular by dropping in to see the African Penguin colony at Boulder s Beach, just outside Simonstown. It was the weekend, but thanks to our early start, we had this normally crowded tourist destination all to ourselves. The penguins performed well and did all the things you would expect penguins to, like waddling around, jumping in the water, tripping over, all in their usual comical style. No matter how many times you see them, they always manage to entertain. From here, we drove along the scenic coast road to the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve. Again, we were among the earliest visitors and could enjoy the scenic wonder in peace. As we began our drive through the reserve, we picked up several common birds, including Rock Kestrel, Southern Fiscal, Steppe Buzzard and Rock Martin as well as our first mammal, the Cape Grey Mongoose. We reached the visitors centre which was still closed, but in the Fynbos habitat nearby, we saw the endemic Cape Grassbird, Grey-backed Cisticola and a stunning male Orange-breasted Sunbird. The centre itself seemed to be overrun with a troop of Chacma Baboons which the staff chased off when they arrived. Further on we spotted a herd of Eland (the world s largest antelope) and our first Cape Sugarbird. African Penguins are always a crowd pleaser (Charley Hesse) We reached the parking lot at Cape Point where we saw several Ostrich, some Red-winged Starlings and more Eland. We walked up the path towards the lighthouse and on the way had a tiny Four-Striped Grass Mouse run across the path and the very localized Black Girdled Lizard. At the top we located our main avian target, the tricky endemic Cape Siskin. We also scoped the cliff faces to see our first Cape Cormorants on a nest, some White-necked Ravens flying by, some distant Cape Gannets and a couple of Cape Fur Seals playing in the beautiful clear water at the base of the cliffs. Coming down we added Cape Bunting. We exited the reserve and drove up the west side of the peninsular to the small seaside village of Kommetjie, where we took a walk in search of rare cormorants. First off we saw Sacred & Hadada Ibises, Hartlaub's & Kelp Gulls and many Great Crested Terns with just a few Sandwich & Common Terns mixed in. We reached the cormorant roost at the tip of a small peninsular, where we found many more Cape Cormorants along with lower numbers of Whitebreasted Cormorant and just a single individual each of Crowned & Bank Cormorants. Another welcome find was the near-endemic and very distinctive African Oystercatcher which is jet black with a bright red bill. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 3

Our missing participants were due to arrive around midday but were again delayed so we met them in the early afternoon after what must have been a very frustrating couple of days. They were chomping at the bit to get out birding and our now full complement drove to the amazing Strandfontein sewage works to get stuck into some birding. Strandfontein is one of the best sites in South Africa for water birds and we quickly ticked off Spur-winged Goose, Cape Shoveler, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-billed, Hottentot & Cape Teal, Southern Pochard and Maccoa Duck on the first few ponds, along with Little & Eared Grebes, large numbers of Greater Flamingos & Great White Pelicans. Many of the smaller ponds were fringed with reeds and held Purple Swamphen, Eurasian Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot and Glossy Ibis along with reed-dwellers like Little Rush-Warbler, Levaillant's Cisticola, Common Waxbill and even African Marsh-Harrier. Over the water were feeding Little & White-rumped Swifts, countless Barn, White-throated & Greater Striped-Swallows and Brown-throated Martins. Another of the ponds had a lot of mud and was especially good for shorebirds, with Kittlitz's & Common Ringed Plovers, Common Greenshank, Wood & Curlew Sandpipers, Ruff and Little Stint. Along the gravel roads and grassy edges we saw a large number of common, open-country birds, like Cape Francolin, Blackheaded Heron, Black-shouldered Kite, Cape Wagtail, African Pipit, Cape Longclaw, Cape Sparrow and Cape Weaver. The last pond was shallow with Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet, Bar-tailed Godwit and a decent sized tern roost where we added Caspian Tern. It had been a birding blitz and we were ready to head back for a tasty dinner in one of many fine restaurants near our comfortable guest house. Southern Black Korhaan s noisy flight display is a sight to behold (Charley Hesse) 12 th January West Coast Today was our west coast day which is another fast paced birding extravaganza with often a large day list. We started just north of Cape Town at some ponds where we searched for the tricky White-backed Duck. We didn t find any but we did see Yellow-billed Duck, Cape Shoveler, Purple Heron, Blackcrowned Night-Heron and a nesting pair of Great Crested Grebes. From there we left the northern edge of the city and headed into the native Fynbos, which unfortunately is getting choked out by the invasive Port Jackson Acacia from Australia. We tried my stakeout for Cape Clapper Lark but dipped, as it s a little late in the season for them to be calling. We did however see our first Pearl-breasted Swallows and more Grey-backed Cisticolas. Further along we stopped at another favourite spot, this time for the endemic Southern Black Korhaan. I instructed the clients to keep their eyes peeled for a head sticking out of the grass, and after about 5 seconds, eagle-eyed Karen said she had seen one, and sure enough it was a beautiful male Southern Black Korhaan. They are not normally that easy. The male subsequently took off and treated us to its truly amazing flight display. Here we also found our first Bokmakierie, singing its heart out on top of a tree. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 4

Further on we added Red-capped Lark, Capped Wheatear, and then found another major target, the endemic and extremely graceful Blue Crane. We entered a valley which was loaded with good birds, with Jackal Buzzard, a soaring Booted Eagle, White-backed Mousebird, the colourful northern migrant European Bee-eater, Lesser Kestrel, Black Sawwing, a brief fly-by of Malachite Sunbird and a responsive Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler. We also added to our mammal list with Cape Hare, the diminutive but dumbo-eared Steenbok and some comical Cape Rock Hyraxes. After passing the entrance to the West Coast National Park, we started picking up birds with many Ostrich, the beautiful endemic Black Harrier, Cape Bulbul, Karoo Prinia, Cape Robin-Chat and several Angulate Tortoises which we had to drive slowly to avoid running over. We drove to a bird hide at Abramskraal where we found a herd of Eland, African Spoonbill, Karoo Scrub-Robin and the brightly-coloured Yellow Canary, but no sign of the African Rail which is sometimes seen here. From here it was on to the Geelbek hide, a great place for shore birds when the tide is right. We picked up quite a selection, with Black-bellied, Kittlitz's & Common Ringed Plovers, Common Greenshank, Whimbrel, Eurasian Curlew, Bartailed Godwit, Ruff, Curlew Sandpiper, Little Stint and Sanderling along with many Greater Flamingos, the large Caspian & tiny Little Tern. Black Girdled Lizards are found at only 2 sites, the Cape Peninsular & Langebaan (Charley Hesse) We had a nice outdoor lunch during which we watched Cape Sparrows, Cape Weaver, Yellow Bishop, African Pied Starling and even an African Hoopoe in the gardens. We carried on north after lunch, stopping at Seeberg for a stunning view of the bright turquoise Langebaan Lagoon. We found more of the extremely localized Black Girdled Lizards and also managed to track down another difficult endemic, the Gray-winged Francolin. We left the national park by the northern exit and headed towards the town of Paternoster where we searched unsuccessfully for the endemic Cape Long-billed Lark, but did find another endemic, the Large-billed Lark. The last site we had time to visit was the town of Veldriff where we explored a salt farm. Here we found countless Lesser Flamingos along with many Black-winged Stilts and Pied Avocets. We were also searching for Chestnut-banded Plover which were strangely absent although we did find both Three-banded & White-fronted Plovers. We had a long drive back to Cape Town where we freshened up before another delicious meal near the guest house. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 5

13 th January Tankwa Karoo Our 2 participants that had been held up by the adverse weather in Canada had missed their pelagic, but on the bright side, it gave us all an extra day to explore a site not on the regular itinerary, the Tankwa Karoo. This trip gave us better chances for some very difficult endemics easier seen here than in the Karoo proper (where we would be going later on). Our first stop was for the Namaqua Warbler, an endemic found in a strange range of habitats, the spot we were trying in now was a reed bed. Some psshing brought in African Reed-Warbler and Common Waxbill before our target showed itself. On a short way, we also saw White-necked Raven, our first Booted Eagle, Karoo Scrub-Robin and a troop of Chacma Baboons. We passed out of our little valley into the low bushes of the Karoo habitat, to all intents and purposes, a desert. At a hill called Eierkop we found the beautiful Pale Chanting-Goshawk, Jackal Buzzard, a huge concentration of swifts, including Alpine, African, Little & White-rumped Swifts, Rock Martin and some very vocal but dowdy Grey-backed Cisticolas. We headed up a canyon off the plain to a picnic site surrounded by thorny Acacia trees. Here we saw some great Karoo endemics, including Fairy Flycatcher and Layard's Tit-Babbler but also the more widespread Southern Doublecollared Sunbird, feeding on some beautiful, orange flowering Aloes. We hiked up through a rocky canyon looking for the rare Cinnamon-breasted Warbler but had to be contented with a Klipspringer, several Cape Rock Hyraxes and Southern Rock Agamas. Harsh environments drive endemism, and the Karoo is packed with endemic birds (Charley Hesse) We had our packed lunch back down at the picnic site before descending back to the plain and continuing north further into the Tankwa. We had a few stops along the road picking up birds like, Rock Kestrel, Karoo, Large-billed & Gray-backed Sparrow-Larks, the beautiful endemic Rufous-eared Warbler, Karoo, Tractrac & Southern Anteater-Chats, and both Yellow & White-throated Canaries. The habitat changed from low bushes and spiny vegetation to open ground and low, dry golden grass. It was a fascinating drive but we were aware of the long drive back, and after finding some Ostrich, Gemsbok and a very lucky sighting of Namaqua Sandgrouse by Wade, we turned around and started heading back. On the way back we had a few brief stops trying for the very difficult endemic Karoo Eremomela and on the very last site I tried, I flushed one. The clients were starting to realise that they could tell the quality of the sighting by how excited I got, and I was very excited to see this bird. One last stop on the way back was to pick up the endemic South African Shelduck although the views were somewhat distant. It had been a very worthwhile day trip picking up so top quality birds. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 6

14 th January Cape Town to De Hoop We had become quite settled at our comfortable guest house, but it was time to be moving on. Today was an important day and we had some key birds to pick up. Our first birding site for the day was Rooi Els, a beautiful spot at the base of the mountains on the other side of False Bay from Cape Town. We parked and began our walk along the flat track. Fairly soon we spotted a pair of large raptors soaring against the mountains which turned out to be Verreaux's Eagle. Surely one of South Africa s most beautiful eagles. Our main target here was the charismatic endemic Cape Rockjumper. It has been increasing difficult to see at this site in recent years and the time it takes to locate often varies considerably. While we were searching for it, we kept ourselves busy by looking at all the other fantastic Fybos birds, like Cape Grassbird, Grey-backed Cisticola, Karoo Prinia, Cape Robin-Chat, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, Cape Bunting and Cape Siskin. The latter was a nice pick up for Wade and Karen who had missed the Cape Peninsular birding. We had Cape Rock-Thrush early on, perched on the rooves of holiday homes and again on the overhead wires along with Redwinged Starlings. Familiar Chats preferred to perch on small rocks jutting out of the Fynbos vegetation, a habit shared by the rockjumpers and this got our hopes up a couple of times. Cape Rockjumper is one of the most sought after birds in the Cape Town area (Charley Hesse) One participant s wife was hanging back a bit, looking at some of the beautiful flowers. Her husband walked back to check if she was OK while we waited. After a while, we checked them out with our binoculars to see what was taking them so long, and we saw them both avidly watching a bird on a rock very close to them. No, it can t be! I put the bird in the scope and it was indeed a Cape Rockjumper. We covered the 500m back pretty quickly and were soon also enjoying close views of a very confiding bird, preening on a rock. In all the times I have seen these birds, I have never seen them so close. We had tremendous views. Victorious, we turned around and headed back, picking up a Southern Rock Agama and a much wanted Cape Sugarbird. From here it was on to another African Penguin colony at Betty s Bay. Wade and Karen were especially keen on penguins and I was told in no uncertain terms that missing them was NOT an option. In the colony we also saw Cape Rock Hyrax and even a new reptile, Cape Girdled Lizard. The penguins of course were a given, but we also wanted cormorants. Cape were the most common but there were also several White-breasted & Crowned Cormorants. Bank Cormorant was eluding us, as was Cape Gannet and African Oystercatcher. It was a shame for them to miss 3 such good birds, so we persevered and found some gannets out to sea. A last check of the cormorants gave us a group of 4 Bank that had just flown in and then walking out, an oystercatcher flew overhead. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 7

The morning had gone swimmingly and after a nice lunch we found ourselves driving through a very different landscape on the Agulhas Plain. Rolling hills of farm land that at first glance wouldn t look too interesting for birds but in actual fact are loaded with good birds. We were searching primarily for bustards but were happy to pick up other birds in between. We found large numbers of White Storks with a surprise Black Stork mixed in. Jackal Buzzards, Rock Kestrels and Cape Crow were common in this habitat and the odd African Spoonbill would appear on drinking ponds. Blue Cranes were also common but paired off and some rearing chicks by now. We stumbled upon a pair of Spotted Thick-knees, at first mistaking them for a korhaans, and also saw plenty of Cape Longclaws, Yellow Bishops and Namaqua Doves, with the odd Cloud Cisticola perched on a wire. Another major target here was the Agulhas Long-billed Lark which we finally spotted in a field after several false alarm Large-billed Larks. Mammals were also in evidence, with several Grey Rheboks and Yellow Mongooses. We drove into De Hoop nature reserve to look for the rare Southern Tchagra. On the way in we saw plenty of Chacma Baboons, Eland and Bontebok while we made our way to the camp site. Here we concentrated on locating tchagras. We had a few responses from the bushes and finally brief views but they really weren t playing ball. We did get good views of Bokmakierie and Fiscal Flycatcher though. Only after leaving the reserve did we come across our first Denham s Bustards. Two pairs to be precise, all of which took to the air as we got close showing their beautifully patterned wings. It had been a long but very successful day and we headed to our historical and rather grand guest house for a well-deserved rest. 15 th January Bontebok NP to Wilderness South Africa s national bird, the Blue Crane (Charley Hesse) After a leisurely breakfast we said goodbye to our gracious hosts spotting a European Honey-Buzzard during our farewells, a good bird for the province. We drove the short distance to Bontebok, South Africa s smallest National Park. Along the entrance road we found Red-billed Duck on a small pond, a few Black-shouldered Kites, a European Roller (another good provincial record), large numbers of Amur Falcons and a few Rock Kestrels for good measure. We also saw a Cape Grysbok, a rarely seen antelope. We paid our entrance fees and continued into the park, spotting Black Harrier, Jackal Buzzard, Pearlbreasted Swallow, Grey-backed Cisticola, several Grey Rhebok and many Bontebok. The latter brought back from the brink of extinction, and this park being set up to preserve them. We headed for the trails along the river to try and pick up a few forest birds. It was nice to take a stroll and we found Neddicky, Red-faced Mousebird, Acacia Pied Barbet, Cape Batis, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Black Sawwing, Bar-throated Apalis, Cape White-eye and a beautiful male Malachite Sunbird. On the way out we found African Stonechat, Southern Anteater-Chat and a Lesser Gray Shrike. It had been a pleasant morning of birding and we carried on our way to the town of Wilderness. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 8

After lunch we checked into our comfortable B&B with the friendliest hosts imaginable. Red-necked Francolins ran across the lawn as we entered and the feeders were refilled for our benefit, which brought in Terrestrial Brownbul, Olive Thrush, Amethyst, Greater Double-collared and a surprise Grey Sunbird, Fiscal Flycatcher, Southern Fiscal, Forest Canary, Streaky-headed Seedeater, Swee & Common Waxbills and even Four-Striped Grass Mouse (which our host wasn t too happy about). The star of the show though was the Knysna Turaco. It must be one of the few places in Africa where you can see a turaco so close, you could almost reach out and touch it. After some time to relax in our rooms, we headed out to the national park to continue birding. First we went to blind at a lake where we saw Southern Pochard, Great Crested Grebe, Long-tailed Cormorant and Glossy Ibis. The main reason for coming here though was the Red-chested Flufftail. I played the call on the way in, and as we were sat in there I heard them starting to call. We all filed out and stayed very still for several minutes before this tiny and incredibly elusive bird revealed itself. We got a few brief views but enough to feel proud of ourselves. We headed on to another hide at Rondevlei. Here we saw Gray-hooded Gull, Whiskered Tern, Pied Kingfisher, White-throated Swallow and Lesser Swamp-Warbler but no hoped for rails. Just before leaving, I checked a raptor in flight. It was a buzzard but looked a little pale. It perched and we got it in the scope to see it was actually a Forest Buzzard, a seldom seen endemic. On the drive back we saw Cape & Brimstone Canaries and a brief stop on a trail produced more Knysna Turacos, Speckled Mousebird and African Dusky Flycatcher but no sign of the Knysna Warbler. Knysna Turaco is one of a trio of birds named after the local town of Knysna (Charley Hesse) 16 th January Wilderness We started off today just along the road from our B&B trying for Knysna Warbler. We had one calling but it just wouldn t show itself. The best we could do was a brief view of it flitting between 2 bushes. We did get nice views of Bar-throated Apalis and Cape Robin-Chat though. Before breakfast we checked out the nearby Half-collared Kingfisher Trail. At the head of the trail, we saw a couple of Black-bellied Starlings in a tree and walking along the trail we tried picking up some forest bird. As we climbed up the trail, I heard a Southern Boubou which showed nicely. As the trail descended back down towards the river, I heard a White-starred Robin and we manage to locate this rather tricky species too. We hit a fairly productive patch with Black-backed Puffback, Chorister Robin-Chat and a sneaky Olive Bushshrike which we didn t manage to get everybody on. I heard a Knysna Woodpecker calling nearby but seeing this extremely elusive endemic was another matter. Karen got on a very spotty bird for a second which she later identified as this species, but then it was gone. We headed back to breakfast at the B&B which is an experience in itself. We picked up many of the same species at the feeders as yesterday including Forest Canary, Swee & Common Waxbills, Olive Thrush and Greater Doublecollared Sunbird but also added Pin-tailed Whydah, Cape White-eye, Lemon Dove and even better views of the beautiful Knysna Turaco. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 9

After breakfast, we headed to a beautiful patch of forest known as, Big Tree, named for a huge Outenique Yellowwood tree there. We had a productive morning there, finding most of our targets, with a raucous family of Green Woodhoopoes, Olive Woodpecker, Cape Batis, African Black-headed Oriole, Bluemantled Crested-Flycatcher, Black Sawwing and Yellow-throated Wood-Warbler. After lunch and rest, we went out in the afternoon along the Half-collared Kingfisher trail again. This time we went further along in search of Narina Trogon, but we only managed to hear this species. We saw Malachite Kingfisher, an African Darter flying high overhead and also a pair of Half-collared Kingfishers after which the trail was named. We walked back and birded a little more near our B&B getting slightly better glimpses of Knysna Warbler along with Speckled Mousebird and great scope views of Rameron Pigeons going to roost. We went for another delicious meal after which we went back out for some night birding. We found Fiery-necked Nightjar pretty quickly but had to spend some time looking for African Wood-Owl and we had to make do with decent flight views. We also heard the distinctive fog horn like calls of the Buff-spotted Flufftail but it was buried so too deep inside the forest. Another great day. Clients enjoying a wonderful view from the Swartberg Pass (Charley Hesse) 17 th January Wilderness to Karoo National Park, via Swartberg Pass We had one last crack at Knysna Warbler just after dawn, getting our best glimpses so far. Knysna Turacos were flying from tree to tree and a Bushbuck even came out to see us off. We left Wilderness and headed for the Swartberg Pass, a very scenic location and our last chance for a couple of important birds. We drove straight to the base of a winding gravel road up to the pass. Here we had our first stop looking for the difficult endemics, Protea Canary and Victorin's Warbler. As we scanned the protea bushes we found Cape Grassbird, Neddicky, many Cape Sugarbirds, Orange-breasted Sunbird and many Cape White-eyes. Wade finally spotted a small bird perched on to of a bush and on inspection in the scope we found it to be the Protea Canary, one of the most difficult endemics to find. From here we walked down the road a bit and called out a responsive Victorin s Warbler. Two for two, we made our way up to the pass. Next we were looking for the Ground Woodpecker and sure enough we found one by the roadside. These birds have large territories and you often need a bit of luck to stumble into them. We also had some White-necked Ravens, Klipspringers and many Cape Rock Hyraxes. We stopped for scenery shots at the top and also found a surprise Montagu's Harrier, as well as Jackal Buzzard, Cape Rock-Thrush and Cape Siskin. We didn t find our hope for Sentinel Rock Thrush though. From here it was down the other side to the town of Prince Albert where we had lunch. Leaving town we noticed some small birds by the roadside which turned out to be our first Black-throated Canaries. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 10

We drove straight on from here to the Karoo National Park where we drove the Lammetjiesleggte loop before going to the rest camp. Here we found a number of Karoo specials and other nice birds, with Graybacked Sparrow-Lark, Ostrich, European Bee-eater, Karoo Lark, Rufous-eared Warbler, Karoo Chat, Pale-winged Starling, Long-billed Pipit and many Lark-like Buntings. It was also a good drive for mammals, and we found Cape Mountain Zebra, Greater Kudu, Springbok and Red Haartebeest. After checking in and settling in to our cabins, we drove the short distance to the camping site. This area of Acacia karoo trees was pumping with birds, and we saw White-backed Mousebird, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Acacia Pied Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Fairy Flycatcher, African Red-eyed Bulbul, Long-billed Crombec, Bar-throated Apalis, Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler and Karoo Scrub-Robin as well as some huge Leopard Tortoises. From here we went to the interpretive centre where we picked up Pririt Batis, Dusky Sunbird and also Karoo Thrush which had come down to drink from a pond. After an early dinner, we took a night drive which turned out to be excellent. We saw several herbivores including Steenbok, Common Duiker, Gemsbok, Grey Rhebok and Burchell's Zebra but it was the small nocturnal mammals we were most interested in. We saw Cape Hare, Black-backed Jackal, African Wild Cat but the highlight was undoubtedly an Aardwolf. We also found a Spotted Eagle-Owl perched in the distance and many Rufous-cheeked Nightjars. With only 11 lions in Karoo National Park, we were very lucky to see them (Charley Hesse) 18 th January Karoo National Park The Karoo has some especially tricky species and we decided to employ the services of a local guide to help us locate them. He met us outside our cabins and we drove from there up into the higher areas of the park. Our first stop was to try for the African Rock Pipit and we had one fly in straight away. Higher up, we started checking off the endemics with Karoo Long-billed Lark, Bokmakierie, Rufous-eared Warbler, Sicklewing & Karoo Chats and Mountain Wheatear. We were well into birding mode, when the local guide said, Look what we have here. Laying down in the road ahead of us were 2 huge male Lions! We pulled up short and angled the car across the road for better views. The lions got up, had a stretch and started walking straight towards us. Having adult lions looking straight at you makes you feel extremely vulnerable and as they got closer and closer, we decided to close our windows just in case. They veered around the vehicle and carried on walking down the road. What a thrill! We carried on the drive spotting plenty of potential lion food, including Cape Mountain & Burchell's Zebra, Greater Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok and Red Haartebeest. We drove out towards the exit spotting Ostrich and our first Pale-winged Starlings on the way. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 11

Our local guide took us to an excellent road which we drove along scanning for bustards. We started off by finding other birds like Spike-heeled Lark, Gray-backed Sparrow-Lark, Yellow-bellied Eremomela, Chat Flycatcher, Capped Wheatear and Yellow Canary. It took a while but we finally found Kori & Ludwig's Bustards. It had rained quite a bit recently and we reached a flooded area with South African Shelduck, Cape Shoveler, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-billed Duck, Black-winged Stilt, Pied Avocet and Three-banded Plover. We turned around here and drove back slowly scanning for Karoo Korhaan. They were supposedly quite common along here but we struggled, but finally spotted a head poking out and we stopped to get better views. Our local guide had a stake out for Sclaters Lark. We went there and saw Rock Kestrel, Steenbok, Cape Hare, Plain-backed Pipit, Tractrac Chat and Southern Anteater-Chat but he thought that we needed to come back in the afternoon when they usually come in to drink. We went for lunch at a diner in Beaufort West, after which we went to several sites to check for Cinnamon-breasted Warblers. No matter how much we tried, we got no response. They are winter breeders and simply not responsive at this time of year. We did see other good birds though, including Short-toed Rock-Thrush, Layard's Tit-Babbler, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting and Familiar Chat. Sclater s is a very distinctive and localized lark species (Charley Hesse) We drove back through the town, spotting some Greater Flamingos on the dam and then back to the national park. We drove back up to the top where we saw Klipspringer, another Short-toed Rock- Thrush and our much hope for Black-headed Canary. We stopped briefly in the camp site for some water and saw a Fairy Flycatcher and more large Leopard Tortoises. On the way out, some of us also glimpsed a Cape Cobra chasing a Bush Karoo Rat. By now it was late afternoon and we drove back out to the Sclater s site again and waited. At the appointed time, a Sclater's Lark duly arrived at the drinking trough and gave us fine views. This was a lifer for me so I was particularly stoked. We dropped off our local guide and thanked him before heading back to the park for dinner. 19 th January Karoo National Park to Johannesburg With an early afternoon flight to Johannesburg and a long drive back to Cape Town, we had no time for birding in the morning. Despite the roadworks, we arrived with plenty of time to make our flight. At Joburg airport we picked up our rental car for the eastern section of our tour. We spent the night in a comfortable guest house near the airport. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 12

20 th January Johannesburg to Wakkerstroom When I came out from breakfast, the clients were already looking at a Karoo Thrush on the lawn of the lodge. We packed up and dropped off 2 members of our group at the airport as they were doing Kruger independently. The rest of us continued on towards Wakkerstroom where we were starting the eastern section of the tour. On the way, we stopped at road bordering the Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve where we were looking for our first Highveld birds. We saw huge number of Amur Falcons, which seemed to be on every post. We also had Helmeted Guineafowl and Swainson's Francolin crossing the road and I heard a Northern Black Korhaan calling in the long grass. We were lucky enough to get views of this species doing its flight display as well. The grasslands here were very productive and we saw Levaillant's, Zitting & Cloud Cisticolas, Barn, White-throated & South African Cliff Swallow, African Pipit, Village, Cape & Southern Masked-Weavers, Red & Yellow-crowned Bishops, White-winged, Redcollared, Fan-tailed & Long-tailed Widowbirds and Pin-tailed Whydah. Despite our efforts though, we didn t manage to find our target Melodious Lark. We drove on to Wakkerstroom spotting our first Southern Bald Ibis on the way. We made it in time for lunch at out hotel and saw a male Malachite Sunbird behind the hotel when we went to our rooms. The throat color of the Cape Longclaw is so bright, it almost seems to glow (Charley Hesse) We were keen to get straight out birding though and on the way out of town stopped at a spot I had seen Red-breasted Wrynecks before. Instead of wrynecks though we found our first Crested Barbets of the trip. We drove out of town up onto the hills and stopped at a few regular spots. We saw our first Buffstreaked Bushchat of the top on a post, followed by our first Sentinel Rock-Thrush. Next we found Eastern Long-billed Lark and then a pair of Ground Woodpeckers. These 4 species are major targets here and we rarely get them all so easily. We continued driving along the road picking up Red-capped Lark, Banded Martin, Wailing & Wing-snapping Cisticolas, Southern Anteater-Chat and even a surprise Parasitic Weaver. Having cleaned up along this road so quickly we drove some distance out of town to a spot along river to look for African Black Duck. We drove through some heavy rain to get there but it soon passed and the birds were there waiting for us. Next we went back to the marsh in town where we scanned with the scope to find South African Shelduck, Southern Pochard, Purple Heron and Purple Swamphen. We had fly-bys of Little Bittern and Pied Kingfisher and also got views of African Reed-Warblers skulking in the reeds. Last of all we drove along the Amersfoort road to find Palecrowned Cisticola, Crowned Lapwing, Yellow Mongoose, African Marsh-Harrier and Cape Longclaw. After an early dinner we took a short night drive out to the marsh to find a pair of Barn Owls. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 13

21 st January Wakkerstroom Today was our full day in Wakkerstroom to pick up the large amount of speciality birds in the area. We started off again at the marsh where we saw a whole range of waterbirds, including South African Shelduck, Purple Heron, Intermediate Egret, Purple Swamphen and even had a fly-by of Little Bittern. We called an African Rail across a gap in the reeds, and Lesser Swamp-Warblers and Red Bishops flitted about the reeds. Our main target here was the African Snipe but there were none to be seen. Just before we left, we also spotted a pair of Gray Crowned-Cranes feeding in the grass behind the lake. We set off on the Dirkiesdorp Loop and had several birding stops along this interesting road with some nice species like Bokmakierie, Long-billed Pipit, Lazy Cisticola and Drakensberg Prinia, but our main birding site was a small patch of forest. We parked the car and walked along the road for better visability and picked up a nice Dark-capped Yellow-Warbler, Black Sawwing, several stunning Violetbacked Starlings and a nice male Amethyst Sunbird. Dark-capped Yellow-Warbler (Charley Hesse) We were after some skulkers here though so we bush-whacked down an overgrown trail into the centre of the patch and managed to call in an Olive Bushshrike and a Bush Blackcap. Unfortunately Barratt s Warblers were conspicuous in their absence. We continued down the road and I stopped to check out a couple of larks. They looked a little like clappers but were too small, gray and they were much too small for Rufous-naped. They had me a little perplexed so I went to the book. I soon realized they were Melodious Larks, another species I had never seen before and one I had never expected in this area. Lower down on some rocks above I scoped out a beautiful male Mocking Cliff-Chat. Also in this lower patch of forest we found Dideric Cuckoo, Brubru, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Neddicky and Fiscal Flycatcher. We moved down into the plains below and scanning for White-bellied Korhaans I spotted a Rufous-naped Lark. Further on we also found our first Secretarybird and had Common House-Martin and Banded Martins among the numerous swallow species, and a little stone bridge, many South African Cliff Swallows and Mountain Wagtails. We never found our korhaans and we started heading back towards Wakkerstroom with a short detour on the Luneberg road to look for Wattled Cranes. I got excited for a moment when I saw a White Stork, but the closest thing we got to a Wattled Crane was a Wattled Lapwing. Back on the highway we passed a private game farm where we saw Black Wildebeest & Blesbok which were originally wild in the area, and we also had a Malachite Kingfisher and Long-tailed Cormorant on a small lake. We had lunch back at the hotel and in the afternoon headed north looking for rare larks. On a rocky outcrop we saw several Cape Rock Hyraxes and also plenty of Southern Anteater-Chats and Amur Falcon along the way. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 14

We went to our regular site for Rudd s Lark and drove slowly round listening for the call. The lake there had some nice birds with Great Crested Grebe, Whiskered Tern, Cape Shoveler, Maccoa and our first White-backed Ducks of the trip. The grasslands held many Long-tailed Widowbirds and Wingsnapping Cisticolas and we even had fly-bys of Montagu's Harrier and Black-winged Pratincole. We finally located a Rudd's Lark and got decent flight views of this extremely range-restricted endemic. We also found some nice Cape Longclaws, Yellow-crowned Bishop, Spike-heeled & Red-capped Larks here but still no Pink-billed Lark. We decided to check out a nearby spot but we got a bit stuck in a very wet field and it required a bit of a push. On the way back towards the road, a lark flushed up with a buffy belly. We hopped out and went quickly in the direction it had flown and managed to flushed it back onto the track for a perfect view of the Pink-billed Lark. On the drive back, we saw Yellow Mongoose & Meerkat and African Marsh-Harrier. Next we stopped to look at some Crowned Lapwings and I heard Blue Korhaans. Scanning the distant hills we saw 2 pairs. We had almost cleaned up on our targets for the day. We went back to the wetland near town looking for snipe at dusk but only managed to see Blackcrowned Night-Heron. What a great day it had been. The attractive Sentinel Rock-Thrush is regularly seen around Wakkerstroom (Charley Hesse) 22 nd January Wakkerstroom to Kruger NP (Skukuza) Today we were moving on to Kruger National Park and we just had a couple of hours to spend birding in Wakkerstroom. At dawn, we were back at the marsh looking for snipe but instead found a family of Spotnecked Otters, not a bad consolation. We had yet another Little Bittern along with Purple Swamphen, Gray Crowned-Crane and Red Bishop. We had 1 more very important bird still to get, and this was the threatened endemic Yellow-breasted Pipit. We were back on the Paulpetersburg road looking for these rare birds and found Red-capped Lark, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Sentinel Rock-Thrush, many African Pipits and Cape Longclaw when all of a sudden I heard the Yellow-breasted Pipits calling nearby. A pair flew in, hovering in mid-air for a few seconds offering great views. What a great last minute pick up. Further on along this road we found Swainson's Francolin, White Stork, our first Hamerkop and plenty of Amur Falcons. We had breakfast back at the hotel before loading up the car and heading east out of town. On the way we saw another Secretary-bird but failed again to find White-bellied Korhaans. Luckily the clients had seen these on a previous trip. Another last minute addition on our drive was a wonderful Long-crested Eagle which offered fine flight views. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 15

It was a very long drive to Kruger, but we made good time. After entering the park gate we drove slowly towards Skukuza and saw Southern Yellow-billed & African Gray Hornbills, Bateleur, Martial Eagle, White-fronted, European & Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, Common Scimitar-bill, Red-backed & Magpie Shrikes, Rattling Cisticola, Arrow-marked Babbler, the beautiful sky Blue Waxbill and redfaced Green-winged Pytilia, a singing male Dusky Indigobird and many, many Impala. It was an extremely rapid accumulation of species. I checked us in at the Skukuza reception while the clients wondered around outside birding. We dumped out things in our bungalows and started walking around the camp, which despite being the biggest one, is also the best for birding. Again we picked up a large number of new trip birds, including Black-collared Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Chinspot Batis, Black-backed Puffback, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Southern Black-Tit, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Spotted & Ashy Flycatchers, Green-backed Camaroptera, White-browed Robin-Chat, Violetbacked Starling, Collared & White-breasted Sunbirds, Spectacled & Lesser Masked-Weavers. We had an early dinner and went on a night drive afterwards. We were barely out of the gate when we saw a Leopard walking down the road, marking its territory. After we had watched our fill of that, we came upon a small family of rather skinny Lions. We also saw a roosting Black Stork, many Water Thickknees in the road, Hippopotamuses out of the water, a Bush Duiker, Large-spotted Genet, Spotted Hyena and Scrub Hare not to mention Square-tailed & European Nightjars. We had amazing views of Leopard on our night drive in Kruger NP (Karen Harris) 23 rd January Kruger NP, Skukuza to Satara In January, the restcamp gates open at 4:30am when it is still dark. This is a wonderful opportunity to search for nocturnal animals on your own. We were almost first out of the gate and were soon exploring the local area in the dark and actually got brief views of Lesser Galago before it started to get light. It was great to watch the day start and we picked up quite a few birds on our morning drive, with Natal Francolin, Eurasian Hobby, Wahlberg's Eagle and African Green-Pigeon. We also had nice views of a big bull Elephant. We went to check out the Lake Panic bird hide where we saw White-faced Whistling-Duck, Black Crake, African Fish-Eagle, African Jacana and Thick-billed Weaver. Leaving the blind we spotted some African Goshawk chicks that had just left the nest. We went from here to the indigenous nursery, where we had our first proper views of the beautiful Purple-crested Turaco. We had breakfast back at Skukuza whilst looking over the river, and watching our first Striated Heron fly by and several Water Thick-knees on the sand bars. We took a walk after breakfast and saw Red-faced Cisticola, Wire-tailed Swallow, Bronze Mannikins, Woodland Kingfisher, Collared Sunbird, the beautiful African Paradise-Flycatcher as well as Tree Squirrels and a wonderfully camouflaged Southern Tree Agama. We found Bearded Scrub-Robin at my stake out, and we also picked up Jameson's Firefinch and Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird here. Other good birds during the morning were Black-collared Barbet, Gray Tit-Flycatcher, Chinspot Batis and Southern Black-Flycatcher. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 16

We left Skukuza and started our drive to Satara restcamp which would be our base for the next 2 nights. We saw plenty of good birds on the drive and added Gray-headed Kingfisher, Pale Flycatcher, Little Bee-eater and Bearded Woodpecker. It was a good drive for raptors too and we saw Hooded & Whitebacked Vultures, Bateleur and a Brown Snake-Eagle. We stopped at Tshokwane picnic site to use the bathroom and stretch our legs. Here we added Wattled & Burchell's Starlings and Red-billed Firefinch. On the last part of our drive we passed through more open, grassy habitats where we saw Burchell's Coucal, Long-tailed Paradise-Whydah, many White Storks, White-fronted & Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, European & Lilac-breasted Rollers, both Black-crowned & Brown-crowned Tchagras and Red-breasted Swallow. We arrived at Satara and had lunch before checking in. There was a nice garden in front of the open-air restaurant and here we saw Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Kurrichane Thrush and even a day roosting African Scops-Owl and an Epauletted Fruit-Bat. Square-tailed Nightjar is regularly seen on night drives in Kruger (Charley Hesse) After a rest in our bungalows, we had a short walk around the restcamp. We saw another long list of birds, with African Mourning Dove, Gray Go-away-bird, Klaas's Cuckoo, African Hoopoe, Red-billed, Southern Yellow-billed & African Gray Hornbills, Crested & Acacia Pied Barbets and even a brief view of Brown-headed Parrots in flight. Imitated owlet calls brought in droves of flocking birds, including Brubru, Black-backed Puffback, Southern Black-Tit, African Black-headed Oriole, the northern migrant Icterine Warbler, Marico Sunbird and Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver. I searched for some shady tangly areas to look for rocbinchats and found White-browed Robin-Chat straight away, but playing the tape for Red-capped & White-throated still only brought in the same White-browed. We also heard the ghostly call of the Gray-headed Bushshrike which showed nicely. We went back to rest before dinner and on the way back to our bungalows had a family of Dwarf Mongooses with mum carrying them by the scruff of the neck across the road. After another early dinner we went on another night drive. There were 2 trucks going out and we managed to get in the same one as a large group of British birders. This meant we far outnumbered the non-birders and could dictate how long we looked at night birds for. I did feel slightly sorry for the non-birders after about our 10 th Square-tailed Nightjar and Spotted Thickknee. We did get a good selection of mammals too, including a White Rhino with a calf, Blue Wildebeest, Cape Buffalo and Greater Kudu. We got a few nocturnal mammals, with Scrub Hare, both Smallspotted & Large-spotted Genets and a Lion walking along the road right at the end. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 17

24 th January Kruger NP We were up again and ready for another 4:30am departure, but as I walked out of my room, I was accosted by Wade saying Honey Badger! Honey Badger! We tried to relocate it but it was gone. He and Karen had come face to face with one outside their room and it had then gone 2 doors down to raid another trash can. Honey Badger was one of their major targets of the trip and I was very happy for them to have seen it. We left on our morning drive and did a large loop back to camp for breakfast. We saw a lot of birds, with Natal, Swainson's & finally Crested Francolins, our first Lesser Spotted & Tawny Eagles, Black-winged Lapwing, Great Spotted & African Cuckoos, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Yellow-throated Longclaw, a lot of Cinnamon-breasted and a few Golden-breasted Buntings, both Dusky & Sabota Larks, Orange-breasted Bushshrike, Gabar Goshawk, Lappet-faced & Hooded Vultures, amazingly our first Giraffes, and plenty of Burchell's Zebra. After breakfast I went to the bathroom and found the tiny African Scops-Owl roosting just above the door. Today we were driving to Letaba for lunch. Again we passed through large grassy areas where we saw Kori Bustard, Whiteheaded & White-backed Vultures, Bateleur, European & Southern Carmine Bee-eaters, many European, Lilac-breasted, just one Rufous-crowned Roller and countless Red-backed & Lesser Gray Shrikes. A surprise of the trip was a Bushveld Pipit which flew from the road into some grass followed by great views of Red-crested Korhaans calling right next to the road. We also had a large bull Elephant in the road, and when they stand in the road, you give them space and you wait. Only recently a large elephant had attacked and rolled a car that got too close. Honey Badgers antics are a nuisance, but it s still a great opportunity to see them (Karen Harris) Before Letaba we reached a bridge where we were allowed out after the yellow line. From here we scanned the river and found Marsh Terrapin, Nile Crocodile and out first Saddle-billed Stork and Goliath Heron. We had made good time and we continued passed Letaba to check out a couple of sites further north. Karen spotted a spotted cat that could only have been a Serval, but by the time we reversed, it was long gone. We also saw Slender Mongoose, some very cute Spotted Hyena cubs just by the side of the road and several good birds including Levaillant's Cuckoo, Rufous-naped Lark and Namaqua Dove. We scanned at a water tank and had distant views of our target Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Larks, but the normally bare ground at Middlevlei was covered with grass and unsuitable for Caspian Plovers or Double-banded Sandgrouse that are sometimes seen here. We turned around and met some other birders that informed us of a Black-breasted Snake-Eagle nest which we had good views of. We made it back to Letaba for lunch and there was a wonderful view of the river from the restaurant. Here we saw White, Black, Marabou & many Yellow-billed Storks along with African Spoonbill, Collared Pratincole, Black Crake and Great Egret. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 18

We took in the Elephant Museum, then had a short walk around the grounds. The camp site was particularly productive, and there we saw Southern Black-Tit, Olive-tree Warbler, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Southern Black-Flycatcher, White-browed Robin-Chat, Kurrichane Thrush, Brubru, Blackbacked Puffback, Cardinal Woodpecker and Woodland Kingfisher. Letaba is one of the few restcamps with a population of Bushbuck inside the fence and they are remarkably tame. We left this delightful camp and drove on to the nearby Olifants, the most scenic camp in the park. We drove the back road and stopped at a viewpoint directly below which was a pair of White-crowned Lapwings that we were looking for. On the way we also found our first Groundscraper Thrushes, another seldom seen Dusky Lark, Burchell's Coucal and great views of Hamerkop. We entered the Olifants restcamp and walked down to enjoy the breath-taking view. On our drive back to Satara, the late afternoon light was very warm and atmospheric, and we saw a large herd of Cape Buffalo, Warthogs and Blue Wildebeest. We had a rather confusing Montagu's Harrier in the road and many Booted & Steppe eagles soaring at an apparent termite emergence. We also saw a juvenile Martial Eagle. It had been another packed day, and after such a string of early mornings and late nights, we were ready to catch up on a bit of sleep. The rare Dusky Lark sports distinctive stripes on the underwing (Charley hesse) 25 th January Kruger NP to Johannesburg We had used our time well in Kruger and seen most of what we were likely to see, so we decided to spend our day birding sites outside the park. On the drive out we saw the usual cast of francolins, eagles, bee-eaters, rollers, hornbills and shrikes although we did manage 2 new trip birds in the form of African Hawk-Eagle and Southern White-crowned Shrike. We exited the park and breakfasted in a rather charming café nearby. We headed first for the Taita Falcon roosting cliffs, although it appears that one of the birds had disappeared and the other goes off to feed during the day. We went on to Blyde River Canyon which is one of the scenic wonders of South Africa and one of the largest canyons on the world. After taking some pictures we drove to the Mount Sheba Reserve which held some extra birds normally only found on the extension. Along the entrance road we checked some scattered Protea trees for Gurney's Sugarbird but only found Malachite Sunbird. We went down to a forest trail where we only saw White-starred Robin. We walked along the road a bit and managed to locate a group of Samango Monkeys, quite a rare species in South Africa. After this we found a responsive Orange Ground-Thrush which offered good views and then a small mixed flock with Gray Cuckooshrike, Olive Woodpecker and Yellow-streaked Greenbul, another new bird for the trip, Time was running out and we only had a short time to check another open area. We followed a trail towards a decent-sized patch of Proteas. Wailing & Wing-snapping Cisticolas were common and we also saw some African Stonechats and Lazy Cisticolas. The bird we were really after though was Gurney's Sugarbird and our persistence paid off when we finally located one, before driving back to Johannesburg for a late evening flight. Tropical Birding www.tropicalbirding.com 19