Winter birding sites for Drakensberg specialties (1 Viewer)

I am visiting South Africa in a couple of weeks with my family and I have been using the Sasol birding guide for Southern Africa by Cohen and Spottiswood to plan my birding trips. There are a number of locations listed for seeing the Drakensberg specialties, but most seem to be summer sites and some do not seem to be very accessible in winter or with a typical saloon hire car. Can someone please recommend the sites that are easiest to access in winter where I can get a good selection of the best birds? My main route will be round the cape from Cape town to Durban then up through Swaziland to Kruger, so ideally I would prefer sites that are within easy reach of the coast, especially if they are within a few hours of Durban, where we will be based for about 10 days.
Any help appreciated. Thanks.

Tom

From Durban: 1. Giants Castle has the Lammergeyer hide. You have to book it however and I think you might have to spend a night there (at Giants castle) too. There are also some walks in the reserve where good birds can be seen . The trouble is, it will take you about two and a half to three hours to get there from Durban and the best birding is in the reasonably early morning . . . . 2. Spionkop Nature Reserve is a small nature reserve on the Spionkop Dam. It is 16km beyond Winterton. It, too will probably take two and a half to three hours, and again, it is worth getting there by seven or so.It has a good bird list although I'm not sure how many Drakensberg specials can be seen there. You cannot walk around though, you go round in your car.You can also go from there round to the Spionkop Battlefiled site which is high in a rocky hill (Where you can walk). I have seen Buff-streaked Chat up there; also Gurneys Sugar Bird and Rock Kestrels. 3.You wont get up Sani Pass without a four wheel drive, but you could book on a day trip with a guide. You would probably have to spend a night in Himeville to be there in time. Sorry I cant be more helpful, I'm afraid I don't know the Southern Drakensberg area very well. There are quite a few good birding sites in the Midlands (closer to Durban), but not for Drakensberg specials. (For example you could join the Bird Club outing to Darville Sewage works in PMB if you are around on the first Sunday of the month - always a rewarding site.) Someone else may be able to give you more help - I hope so. And I hope you have a great time in SA.

Thanks for the advice Sal. I will follow up on your suggestions. The Sani pass is the one I would most like to do. If it can still be done in winter with a 4x4 vehicle I might take your advice and take a tour or hire a vehicle on my own for an overnight trip. Is it the kind of place I would take my wife and 6 year-old son, or would they be best left in Durban for this trip?

Tom

Unless they are birders I think they would probably find more to interest them (I really mean your son) in Durban. The scenery is lovely and if your son is interested in birds, can take a very long car journey, is not afraid of heights, and you are prepared to take him on what is not the safest of roads - well that is a decision for you . . . . Your wife, if she enjoys travel, would probably enjoy the trip. But if they do not come up the pass with you and have no vehicle, there is nothing for them to do in Himeville really. If you are used to really bad roads, driving across frozen waterfalls etc, you could drive yourself in a 4x4 but my advice is to go up with someone who knows the area. Stuart McLean of Birds and Beyond has taken several BF people and has been highly recommended. Phone: 082 742 6981 / 033 7021761. The code for SA is 27 and you would drop the first zero so : +27337021761. The email is: [email protected]

Hi Tom, sorry haven't time to pick out the right posts right now, but this recent trip trip http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=243810 scored all the high elevation spp except African Rock Pipit, without a guide and in a small 2WD car. It wasn't the winter, but might give you some site ideas, and ideas of where's 2WD manageable if you have some time to read it!

I've also heard that Stuart Mclean is a great and good value guide by the way, if you end up going for one.

cheers,

Larry

Thanks Larry