Dave Kennedy
Well-known member
Garden Route Birding 6
I thought it might be a good idea at this stage to take an overview of the general area. It will give you a much better feel for the area, and help you in planning birding trips.
Take a look at the map which I have suggested for this little discussion. I have reduced the scale, so that you can see the grain of the landscape, and have placed the red ring on the location of Knysna, just to give you your bearings. Once you understand the landscape, you should be able to organise your birding more effectively.
http://www.multimap.com/s/vXc6rIhN
Hopefully you can see clearly how the land divides itself up into series of sub-parallel units between the sea and the tops of the mountains.
Traversing from S to N you can see the following:
1. Coastline
Sandy shore, rocky shore, and sea cliffs……..three different habitats.
Fine sandy beaches can be found at Sedgefield, Platbank along to Goukamma Mouth, from Buffelsbaai to Brenton-on-Sea, and from Robberg to Beacon Island Hotel in Plettenberg bay.
Rocky shores occur at Gericke’s Point, about 2.5 km west of Swartvlei Mouth, and in the vicinity of Buffelsbaai.
One of the best cliff areas is Kranshoek, in the Harkerville Forest between Knysna and Plettenberg bay. Robberg has both rocky and cliff-type shores.
2. Coastal plain
This lies between the shore and the foot of the wave-cut platform, and incorporates fossil dunes (particularly between Sedgefield and Goukamma R.), the three salt/brackwater lakes of Island Vlei, Langvlei and Rondevlei, the Swartvlei amd Goukamma estuaries.
3. Wave-cut Platform
Cut long ago when the sea level was considerably higher than today, the wave-cut platform lies at increased elevation between the inland margin of the coastal plain and the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains. Most of the area’s agriculture is located on the wave-cut platform.
Rivers tumbling down from the mountains have cut deep, forested gorges into the steep scarp slope of the wave-cut platform. These gorges hold the Brownhooded Kingfisher and Half-collared Kingfisher trails.
4. Forest
The forest lies in a well-defined band between the inland edge of the wave-cut platform and the lower slopes of the mountains. The gorges mentioned above, and others like them, allow the forest habitat to penetrate to lower elevations. This is well seen on the “Passes” road, which links George to Knysna on the wave-cut platform. Every time the road meets one of the rivers coming down from the mountains it has to negotiate a deep, thickly-forested pass.
5. Mountains
Steep, high and formidable, the Outeniqua Mountains support mountain fynbos above the forest, and, with increasing elevation, stony and rocky hillsides. Roads such as the Outeniqua and Montagu Passes out of George, and the Prince Alfred Pass road which turns north off the N2 east of Knysna opposite the turn-off to Noetzie, provide vehicular access to these montane habitats. Although I have take a saloon car over all three, note that Montagu and Prince Alfred are largely dirt, and, particularly in the case of Prince Alfred Pass, quite rough, with tight corners.
6. Karoo
Once across the crest of the Outeniquas you pass into the rain shadow of the mountains and the arid landscape of the Little Karoo. This yields a whole new range of birds, with dry-land specials such as larks, buntings, bustards and so on.
Our pictures this time show sandy and rocky shores, sea cliffs, coastal plain and wave-cut platform, and forest. Note especially in the fourth picture how the coastal plain is bounded on the seaward side by an ancient sand dune. To the right runs the Touw River, and from it, heading left in the picture, is the channel which connects it with all the lakes. The road is climbing the steep scarp slope up to the wave-cut platform. If you look carefully at the right of the picture you will see the agricultural land beginning. In the distance there is no coastal plain, only sea cliffs, which lead directly up onto the wave-cut platform.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy
I thought it might be a good idea at this stage to take an overview of the general area. It will give you a much better feel for the area, and help you in planning birding trips.
Take a look at the map which I have suggested for this little discussion. I have reduced the scale, so that you can see the grain of the landscape, and have placed the red ring on the location of Knysna, just to give you your bearings. Once you understand the landscape, you should be able to organise your birding more effectively.
http://www.multimap.com/s/vXc6rIhN
Hopefully you can see clearly how the land divides itself up into series of sub-parallel units between the sea and the tops of the mountains.
Traversing from S to N you can see the following:
1. Coastline
Sandy shore, rocky shore, and sea cliffs……..three different habitats.
Fine sandy beaches can be found at Sedgefield, Platbank along to Goukamma Mouth, from Buffelsbaai to Brenton-on-Sea, and from Robberg to Beacon Island Hotel in Plettenberg bay.
Rocky shores occur at Gericke’s Point, about 2.5 km west of Swartvlei Mouth, and in the vicinity of Buffelsbaai.
One of the best cliff areas is Kranshoek, in the Harkerville Forest between Knysna and Plettenberg bay. Robberg has both rocky and cliff-type shores.
2. Coastal plain
This lies between the shore and the foot of the wave-cut platform, and incorporates fossil dunes (particularly between Sedgefield and Goukamma R.), the three salt/brackwater lakes of Island Vlei, Langvlei and Rondevlei, the Swartvlei amd Goukamma estuaries.
3. Wave-cut Platform
Cut long ago when the sea level was considerably higher than today, the wave-cut platform lies at increased elevation between the inland margin of the coastal plain and the foot of the Outeniqua Mountains. Most of the area’s agriculture is located on the wave-cut platform.
Rivers tumbling down from the mountains have cut deep, forested gorges into the steep scarp slope of the wave-cut platform. These gorges hold the Brownhooded Kingfisher and Half-collared Kingfisher trails.
4. Forest
The forest lies in a well-defined band between the inland edge of the wave-cut platform and the lower slopes of the mountains. The gorges mentioned above, and others like them, allow the forest habitat to penetrate to lower elevations. This is well seen on the “Passes” road, which links George to Knysna on the wave-cut platform. Every time the road meets one of the rivers coming down from the mountains it has to negotiate a deep, thickly-forested pass.
5. Mountains
Steep, high and formidable, the Outeniqua Mountains support mountain fynbos above the forest, and, with increasing elevation, stony and rocky hillsides. Roads such as the Outeniqua and Montagu Passes out of George, and the Prince Alfred Pass road which turns north off the N2 east of Knysna opposite the turn-off to Noetzie, provide vehicular access to these montane habitats. Although I have take a saloon car over all three, note that Montagu and Prince Alfred are largely dirt, and, particularly in the case of Prince Alfred Pass, quite rough, with tight corners.
6. Karoo
Once across the crest of the Outeniquas you pass into the rain shadow of the mountains and the arid landscape of the Little Karoo. This yields a whole new range of birds, with dry-land specials such as larks, buntings, bustards and so on.
Our pictures this time show sandy and rocky shores, sea cliffs, coastal plain and wave-cut platform, and forest. Note especially in the fourth picture how the coastal plain is bounded on the seaward side by an ancient sand dune. To the right runs the Touw River, and from it, heading left in the picture, is the channel which connects it with all the lakes. The road is climbing the steep scarp slope up to the wave-cut platform. If you look carefully at the right of the picture you will see the agricultural land beginning. In the distance there is no coastal plain, only sea cliffs, which lead directly up onto the wave-cut platform.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy