South Africa in December (1 Viewer)

I'm going to be in South Africa for the last two weeks of December. Part of the time we''ll be in Kruger National Park -- and after reading some bird trip reports here and on other sites, I'm really excited about that. However, most of the time we'll be staying in Waterval Boven, mabye two-thirds of the way from Johannesburg to Nelspruit. It seems to be a highland area with lots of waterfalls and lots of trout fishing. So very different from Kruger.

Does anyone have any experience of birding this area? I can't find anything about it on the web or in books.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, there is some good birding and trout fishing in that area. Waterval Boven is at the top of the escarpment and Waterval Onder a few kilometers down the road at the bottom. You can bird anywhere, there. There is some great birding in the general area, too (Dullstroom IBA, Kaapsehoop IBA).

I haven't birded the area for the last four years but used to spend quite a bit of time in the area. Try the book, "South African Birdfinder" by Cohen, and look at Route14. Taita Falcon, White-winged Flufftail, Gurney's Sugarbird, Blue Swallow, Wattled Crane, and Bush Blackcap should wet your appetite. You're welcome to PM me.

Many thanks

Mark Bruce said:

Hi Jeff, there is some good birding and trout fishing in that area. Waterval Boven is at the top of the escarpment and Waterval Onder a few kilometers down the road at the bottom. You can bird anywhere, there. There is some great birding in the general area, too (Dullstroom IBA, Kaapsehoop IBA).

I haven't birded the area for the last four years but used to spend quite a bit of time in the area. Try the book, "South African Birdfinder" by Cohen, and look at Route14. Taita Falcon, White-winged Flufftail, Gurney's Sugarbird, Blue Swallow, Wattled Crane, and Bush Blackcap should wet your appetite. You're welcome to PM me.

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That's what I love about this site: You can post a question about any obscure site/topic and be fairly sure that someone will give a useul answer.

Many thanks for replying, Mark. It's good to hear that I should be able to do some worthwhile birding while I'm in the Waterval Boven area. I'll certainly get the book you recommended.

I'm hopeful that I'll see quite a range of birds as we're spending two days in the Johannesburg area plus a day in Durban as well as 4 days in Kruger and a week in Waterval Boven.

Jeff here are a couple of links.

http://www.fatbirder.com/links_geo/africa/south_africa.html
http://www.camacdonald.com/birding/africasouthafrica.htm

My favourite places were Sani pass (lesotho) Eland, G sugar Bird, Rockjumper.
Pafuri (NE Kruger - a whole mass of stuff)
Mkuzi - Black rhino This reserve didnt feel too touristy like Kruger.
St lucia - various

Negative of kruger - Somtimes you feel like you are in a giant longleat (touristy and busy). They dont allow you to leave the compounds between late dawn early dusk !!!!!! except for official night drives. The night drives are a must.

Good luck and good birding

JeffMoh said:

That's what I love about this site: You can post a question about any obscure site/topic and be fairly sure that someone will give a useul answer.

Many thanks for replying, Mark. It's good to hear that I should be able to do some worthwhile birding while I'm in the Waterval Boven area. I'll certainly get the book you recommended.

I'm hopeful that I'll see quite a range of birds as we're spending two days in the Johannesburg area plus a day in Durban as well as 4 days in Kruger and a week in Waterval Boven.

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You're welcome, Jeff. The book will cover all the places you visit. Johannesburg has lots of good birding. Try the Highveld Botanical Gardens, Rondebult (need to check it's still safe to visit), and Marievale.

You can look at country resources on the African Bird Club site, too. http://www.africanbirdclub.org/

Hi Jeff,

Kruger will be great- though it does have a touristy feel, it is nice to be able to drive your own car around. Been there many times and always loved it. Best birding is up north, pafuri and punda maria for forest specials, and also Shingwedzi- but the whole park is good. The south and middle are better for big game, lion, leopard etc- north they can be scarce. (do a guided game walk too- especially from Punda Maria, or Olifants camps where you could get Pels fishing owl- let them know exactly what you are looking for and try to get the guide to yourself)

For the rest of your stay, it will be a great contrast, and good birding- check this site for good info for that area
http://www.sabirding.co.za/birdspot/prov8.htm
and its main page for good info on the whole country

also check the strydom tunnel for the famous taita falcon- though i am not sure if its still there

In SA, you can find good birds everywhere so keep your eyes open.

I was in SA in June, birding zululand and it was spectacular- have a great trip

exley said:

Hi Jeff,

Kruger will be great- though it does have a touristy feel, it is nice to be able to drive your own car around. Been there many times and always loved it. Best birding is up north, pafuri and punda maria for forest specials, and also Shingwedzi- but the whole park is good. The south and middle are better for big game, lion, leopard etc- north they can be scarce. (do a guided game walk too- especially from Punda Maria, or Olifants camps where you could get Pels fishing owl- let them know exactly what you are looking for and try to get the guide to yourself)

For the rest of your stay, it will be a great contrast, and good birding- check this site for good info for that area
http://www.sabirding.co.za/birdspot/prov8.htm
and its main page for good info on the whole country

also check the strydom tunnel for the famous taita falcon- though i am not sure if its still there

In SA, you can find good birds everywhere so keep your eyes open.

I was in SA in June, birding zululand and it was spectacular- have a great trip

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Many thanks for the advice. I'm VERY excited about the trip - even upgraded my digital camera to a Canon IS S3.

It now looks like we'll get a day or two in Durban at some point, which should increase the variety of birds to see.

durban really adds a lot-

check out the durban bayhead/umgeni river mouth for waders,terns etc (check tide)
if you can get to zululand, do it- places like mtinzini are just a drive up the coast with great birding (palmnut vulture,green coucal ,green twinspot) . also of interest may be forests like dlinza with the only aerial boardwalk in SA (and rare stuff like spotted thrush)
-there is a lot of info online- it will also be quite hot so bird at the right time

good luck

exley said:

durban really adds a lot-

check out the durban bayhead/umgeni river mouth for waders,terns etc (check tide)
if you can get to zululand, do it- places like mtinzini are just a drive up the coast with great birding (palmnut vulture,green coucal ,green twinspot) . also of interest may be forests like dlinza with the only aerial boardwalk in SA (and rare stuff like spotted thrush)
-there is a lot of info online- it will also be quite hot so bird at the right time

good luck

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Thanks again. I doubt we'll have time for Zululand. If this trip turns out half as well as I now expect, I'm sure we'll be heading back to SA next year or the year after that.

It will be worth your while subscribing to the forums through these websites..

http://lists.nu.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/sabirdnet
http://sahotspots.co.za/

Post a message there and you are bound to get answers from a local,

Thanks

richlindie said:

It will be worth your while subscribing to the forums through these websites..

http://lists.nu.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/sabirdnet
http://sahotspots.co.za/

Post a message there and you are bound to get answers from a local,

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Many thanks. I've taken your advice.

Jeff

Lots of replies

richlindie said:

It will be worth your while subscribing to the forums through these websites..

http://lists.nu.ac.za/mailman/listinfo/sabirdnet
http://sahotspots.co.za/

Post a message there and you are bound to get answers from a local,

Click to expand...

I've already received eight replies through sabirdnet. So I think I'll have plenty of sites to visit!

Also, my cousin is taking us on an overnight trip to Swaziland. From what I've read, this should turn up some interesting birds.

Jeff

Kruger National Park

Hi Jeff,

Birding in the Kruger National Park (KNP) is fantastic - don't let anyone tell you differently. You can drive yourself around, so you are in no way dependent on a guide who is trying to find the Big Five for his clients. A few pointers - the best birding is often in the rest camps themselves, where the birds are everybody's pals, and allow close approach. The same applies at picnic sites, where you can get out of your car, rent a gas cylinder for a few rand, and cook your breakfast, should you so wish. There are also excellent hides in certain areas of the park. There is a good one near Skukuza, the main camp, which is excellent for water birds.
The park is broadly split into different habitats. North of Olifants Restcamp the vegetation is largely mopane veld (Colophospermum mopane. In the far north, the sandveld around Punda Maria yields many unusual tropical species. South of Olifants the vegetation is principally Acacia thornveld -which has a good bird population - and the area near Berg-en-Dal in the south-west is hilly, mountainous and rocky.
The larger rivers boast excellent riverine forest with large trees such as Sycamore fig Ficus sycomorus, and Apple-leaf Lonchocarpus capassa. Giant eagle owls often roost in such trees, and the fig fruit attracts many frugivorous species. Listen at night when in camp for the Prrrrrrrrup! call of the African Scops Owl. You can often find it sitting at the fork of a branch close against the trunk. Since it relies on its camouflage, it will often allow close approach. If you are staying at Waterval Boven you will probably come into the southern part of the KNP. Whatever you do, as soon as you get to the park gate, buy the best map of the KNP available, for it will show not only the roads, but all the hides and picnic spots etc. Watch the vultures to find lions. Circling vultures are simply using a thermal to gain altitude, but if you see vultures and/or marabou descending from all directions towards a single location on the ground, there may well have been a recent kill. Likewise vultures and Marabou sittting in gangs in trees suggest that the predators may still be on the kill.
I have atttached some KNP birds to motivate you. I hope you have a memorable visit, and please tell us all about it subsequently in this forum.
Best wishes,
Dave Kennedy

Jeff

We did a very small amount of birding near Waterval Boven last month - staying at the delightful Bergwaters Eco-lodge. I'll have a listen to our notes and check to see if we saw anything "out of the ordinary" there sometime over the next few days. Two species that stick in the memory are Alpine Swift and Southern Bald Ibis, both seen from the viewpoint for the lovely Eland River Falls (through the old railway tunnel). Looked like the ibises were either nesting or roosting on the cliffs to the left, as viewed, of the falls. You can't miss them because several square metres of cliff have been attractively white-washed.

Look for the recently discovered Grey-backed Finchlarks near Satata camp in KNP and seek out Fanie at Shingwedzi for a chance of seeing Collared Palm Thrush.

There's a super colony of Dwarf Mongoose inside Pretoriukop Camp, although on my recording device they apparently went down as "colony of dwarves" so look out for Snow White too!

Have a great time.

Chris