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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dave Kennedy" data-source="post: 1537434" data-attributes="member: 57986">John, I think Sal's advice is sound. It's not generally known, but the road from St Lucia to Cape Vidal has some great game, including Rhino and Buffalo. Good birds too - I had a great sighting of a Cuckoo Hawk along that road, and there is great forest at Cape Vidal. Do not do anything foolish, however….there are wild animals around, so take care not to go walking any old where. Remember a car makes a brilliant hide, and you will always get closer in a car then you will on foot. There are many walks in the area, and the Parks Board guys can advise you. Choose your areas, and have a decent visit to each. One way to add to the fun is to research the special birds of a given area, and see if you can find them. To give you an idea, although the St Lucia area (and much of northern Kwa-zulu Natal) has many great birds, it has some really SPECIAL specials.......for example, Rudd's Apalis, which lurks in thick vegetation, and sounds like a little machine gun....Livingstone's Turaco, a close cousin of the Knysna Turaco....all three Longclaws, Cape, Yellow-throated and Rosy-throated, of which the last is a real prize....Green Malkoha, a relative of the Coucals, and dweller in  thick tangled undergrowth…..Palm-nut Vulture, usually only found in association with the Raffia Palms growing at Mtunzini….Mangrove Kingfisher, possibly in the St Lucia mangroves or those at Mtunzini, where there is a nice boardwalk through the mangroves….Neergaard’s Sunbird, associated with the few remaining patches of Sand Forest….Gorgeous Bush-shrike – often heard but seldom seen…Black-throated Wattle-eye – I’ve seen them only once at St Lucia, in the forest close to the Parks Board offices….White-eared Barbet – fairly easy to find, but more or less restricted to this area…..Woodward’s Batis – I found this in the same patch of forest as the Wattle-eye, along with Brown Scrub-robin…. Grey Waxbill, small and exquisite….tiny Pink-throated Twinspot, in tangles in thornveld and coastal scrub, and its relative the Green Twinspot, which likes forest edges. There will be others which I have forgotten, but I am trying to illustrate how rewarding a meaningful stay in a good birding area can be.Once you get to Kruger the bird list is huge, but there are one or two places worth mentioning. The open grasslands north of Satara often have Pallid and Montagu’s Harriers. I have twice seen Senegal Lapwings in the Orpen area. The Sabie River right in front of Skukuza camp may yield an elusive African Finfoot darting between patches of vegetation along the river banks. Lake Panic Hide near Skukuza may have Black-crowned Night Heron, Green-backed Heron, Water Thick-knee and a variety of Kingfishers and Weavers. No doubt someone will come up with other area specials, but I’m sure you get the idea. I still think you should not be too casual about booking camping sites – better a bird in the hand…Best wishes,Dave</blockquote>

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