Kruger- Punda Maria
We arrived at Punda Maria after a 7 hour rather grey and rainy trip from JHB and not the sort of start to the holiday that our visitors Gary and Jane, from the UK were looking for, even though at 27c, it was still 29c higher than when they left England!
After the booking in and usual unpacking and sorting out we headed out along the Mahonie loop driving in an anti-clockwise direction. After only a few hundred metres a shout of “stop” came from the back seat and as I looked around for a mammal of some sort I was very pleasantly surprised to hear the immortal words...”what’s that bird?”... I didn’t need a second invitation and from then on proceeded to attempt to enlighten our visitors to every bird we came across. Jane is a very keen photographer and her camera and assorted lenses showed that she meant business. She became fascinated by the variety and colours of our birds and as the holiday wore on her interest in our birds and photographing them increased. Needles to say I had no objection to her new interest. To keep Gary interested he had a check list of all the birds that they would see which he dutifully completed (with Jane’s help) which at the end of the trip amounted to 194 sightings for them both.
Suffice to say I won’t mention all the birds we saw as we started from Cape Turtle Doves and moved on from there! Notables included (bold are new spots for me) African Cuckoo, Dusky Lark, Pale Flycatcher, flocks of Red-billed Quelea, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Tawny Eagle, Brown-Snake Eagle, Yellow-billed Kite, and near the end of the loop near the camp I heard parrots in a tree not far from the road. I told everybody in the car it would be Brown-headed, but after the first of the Parrots appeared I realised that it wasn’t Brown-headed but what I thought was Cape Parrots. After getting a clear sight of them I still thought it was Cape Parrots and studying Newman’s it wasn’t supposed to be here. Only later did I realise it was the Grey-headed Parrot (Poicephalus Suahelicus). Very pleased with this sighting we joined the H13-2 into Punda Maria Camp and spotted a stunning juvenile Martial Eagle perched in a tree close to the road and it seemed every dead tree along the road had something perched in them, including African Green Pigeons, European and Lilac-breasted Rollers, Red-backed Shrikes, Tambourine Doves, and then a Broad-billed Roller just before the gate.
It was a balmy evening as dusk fell and as we walked down towards the restaurant I kept my head pointing towards the darkening red sky for the elusive Bat Hawk which is said to be resident here, but alas, no luck, even though the bats started to emerge from a hole under the roof of the kitchen building. Sitting at one of the tables outside under the Baobab tree we listened to Scops Owl and Square-tailed and Fiery-necked Nightjars. It was very good to be back in KNP.
Martin
