Kruger – Punda Maria to Pafuri/Crooks Corner
Clear blue skies – max temp 44c
We left Punda Maria gate at 04:45 and a balmy 26c, and within a few metres of the gate we saw our first of many Square-tailed Nightjars, and as it was still dark the picture is not good (especially with a long zoom lens attached!). We continued slowly along the road waiting every few hundred metres for the Nightjars to take flight after differing lengths of time sat in front of the car, with their piercing scarlet red eyes shining in the car headlights. We continued along the H13-1 tar road until we reached the H1-8 as the darkness finally gave way to the pink dawn hues of a clear African sky. We turn left and headed north towards Pafuri. After a few kilometres we noticed a few Giraffe on the right and my first new spot of the day was climbing all over them....Yellow-billed Oxpeckers. We didn’t stay long as we wanted to get to Pafuri as early as possible and so we continued north until we reached Mazanje waterhole and on the left two smallish birds of prey, and after noticing the large red patch on the head and neck, they were unmistakably Red-necked Falcons. Jane with her much bigger lens (size does count!!) managed to take a reasonable picture and so I will be wanting her to donate this to me!! As the pink sky slowly faded away to the deep blue we found Tawny Eagle, Steppe Eagle, Brown Snake Eagles and Bateleur either perched in large trees or taking to the morning thermals slowly circling making their unhurried ascent into the vast blue African sky. My intention was to go straight to the Luvuvhu Bridge to look for Mottled and Böhm’s Spinetail, but with the temperature at 06:00 already at 32c we were keeping up the fluids.... rather too well maybe, as a pit stop was required and we therefore decided to go straight to Pafuri picnic area. Both our visitors were so impressed with this picnic site and couldn’t believe how beautiful this area is, with the added bonus of a skottle breakfast and surrounded by so many different birds, Crocodiles and Nyala. After cooking breakfast I went for a walk. I managed to find Frank and asked him about Pels Fishing Owl. He said that he hadn’t seen any for a while, but he did hear them on a regular basis (which is very good news). We chatted a while about the birds in the area, and I then carried on with my solitary walk along the river bank. In the river there were Goliath and Purple Heron, Three-banded Plovers, Wood Sandpipers and Ruff. Walking back towards the road Retz’s Helmet-Shrike and Golden-tailed Woodpecker were noisily searching for grubs, while the stunning colour of the Violet-backed Starlings catch the sunlight high in the trees. There are fleeting glances of Orange-breasted Bush Shrike although the Grey-headed and Gorgeous Bush Shrikes remain elusive despite their calls. Paradise and Spotted Flycatchers flitted between branches along with several Chin-spot Batis. Reluctantly I was prised away from this birding paradise and we continued along the S63 towards Crooks Corner. Many of the trees along the roadside were perching points for dozens of Little, Carmine and Golden-backed Bee-eaters singing as they take off, chase flying insects and return to the same perching point. As we moved out of the heat of the un-shaded dirt road into the shade of areas alongside the river we spot a Little Sparrowhawk in the deep shade, in contrast a Crowned Hornbill perches in the sunlight showing off his bright red bill. Back into the hot sun and about 20metres into the short grass on the right we noticed a dead African Wild Cat, showing no signs of any fight to the death and untouched by any scavenging.....strange.... back into the relief of the shade and an African Goshawk sat in the cool shadows near a Hooded Vulture, and Trumpeter Hornbills cried in the tree ahead. Back into the unrelenting sun again at its hottest at 44c, and turning left towards Crooks Corner again into cool shade and a glimpse of an Eastern Nicator in the dense undergrowth of this area. We slowly drive under a fallen Fever Tree (with not a lot of space above the roof) and out into the sunlight once more of Crooks Corner. A Village Indigobird called in a Fever Tree at the river’s edge and on the sandbanks of the ‘Great Grey Greasy’ Limpopo several White-crowned Lapwing stood with the feet at the water’s edge in between basking large Nile Crocodile. A Collared Sunbird busily climbed among the dense bush at the end of the car park area to the sound of Hippo’s grunting from the Luvuvhu confluence. The sun was too hot to stay in the open and so we got back into the car and drove back along the S63 to the tar H1-8 and turned right to the Luvuvhu Bridge to find my Spinetails. Unfortunately it was a no show for the Spinetails, although several Meves’s Glossy Starling are perched high in the trees on the southern and northern banks of the river. We turned around and turned right onto the S64 for the short loop. The only sighting was of White-backed Vultures in trees far off to the right.
We turned south along the H1-8 and headed home to Punda Maria. We were hot and tired and decided to drive straight back to camp to the welcoming feeling of air-con and a stretch out on the bed before supper and the sounds of Nightjars and tonight Thick-tailed Bushbabies jumping in the trees above us screaming.....they sounds like children fighting.
I am having trouble uploading any more pictures and so I will try uploading more later.
Martin
