A packed breakfast and we were on the road nice and early
and back in the Soldanha Lark Alley where we were greeted by a couple of
singing Cape Long-billed Larks and showy Bokmakierie at the first
stop where a pair of Lanners whipped through on elastic wings. Jackal and Steppe Buzzards were
sitting around and we watched a Pied Crow successfully raid the nest of
a pair of Southern Fiscal.
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| Bokmakierie |
At the main site a Cape Clapper Lark was heard
performing his flappy clappy dance and we found him returning to one of three
regular perches. Karoo, Large-billed
and Red-capped were all quickly picked up too and a scan round gave us African
Pipits and Stonechats, White-backed Mousebirds and Karoo Scrub
Robins. A Cape Grey Mongoose ran across the road.
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| Large-billed Lark - a juv |
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| Red-capped Lark |
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| Karoo Scrub Robin |
There were two chance encounters too, with a fledged young Spotted
Eagle Owl watched running through the scrub before hopping up to pose
nicely only to be outdone by a male Black Harrier that cruised across
the road! We had breakfast while
watching these and also added smart Capped Wheatears to the list. With much to do we moved on but at the
junction Wilfred heard the distinctively nasal call of a Grey Tit – another of
those species we had managed to avoid last year. A pair posed nicely along side us before
carrying on their way.
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| Spotted Eagle Owl |
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| Spotted Eagle Owl |
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| Capped Wheatear |
The next area of farmland around the Mauritz Bay road
was magnificent. A simple stop at a
roadside pool for Three-banded Plovers very quickly became an excellent
grassland session with several singing Common Quails to get us
started. These are European breeders
here for there winter where they breed again before heading back north! As usual the evaded human eyes. Twelve Ostriches were out on a dusty
field where they blended in rather well.
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| Ostriches |
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| Ostriches |
Capped Wheatears (the sexes look the same) dotted
posts with African Pipits and Zitting Cisticolas and up above us
two Cloud Cisticolas were singing and appeared very Zitter in shape but not
sound. Better views were achieved of Orange-throated
Longclaw and we even had a Cape Long-billed Lark striding up the
middle of the road before a juvenile Sickle-winged Chat added itself to
the increasing morning tally.
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| African Pipit |
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| Orange-throated Longclaw |
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| Orange-throated Longclaw |
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| Theba pisana - the reason that these estivating snails look like the ones in the Med is that they are the same species that was accidentally imported here in the 1880s |
Another pool held a gaggle of Egyptian and Spur-winged
Geese along with 12 Blacksmith Lapwings. Whilst watching them two Spotted
Thick-knees walked out of the sedge bed in the middle which was an
improvement on watching from inside the van whilst stuck in traffic. Blue Cranes and Black-headed Herons were found in the fields and amongst the hirundines we once again found Banded Martin.
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| Black-headed Heron |
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| Spotted Thick-knee |
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| Blue Crane |
Brian had arranged for a guided visit to the Cliphoek
salt works and the ex-site owner met us and took us into this otherwise
private spot. Chestnut-banded Plover
was the target and it took only a few minutes to find them and unlike last year
there were many dotted around including several colour ringed birds. They are such a smart little plover. As with
the West Coast NP there were heaps of waders to go through with a very similar
spread of species discovered and two Ruff were the only addition.
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| Chestnut-banded Plover |
There were many Greater Flamingos but we could find
no Lessers but there were six African Spoonbills, 13 Great White
Pelicans, odd looking African Darters and another new South African
bird for me – Goliath Heron. What
a beast. Little and Black-necked
Grebes dotted one of the more vegetated pools.
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| Great White Pelicans |
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| Great White Pelican, Greater Flamingos & African Spoonbills |
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| Kelp Gull - what a bill! |
I checked the roosting terns and picked up five Great
Cresteds amongst the Sandwich along with a lone Common. Four Caspian Terns were sitting off to
one side and every tern was facing inconveniently into the wind.
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| Great Crested & Caspian Terns & Little Stints |
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| Great Crested and Sandwich Terns |
Up near the works compound there was a freshwater pool and
it was attracting a host of small birds and with the Weavers and Bishops
there were at least 20 Red-billed Queleas many of which were breeding
plumaged males. Smart little birds. A pair of Bokmakierie came down as
well as diminutive Namaqua Doves and Cape Bulbuls. If you had a small hide there you would have
got some great shots.
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| Red-billed Queleas, Bishops and Weavers |
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| Red-billed Queleas and Southern Red Bishops |
We dropped our host back home at the adjacent farmhouse and
were invited in to look at the three Barn Owls tucked up in the crown of
the fat palm tree in the garden.
Slightly better than my wing feather visible in a box the last time! The
gardens also held a roosting Night Heron, Malachite and Southern Double Collared Sunbirds,
all the Weavery things again as well as Fiscal Flycatchers, both Sparrows
and a floppy but flighty African Hoopoe.
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| Black-crowned Night Heron |
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| Western Barn Owl |
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| Southern Double Collared Sunbird |
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Hadada Ibises
|
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| Chiasmia observata |
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| A stunning Angulate Tortoise |
We could see the river too and a Pied Kingfisher was
hovering over the middle which was cool.
Whimbrel and Grey Plover were added to the day wader list
and after consuming a gorgeous piece of cheesecake we bid our farewells and
headed off.
This extra bonus stop had eaten slightly into the day but we
still checked the river for Grey-headed Gulls (fail) but did get close to a
pair of Pied Kingfishers here too.
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| Pied Kingfisher |
Some nodding dog may have followed as we hit the road eastish
towards Ceres but a series of roadside dam (lake) stops provided us with
some van respite and a good selection of species with a brood of White-faced
Whistling Ducks along with the usual dabblers, geese and Red-knobbed
Coots. Another Goliath Heron
stalked a lake bank and a Giant Kingfisher flew past and out of view –
the two biggest of each of their tribes.
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| Goliath Heron |
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| Red-billed Teal & Cape Shoveler |
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| White-faced Whistling Ducks |
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| Several pools had Three-banded Plovers |
A broken river bridge gave us the chance to scan either way
and another pair of Pied Kingfishers were found along with a selection of hirundines. The reeds held African Reed Warblers and
melodious Lesser Swamp Warblers and the latter showed incredibly well
for us. They sit somewhere between Reed
and Great Reed in size but sound nothing like either. Southern Masked Weavers and Red
Bishops had their nests in the same reeds.
A very distant African Fish Eagle and pale Booted Eagle
added interest before it was time for the final push up through Mitchell’s
Pass and then down into Ceres – our base for the next couple of
days.
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| Southern Masked Weavers |
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| Lesser Swamp Warbler |
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Lesser Swamp Warbler
|
But first we stopped at the river in town to pick up the
hoped for African Black Ducks that were furtively feeding in the aquatic
grasses. A subtle duck but always a good
one to see. From here we headed up into
the foothills to try for Protea Canary.
It was getting late and little was moving around the stream but we did
see some good Olive Thrushes, Cape Sugarbird, Paradise Flycatcher and Robin
Chats and watched a couple of White-necked Ravens before heading
back down for a late dinner after a tiring but rewarding day.
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