Attendees: Stan & Val Culley, Barrie Willis & Sue Hansbury, Margaret Jones, Hazel Parry, Doug & Angie Butcher, Bob & Hazel van Rooyen; Alistair Warman, John & Pat visiting from Zimbabwe. (13 attendees).
After a mild start, the elements decided to show us that autumn was really here and it turned cloudy and cool. We were glad of our jackets and the birdlife also preferred to stay hidden beneath leafy branches. A meander across the grassland at the hutted camp revealed Black-collared Barbet, Yellow-fronted Canary, African Darter, Red-eyed Dove, Yellow-throated Longclaw, White-necked Raven, Black-bellied Starling, Cape Glossy Starling, Red-wing Starling, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, and Olive Sunbird.
Back at the camp a large troop of Samango monkeys swung about in the trees. An inspection of a new dam on farmland next to the entrance proved uninteresting. A Red-eyed Dove and Yellow-fronted Canary surveyed the scene from high up on the lifeless branches of a dead tree.
Moving to the picnic spot halfway down the gorge road for breakfast, a Pied Crow and Jackal Buzzard fought for airspace above the tree tops and the occasional Crowned Hornbill swooped undulating across our view. On walking up the hill Green Wood-Hoopoes cackled in the trees.
Down in the valley, a saunter through the riverine forest produced Southern Boubou, African Firefinch, Sombre Greenbul, and Dark-backed Weaver and strolling a short way along the Hoopoe Falls trail yielded nothing new, just a few butterflies attracted to the alien Lantana – I wonder why!
After all that, a lovely braai was enjoyed by all sitting by the riverside.
Birds recorded: to follow
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