Birds
identified: 41 species Text: Hazel van Rooyen
Attendees: Stan & Val Culley, Stanley &
Asothie Gengan, Graham & Sue Salthouse, Danie & Bella du Toit, Doug
& Angie Butcher, Margaret Jones, Rob Eccles & Hanlie Kloppers, Louis
& Pat Fourie, Bob & Hazel van Rooyen
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| Mocking Cliff Chat (HvR) |
After a
week of lovely sunshine and clear skies, Sunday dawned overcast but it was
quite pleasant for walking and stayed dry until after our braai when it started
to mizzle just as we were leaving. The
flowers were lovely as usual, with some different species flowering at their
peak from our last visit, although not at their most sparkly in the misty
atmosphere. The Burchellia bubalina (Wild
Pomegranate) shrubs around the picnic sight were just coming into flower.
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| Burchellia bulbina (HvR) |
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| Lazy Cisticola (HvR) |
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| Members setting out (HvR) |
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| Through the flowers (HvR) |
On arrival,
Amethyst and Greater Double-collared Sunbirds were very active in the
Strelitzias and a female Mocking Cliff
Chat guarded her territory on the rocky outcrop. A Lazy Cisticola was also very vocal amongst the rocks.
 |
| Berkheya speciosa (HvR) |
 |
| Ox-eye Daisy (HvR) |
Our first
walk produced plenty of Bronze Mannikins,
African Stonechats, Fan-tailed and Red-collared Widowbirds. We also
disturbed Yellow-throated Longclaws
amongst the grassland. A Burchell’s Coucal called in the
distance. At the bottom of the field
half our group returned via the main path seeing Black-bellied Starling, Black-collared Barbet and Black Saw-wing. The
other half took the stepping stones over the brook and up the other side,
hoping we didn’t encounter a Black Mamba seen on a previous occasion. Up here we saw quite a few Cape Canaries and after following the
gorge for a while, we returned via the same route.
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| Eriosema umthamvunens (Brown Bonnets) (HvR) |
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| Helichrysum & Aster (HvR) |
 |
| Scilla (HvR) |
 |
| (HvR) |
 |
| Cape Canary (HvR) |
At the
picnic site everyone was keen to tell me the Gurney’s Sugarbird had been seen but had now flown off. However, as soon as I sat down for coffee a
loud yell from Stan told me it had returned and eventually I managed to get a
photo.
 |
| Gurney's Sugarbird (Stan Culley) |
 |
Gurney's Sugarbird
(HvR) |
After
breakfast our meanderings took us down the other side of the valley and here
some flowers were a little more advanced.
 |
| Another breath-taking view (Stan Culley) |
 |
| Red-collared Widowbird (Stan Culley) |
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| Red-collared Widowbird (HvR) |
More widowbirds were in evidence, perching on the odd dead stick still
standing from last summer. Spurwing Geese and Crowned Hornbills
flew overhead and someone heard a Crowned
Eagle.
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| How much further! (HvR) |
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| Oribi (HvR) |
We surprised some Oribi buck
in the longer grass which sprinted out of sight. On reaching a steep path tumbling down the
gorge we decided we should retrace our steps and we plodded back up the
hillside.
Stan had
stayed at the picnic site and seen African
Green Pigeon, African Palm Swift, Lesser Honeyguide and Yellow-fronted Canary.
 |
| African Green-Pigeon (Stan Culley) |
General opinions were that the flowers were better than our previous visit, although had the sun been shining the helichrysums would have opened up. Everyone
enjoyed the morning’s birding and we finished up with a braai as usual.
Barbet,
Black-collared
Bulbul, Dark-capped
Canary, Brimstone
Canary, Cape
Canary,
Yellow-fronted
Chat, Mocking Cliff
Cisticola, Croaking
Cisticola, Lazy
Coucall, Burchell’s
Dove, Cape Turtle
Dove, Red-eyed Dove
Drongo, Fork-tailed
Eagle, African
Crowned
Goose, Egyptian
|
Goose, Spurwing
Honeyguide, Lesser
Hornbill, Crowned
Hornbill, Trumpeter
Longclaw, Yellow-throated
Mannikin, Bronze
Neddicky
Oriole, Black-headed
Pigeon, African
Green
Raven, White-necked
Saw-wing, Black
Seed-eater,
Streaky-headed
Spurfowl, Natal
Starling,
Black-bellied
|
Stonechat, African
Sugarbird, Gurney’s
Sunbird, Amethyst
Sunbird, Greater
Double-collared
Sunbird, Olive
Swallow, Lesser-striped
Swift, African Palm
Waxbill, Swee
Weaver, Cape
Weaver, Spectacled
White-eye, Cape
Widowbird,
Fan-tailed
Widowbird,
Red-collared
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Photos property of photographer
