St. Lucia Part 2: Mammals…(KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa): October 11, 2009

St. Lucia also proved an impressive park for game with nearly twenty species seen during this one day alone (just under a third of all the mammals seen on the trip were recorded during this one magic day!). Best of all happened much as the birds did, before breakfast. Checking the grasslands for longclaws and pipits we came upon a pair of beastly White Rhinoceros (see photo) grazing the roadside verge. They were so close to our vehicle we hear them noisily chomping away on the grass! Also quite impressive was cross-eyed Buffalo (see photo) that looked all the more menacing for it. Out in the grasslands we also found a gangly-legged Common (Southern) Reedbuck (see photo), a number of Kudu sporting impressive “horns”, the now usual Impalas and many others. One parking lot proved a good stakeout for the scarce Samango Monkey that rather let its rare status down by begging for scraps around the camp! The same camp also held (along with the Brown Scrub-Robin photographed below), a rather tame Red Duiker that felt a little like a camp pet, and massive mob of Banded Mongoose roamed the lot, numbering some 40 animals (see photo)! We also encountered a pair of frisky Burchell's Zebras in a car park, that were getting so "fresh" with each other we felt compelled to look the other way (see photo)!

In the afternoon after this truly absorbing day that was packed with game and loaded with birds, we headed south to Eshowe for the night in readiness for our exploration of that rich area the following day...

St. Lucia Part 1: Birds…(KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa): October 11, 2009

The Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park is an extremely diverse area of varied habitats, that contains a mosaic of woodlands, coastal forests, grasslands, and nationally important wetland areas. This diversity in habitats leads to an interesting mix of birds and animals too, and we experienced a great day dipping in and out of the various habitats picking up birds and game as we went. First for the birds though…We began our day, pre-breakfast, in coastal forest looking for particular specialties of this zone. Luckily they were not too hard to find, and we got some real “stonkers” even before our first meal of the day. This included the lime-green, punk-haired Livingstone’s Turaco sharing the same grove of trees with a male Woodward’s Batis. Also before our hearty cooked breakfast back in town was one of the raptor finds of the trip, and a lifebird for all, a Southern Banded Snake-Eagle, using a power line on the edge of some woodland as a lookout (see photo). In the grasslands we found a few glowing Yellow-throated Longclaws weaving their way in and out of the stands of tall grass (see photo), along with Pale-crowned Cisticola, another “confusing” pipit, this time Buffy Pipit, and a small party of Senegal Lapwings in a recently burnt area. Checking the wetlands and coastal areas we came upon humongous Goliath Herons, White-fronted Plovers, and several Collared Pratincoles, and one of the reed beds held a few Southern Brown-throated Weavers. Later in the day we checked some parking lots bordered with more coastal forest that held the endemic Brown Scrub-Robin (see photo) that was remarkably easy when seen competing with Forest Weavers and Yellow-bellied Greenbuls for food scraps scattered around the lots!

Mkhuze Game Reserve…(South Africa): October 10, 2009

After our roadwork-plagued drive down here from Johannesburg the afternoon and evening before, a short drive into Mkhuze was just what we needed. This has been described as a “Mecca for southern African birders” and we soon learned why. We bumped into just one other family while in the reserve this day, but for the most part we felt as if we had the birds and game all to ourselves. Game was abundant and the now very familiar species like Burchell’s Zebras, Impalas, hippos, Giraffes, and Warthogs were all seen once more along with a few striking Nyala too. The birding was fantastic too, and despite a drizzly morning that had us sheltering in some of their well-placed hides for cover, the rain did not dampen our spirits and the birds behaved as if they were oblivious to these “spring showers”. As we drove into the heart of the reserve a less than gorgeous call led us to an absolutely gorgeous bird, called rightly enough, the Gorgeous Bush-Shrike, a bird that eluded my camera, and that sports a vibrant vermilion-red throat patch bordered in black. The rain continued to spit on us, although a number of Pink-throated Twinspots (see photos) both within the main reserve and along the entrance track showed no signs of being affected by the regular downpours. While we sheltered from a particularly heavy shower in one of the blinds set in amongst sand forest, we found Bearded Scrub-Robin, and best of all watched on as the rare Neergard’s Sunbird sang from the treetops, and frequently visited some blooming flowers beside the blind. This is a localized sand forest specialist and one we had really hoped to find. A respite from the rain had us out walking in the sand forest where more twinspots were always welcome and we also eventually tracked down one of several calling Eastern Nicators, a few Grey waxbills, and the localized Rudd’s Apalis that was extremely obliging. We then slowly made our way back towards the entrance, stopping for some inquisitive and distinctly funky-looking Crested Guineafowl (see photo). A little further on down the road came one of the highlights of our three-week jaunt around this fascinating country, when we noticed a flurry of bird activity, that we soon realized was caused by an emergence of termites from a small mound. While various swallows, swifts and bee-eaters swooped on the wing overhead to take advantage of the harvest a Lizzard Buzzard (see photo) dropped down on the ground and greedily munched on termites from the place they emerged. This all got very ridiculous when a huge Trumpeter Hornbill even started to hunt them on the wing overhead, very unexpected as this is not usually an aerial hunter. Everywhere you looked there were birds desperate to get in on the act. A very exciting end to our day before the heavens opened once more and we “set sail” for St. Lucia…

A Taste of the Kalahari...(South Africa): October 9, 2009

The one brave soul hanging on for our extension had expressed an interest in a number of "Kalahari birds" that we do not normally go for on this trip. However, this did not phase Ken (the main guide for the tour), and so we headed north from Johannesburg for an unscheduled trip into the southern edge of the Kalahari to get some of those choice birds the tour participant Jackie had looked at so longingly in the bird book. We birded a deserted road with scrub along the side that was brimming with birds and in just a few hours there we quickly added 24 birds to our trip list. We had only just turned onto this "Kalahari Highway" when we heard the raucous, and far from melodic sound of a Northern Black Korhaan, and quickly found one "singing" from the top of a small rise, one of at least four seen during the morning and our ninth and final bustard species for the trip. A little further down the scarlet belly of a Crimson-breasted Shrike glowed at us from the low roadside scrub, and a noisy mob of ghostly white Southern Pied Babblers (see photo) also popped up by the vehicle. Better was to come though when we had to make a stop for a flock of finches barring our way up the road, that held the exquisite Violet-eared Waxbill in their midst. A large and unique "finch" sporting a bright red bill, electric blue rump and violet cheeks. Another new finch was found in the roadside scrub with a few Black-faced Waxbills, and further on down the road where a couple of striking Black-chested Snake-Eagles were found standing sentry. We searched high and low for the localized Great Sparrow, to no avail although Jackie and I were well pleased with a showy Desert Cisticola (that completed our set of all 14 possible cistics for the trip-a group of birds that has an aquired taste). And so we decided to hit the road and leave the Kalahari Highway behind, and begind our long journey to Mkhuze, although literally just before we turned to join the highway we found our way blocked again by a bird feeding the road, which unbelievably turned out to be the Great Sparrow that we'd been hunting with zero success for the past hour! A magid end to the morning. Unfortunately after re-fuelling at the local Wimpy there was little to rwrite home about the afternoon as we were cursed with slow moving trucks, and never ending roadworks all the way to our destination. The spate of roadworks brought on by the development in place for upcoming 2010 Soccer World Cup blighting our journey somewhat! Thank heavens for the morning we had had that saved our day from being a non-starter altogether!

Farewell to Kruger...(South Africa): October 8, 2009

For our final day of the main tour in South Africa we wandered the Letaba Camp before heading out of the Kruger and back to Johannesburg. The camp was hopping with glossy-starlings, the plains out the back of the camp held Buffalos and Nyala, and over breakfast we watched a Red-headed Weaver from the breakfast table. As we tried to leave Kruger Cut-throat Finches stalled us by the gate, and we almost missed a Groundscraper Thrush (see photo) that was hopping around behind our backs on a lawn by the gate. On the way back to Jo'Burg we stopped off for one of Africa's rarest raptors, at a set of rich red cliffs behind some souvenir stalls in the middle of nowhere. There was no doubting we were in the right place though as a large rock held the large painted letters "Taita" splattered across them. We got out of our vehicle in the sweltering afternoon heat to find the official Taita Falcon guide who is normally resident at the stalls not in attendance, although no bother as one of the ladies on the stalls stood in for him (see photo) and led us to a large set of cliffs where she indiacetd a falcon was currently sitting on eggs. Sadly though this was in a dark crevice away from our prying eyes, so we waited, and waited and sweated heavily in the oppressive heat. Just as we were wilting our stand in guide indicated skywards and there above was a gliding Taita Falcon that circled above us and then dissappeared high above. At which point we all ran for the car and the cool relief that only air conditioning bring!

Into the Heart of Kruger II…(South Africa): October 7, 2009

Driving deeper into the park we came upon various weird and wonderful wildlife from Angulate Toroises, to Elephants, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest, masses of Impala, and yet more White Rhinos. Stopping at a huge Baobab tree (see photo) provided a nice sideshow, although as we arrived back at the highway to continue our journey some large black shapes resting in the shade at the roadside turned out to be a party of the frankly bizarre Southern Ground Hornbill (see photos). Later on the journey we found an extremely tame Red-crested Korhaan (see photo) wandering along the roadside, that really should have had a “Korhaan Crossing” road sign to warn us of it! We ended the day with a fairly uneventful night drive out of Letaba Camp, which should have been renamed the Springhare Safari, as these strange creatures bounced off the sides of the road everywhere. A few hefty looking Hippos were worth a look too though, as at this cool hour they had wandered away from their usual watery hiding places.

Into the Heart of Kruger I…(South Africa): October 7, 2009

After a decent “fry up” (fried breakfast), we checked around Skukuza Camp for birds, before making our way into the heart of Kruger and eventually Letaba Camp. Skukuza Camp has patches of denser brush and in some of these we found the striking Heuglin’s Robin-Chat (see photo), and a pair of smart White-throated Robin-Chats (see photo). On the long drive between camps we came upon birds and game dotted along the “park highway”, and there really were very few moments when there wasn’t something going on. One magical highlight included a side visit to a waterhole after a tip-off from someone we bumped into along the way, where Burchell’s Zebras wandered to the pool to drink right next to a huge Giraffe that drank alongside. Meanwhile in the background to all of this was a recent bloody Kudu carcass in the middle of the water, which was attracting the attentions of a number of Spotted Hyenas. It really was a classic African safari experience (see photo).