The success of my year of birding owes so much to the quality of the guiding I experienced along the way. It feels right to acknowledge the knowledge, the energy and the passion of these guides.
It started with Otto Schmidt and a national rarity on the first of many visits to the West Coast National Park, when he pointed out the Common Redshank in December 2009. Our two pelagic trips from Cape Town were guided by Alvon Cope in December 2008 and Bruce Dyer on the return trip in September 2009. Here guiding is critical, I am too wretched out to sea to use my binoculars, so having someone call the birds is the norm, highlights for me were the
Shy Albatross for lifer number 600 and seeing the sheer number of seabirds that flock around the trawlers.
Early February was time to get to the Kruger National Park and we spent the day with Peter Lawson birding around Nelspruit and Kaapsehoop. The target bird was the pair of
Blue Swallows, the glimpse I got as it flashed past us after waiting for ages on the hillside was frustrating and so was trying to get onto a calling
Red-faced Cisticola, so some lifers are less rewarding than others and that has been a pattern throughout the Big Year. I enjoyed seeing the Cut-throat Finches in Nelspruit more than I did the Swallow.
Another challenging bird was flushing
Harlequin Quails at Selati Game Reserve. Pete Backwell had organised Marius Swart for the weekend, the three of us were determined to find the quails which had made an influx into the area. So instead of languishing on the deck of the lodge we were out in the midday heat trekking through the grass to get an elusive glimpse.
Who can forget our morning walk at Delta, meeting Geoff Lockwood as he was birding his patch from the roof of the Delat Environmental Centre, when he called a
Ovambo Sparrowhawk, another new bird for the year.
Frank Mabasa at Pafuri Picnic Spot helped us with the
Bohm's Spinetails and Johnson from Pafuri Camp was a great help with the
Green-capped Eremomela and getting Fred to a rural clinic for stitches after cracking his head on a fall down the mountain
.Lucky Ngwenya is a legend in Wakkerstroom and we have had good days with him over the years. No less so in late summer this year with Nikki and Geoff, it was an 'uber twitch' with everything from crows to
Botha's Larks on our lists. Wakkerstroom added 6 lifers and 17 birds for the Big Year.
The guiding highlight of my year was undoubtedly the holiday to Namibia in April. I had booked a specialised birding holiday with Limosa, a UK tour operator, which was a first for both Fred and me, to access time with Callan Cohen.
I loved the whole experience, finding the Namibian specials like the
Dune Lark in the Red Dunes near Walvis Bay; the gorgeous
Rosy-faced Lovebirds; watching Callan 'at work' mimicing a
Pearl-spotted Owlet to call in bird parties; doing our lists of an evening over supper; ringing birds at Hobatere with Steve Brain; the vastness of Etosha; the list is endless and the birding was spectacular.
As you can see in the photo I am happy, raring to go and waiting for Callan to get all his equipment organised.
After the couple of weeks of birding with Callan and the group, I felt quite bereft to be alone again in the Jeep and felt incompetent to find my own birds! Young Salvation from Drotsky's Camp in Botswana soon put that right though. We had a few glorious days with him on the Kavango River, first time was for the
Pels Fishing Owl and on our return trip in September for
African Skimmers.I suppose Mark Paxton from Shamvura Lodge would rate as the most eccentric guide for the year, fearlessly thrashing through the reed beds while I am keeping an eye out for the wildlife and back at the camp feeding his pet otter a bottle. He did deliver us one of the most spectacular birds of the year, the
Souza's Shrike.
David Letsoalo showed us around Magoebaskloof and a big thrill was seeing the Side-striped Jackals along with the many forest specials of the area and the secretive
Barratt's Warbler made it onto my list. The Soutpansberg was a revelation for me having never stopped long enough in Louis Trichardt as we rushed further north to Zimbabwe. Samson Mulaudzi loves showing people his special spots and we came back twice. The
African Broadbill and African Finfoot had been once off fleeting glimpses on my life list and we were able to really spend time watching both these species with Samson.
Drummond Densham from Howick kindly spent time with me one morning in winter in the Midlands and we had an amble around the beautiful Benvie Gardens. Stuart Groom also gave up a morning of his time to guide us to his stake out for the
Yellow-throated Sandgrouse, what a thrill to see the 'squadrons' coming in to land and drink at the waterhole.
Birding with Japie Claassen and sharing his love for the great open spaces of the Karoo was an iconic experience and once again the birds captivated us, finding a pair of
Burchell's Coursers with chicks in the barren, vast rock strewn gravel plain was serendipitous and yet another memorable moment for all of us, as was the scrumptious lamb braais.
Our last week of the Big Birding Year was spent in the company of the guides who work the Zululand Birding Route - Themba Mthembu, Michael Blose, Junior Gabela and Jotham Maduna. We waded into the Richards Bay Estuary with Michael for my first glimpse of
Greater Sand Plovers, the grasslands of St. Lucia with Themba for the
Rosy-throated Longclaw, the misty Engoye Forest with Jotham for
Green Barbets and successfully flushed quails with Junior. Such good days among the very different habitats of Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal.
The last words to everyone who helped me,
thank you.
The Long-billed Lark is a geographically variable species and I have spent many hours over vast distances to track down the 5 species in this group of birds.
Karoo Long-billed Lark, this photo was taken on the road to Erongo Mountains in Namibia in April 2009 with Callan Cohen and our group from Limosa.
, seen on the road to the Brandberg Mountain in Namibia with Callan Cohen in April 2009.
Nothing quite like saying we drove to Cape Town via Pofadder. Not a destination I would seek out, its a hot, dry and unremarkable small town, but we did see Damara Canaries right next to our accommodation. 
The Koa Dunes on the Namies road to the south west are the home to our next target bird for the trip, the Red Lark which is an endemic to the sands of Bushmanland. The photo above shows the red richness of the soil interpersed with clumps of spiky grasses.
