Millstream near Dullstroom

It all started here.

We bought our timeshare unit in the early 90's and have been visiting 2 to 3 times a year ever since. My Mom had died and we wanted a complete change of climate after the sticky heat of Natal and what better than the high altitude grasslands of Dullstroom. The rhythm is easy; walking, fishing, sitting on the stoep with a view across Lake Millstream, reading on the couch, loads of cooking and good food for friends and family, the kids with their friends visiting over the years as they were growing up, good conversation - it has always been a favoured place. Idyllic.
Dad and I were on the side stoep one year and a Stonechat landed close by. At that stage I had no clue about birds, so the first question of "I wonder what that is?" has opened a new world for me and has become a passion which has taken me all over Southern Africa and into remote, wild parts of the world and less remote places too, like New York.
I have birded in the Ramble in Central Park alongside New Yorkers watching out for migrating warblers; in Churchill on the Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada for waders and Ross' Gull; in the Galapagos Islands off Equador for the Blue-footed Booby and the Waved Albatross; in the Amazon in Equador for Toucans and Parrots; in Australia with Inel; on St. Paul Island of the Pribiloff Islands in the Bering Sea for Puffins and the Alcids; in arctic Norway for the White-tailed Sea-Eagle; in English country gardens watching Tits; in Scotland for Eiders and Puffins, in Fontainbleau Forest in France and in so many other memorable places of the last fifteen years.
Birding has also been about being with friends in these special places, Bri and Di have birded with us in Botswana, Caprivi in Namibia, Phinda in KZN; Sharon walking along the De Mond beach for a Demara Tern; Laura and Anabela at Millstream last year; Bernie and Martie in the Kruger, in Alaska, at Tinley and many other spots over the years of our friendship.
So Millstream is where it started with the dapper, obliging Stonechat.

'CWACing' at Elandsvlei

Another first for the Big Birding Year, joining the Wits Bird Club outing to count waterbirds at Elandsvlei, which is among the farmlands on the way to Delmas.
In mid-summer and mid-winter each year, bird clubs around South Africa count a set list of species associated with some 400 wetlands and have been doing so since Coordinated Waterbird Counts was launch in 1992. The number and type of species are recorded and used for conservation and research.
So sandwiches, coffee and mangoes in hand -thanks to Fred, I overnighted with the small team of Val Odendaal and Murray Slotar at the cottage on the farm. The evening drive to look at the state of the wetlands was a real treat as we had sightings of two March Owls flying low over the grass. It has been 10 years since I last saw the March Owl in the Kruger Park during a Big Birding Day with the Honorary Rangers. A glass of wine and a sunset made for a good day.
I was delighted when Laura called to say she was joining the count as well and we had a good time together ticking, counting and for her even a couple of lifers. The one pan is completely grassed in so we focussed the count today on the large pan, 360 birds recorded in a two hour period and over 20 species. This was poor pickings for a CWAC as some years there are literally thousands of birds on the pans.
African Snipe, Black-winged Pratincole, Fulvous Duck, Wood Sandpiper, Ruff (over 60 counted), Whiskered Tern, Little Stint, Curlew Sandpiper were among the birds we spent time looking at. The Widowbirds are fabulous at this time of year and the Long-tailed Widowbird seemed to glide and perform for us all morning. Another great moment was watching the gregarious Amur Falcons who were numerous and gathering in the trees on the drive back to the cottage.
My Gauteng Challenge and Big Birding Year lists are 'ticking' up nicely.

On home ground.

The routine of being at home, focused on the tasks that distract me most days, makes me realise what this Big Birding Year will represent for me - consistency. It is all to easy to bird on holiday with a choice of locations that draw my interest.
Gauteng had never represented either being in nature or birding for me, quite the opposite is true. My response has been to 'join' my Bird Club at last. I have been a member since the mid 1990's and have never been an active member or taken part of their local outings. So with much detemination I was up and out on Sunday morning and joined a group of birders at the entrance to the Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens.
The gardens were a revelation, pristine and beautiful after all the rains and quiet, we arrived well before the Sunday picnic crowds. I took real pleasure in ambling along the paths, taking in the fresh air, listening to Gail talk about some of the interesting plants and trees. The group watched a female Diederik Cuckoo with a caterpillar in her bill, also spied the Red-chested Cuckoo which is a good start for the Gauteng Challenge as the call is not good enough for a tick.
The eagles are magestic. A rare treat to watch them upclose and its over a decade since I was last in the gardens to see them. No photos to share as the photographer chose to stay home and watch cricket!

Columbine Peninsula

Another good day of birding along the West Coast to finish off our summer holiday here in the Cape. I feel so at home in this part of the world. The dry, sun bleached countryside with interesting rock formations and the opportunity to see a different set of birds along the dusty roads leading from Paternoster to Stompneusbaai. Such a great photo of a Lesser Kestrel!

But before getting there we stopped off yet again for a little bird that has been eluding us. Perseverance eventually paid off and three attempts later we have now seen the Chestnut-banded Plover along the salt pans near Yzerfontein.

One of the objectives of the trip was to see some of the chats found here. The other was of course to sit at a restaurant with endless seaviews and eat freshly caught game fish. Where better than Paternoster and the fish was Dorado. The sticky toffee pudding was also sublime, anyway the two chats were obliging - Sickle-winged Chat and the Ant-eating Chat and the list gently ticks up. It is time to transistion now to Gauteng and I am ready to tackle a different environment and look forward to the planned trips to Mpumalanga at the end of the month with Dad.

2009 Gauteng Birding Challenge

" When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it"
W. Clement Stone


In the spirit of the Clement Stone quote I have registered for another challenge this year, the 2009 Gauteng Birding Challenge. These are the guidelines and my progress will be tracked on the link showed on my blog,( http://www.birding.co.za/GP-challenge.htm ). Will start when I get back home tomorrow.

Objectives:
To see as many birds in the Greater Gauteng area in the year of 2009 as you can. Birders should maintain their own list of birds seen on one of the available checklists of the region. We will keep a monthly tally of the total. It will make interesting reading to see the monthly progress for birders.
This is a fun challenge for birders who live in the region and aims to encourage exploration and a greater awareness and knowledge about the birds of the greater gauteng region. This is one of the most diverse birding regions in Southern Africa and a potential list runs to about 500 species (including vagrants and rarities)

AREA:
The wider Pretoria and Johannesburg Region, defined as no more than 100km from Johannesburg OR Pretoria city centres. Where observers are in doubt about whether a sighting occurred within this area or not, the bird in question should be left off the list.
Only wild species from established free-living populations may be counted. Flufftails and Nightjars may be counted on call. All other species should be counted on good sight observations only.

TIME PERIOD:
Sightings from 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2009

Beyond the Hottentots Holland Mountains

Exploring the Overberg and the southern coastal region took us on a glorious 500 kilometer round trip. We headed out from Gordon's Bay towards Rooi Els which is fast becoming a favourite place for me. This eastern edge of False Bay has the Hottentot Holland range plunging into the ocean and is a spectacular stretch of coastline. The walk at Rooi Els is a rocky track wedged between these precipitous cliffs and the Atlantic and offers up the charismatic Cape Rockjumper. Our plan to photograph the bird was not successful but we did get a good pic of the Orange-breasted Sunbird (above) and the Sentinal Rock-Thrush (below).

The Cape Bunting and Familiar Chat were loving the rocky terrain and seemed to follow us on the walk and a pair of Verreaux's Eagles circled above us.

Our next stop was to tackle the moist mountain fynbos of the Harold Porter Botanical Garden in Betty's Bay. The amber stream and pools up Disa Kloof are beautiful and I particularly love this photo of the pattern on the pool. I was whooping with delight when we sighted the elusive Victorin's Scrub-Warbler, their calls are so distinctive and using taped playback we enticed the birds closer. Look carefully in the centre of the photo and you can see the Victorin's cinnamon underparts and the pale yellowish eye.

The Greyton over-night was special as always with Bri and Di, paella around the Boma with a Barn Owl fly-over at dusk - does not get better! The open country of the Overberg is beautiful in the summer heat and we saw hundreds of White Storks, Blue Cranes with chicks, and the Steppe Buzzards seemed to be on every second telephone pole. We sighted two Denham's Bustards on the road to the Greyton farm and it is only the second time that I have seen them in a decade. Early the next morning Dianne and I watched a Secretarybird from the veranda with coffee in hand while the guys were reporting the internet banking fraud that Brian had to deal with.

Day two, we headed east of Swellendam onto the Agulhas Plains in search of a lifer for me, the Agulhas Long-billed Lark. We birded along the gravel roads edged with wheatfields or fallow lands, real endurance birding: endless rough roads, heat of the day, dusty and looking at hard to identify pipits and lark...

Fortunately we found it, my first lifer for 2009 - the Agulhas Long-billed Lark.

More comments and photos on Brians's blog:

http://www.thedawes.net/blog/blog.htm

We did have a break during the heat of the afternoon in Bredasdorp, some good food and shopping at the candle factory which is always a must do when we visit. The end of day found us walking along the De Mond Nature Reserve beach east of Struisbaai looking for the highly threatened, diminutive Damara Tern which breeds here on the shell-covered dune slacks. It is always a thrill when the desired bird is seen and it was no different for us when we saw the birds both flying as well as sitting at the waters edge with a chick. A beautiful place and a perfect end to an epic birding trip.

Thanks to Brian for the photo.....

The Wisdom of Birds

I popped into The Book Lounge in Roeland Street and was recommended a book by Tim Birkhead who is a leading Ornithologist in Britain. 'The Wisdom of Birds' is an illustrated history of ornithology and I am really enjoying dipping into this book, it makes for intriguing reading, perfect backdrop to the Big Birding Year.









We were birding on the Yzerfontein-Darling road yesterday and were surprised to see a Maribou Stork in the field. Seems to out of its range but I notice from Capebirdnet emails that birders have been seeing them in the Karoo.











No luck with a Common Quail in the Tinie Verseld Flower Reserve but delightful views of the Cape Longclaw and a few summer flowers remaining in the Renosterveld.