Doing time at Sewage Works

One thing that unifies birders is the quirky habit of popping past sewage works in cities that they visit, despite the unpleasant conditions they are great spots for birding. For two weekends in a row I have spent time at sewage works, last weekend in Pretoria and today at Darvil in Pietermaritzburg. In fact the first place I went to in Cape Town to start the Big Birding Year was Strandfontein - sewage works too.
I have been rewarded though! At Rooiwal a good view of a Sand Martin and even more thrilling was finding Red-headed Queleas this morning at Darvil.
I am here in Hilton to bird with my sister Doreen and I am loving her enthusiasm to find new birds for her list. We were all up early despite the mist and fine drizzle to diligently work all the reed beds for the localised but uncommon queleas. Our shoes were caked in mud, pants sodden and I was getting desperate for a cappuccino. I was about to give up after watching the antics of the Thick-billed Weavers and a Diederiks Cuckoo in a tree when I yelped with delight to see the brilliant red head of a lone quelea in the same tree.
Just before we left we had wonderful views of a flock of queleas that were in and out of the reeds on the upper dam, such a satisfying lifer, all the more so as this visit was planned in the depth of winter here in the Midlands and here I am, in summer and back birding. A vivid reminder of the relentless passing of time.

One month left for the Big Birding Year

Its a good time to regroup and check-in with myself on where I am on this incredible journey.

I am at Millstream physically regrouping after the endless days on the road to Botswana for the African Skimmers. The days have been slow here, with long languid afternoons on the couch reading the 3rd book in the Stieg Larsson Millenium series - the 500 pages only lasted me 3 days.

Days of good food with our foodie friends, Geoff and Nikki, I kept adding a Portuguese spin to his wonderful Italian meals. In fact I just have to share the best Tomato Piri Piri Sauce ever from Tessa Kiros' book "Piri piri *starfish", Shawni and I smother it over our food.

Heat 1cup of olive oil in a heavy-based pan with 50g butter. Add 4 ripe, peeled and sliced tomatoes and 5/6 finely chopped red chillies and simmer for about 25 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt, a large pinch sugar and 4 finely chopped garlic cloves and cook for another 10 minutes. Puree with a hand-held blender and pour into sterilised jars.

The walks around Millstream are as wonderful as ever, my boots are a little muddy after the rain but what a joy to be able to amble around the grasslands. I have added African Purple Swamphen to my Millstream list, cuckoos are calling and the bishops and widowbirds are making their glorious transitions.


So where am I with my Big Year with one month to go.....

• Started the year with a Life List of 592.
• The Big Birding Year list is at 622,
• Travelled 41 000 kilometers to date, within South Africa as well as to Namibia and twice to Botswana,
• Braved the sea twice for pelagic birding,
• Spent 42% of our days this year birding,
• Added 83 lifers to our life list which is now at 676,
• Have reseen 91% of the birds on my starting Life List,
• Have seen about 80% of the birds that are seen in any one year in Southern Africa,
• Ticked 90% of the Near Endemics and 84% of the Southern African Endemics.
• I have birded with special people along the way, guides who shared their knowledge and friends and family who have shared the passion
• 29 days to go.....

The plan is to finish the Big Year by spending a week in Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal. I will also pop down to Hilton one last time to bird with my sister Doreen. We have a few days of birding planned in Gauteng too. So I sit with some curiosity about how the numbers will fall during this final month of birding as we hit the roads for the last time.

Abundance of the Okavango Panhandle

The Kavango river has a feel of abundance with flocks of birds either flying along the waterways or moving among the papyrus and reeds. I added African Openbill to my list and we saw loads of them along the grassy flood plains.

I was amazed to see about 10 Wattled Cranes on the flood plain too, an unexpected highlight for the trip.

Grunting or snorting hippos and crocodiles complete the scene as we floated past the birds.

We saw one Slaty Egret and flocks of the Black Herons flying side by side with the Little Egrets - why did I work so hard in Gauteng to find one for the list....

"Water: vehicle and idiom of all the inner voyaging that keeps us alive"

In Praise of Water, John O'Donohue

No trip to the swamps is complete without seeing the beautiful bee-eaters. Carmines were breeding along the banks near the Camp.

And the White-fronted seemed to be panting in the late afternoon heat. Loved being in this beautiful place again, another gem of a day for the Big Year.

Okavango Panhandle for African Skimmers

It's Sunday the 25th October, the heat is coming off the Kavango River and I am under the huge trees outside Chalet 4 at Drotsky's Camp in Botswana. Our boat trip up the river with Salvation was idyllic, we had time to take in the bountiful bird life and watch the African Skimmers, our purpose for coming all this way to the north west of Botswana. It is so thrilling to see them dip their unique lower mandible, no other bird has a lower mandible longer than the upper and skim the water surface for prey items.

The water levels are still high and the birds are social, breeding together on the few exposed sandbanks. Fred was able to get take photos of the eggs and chicks.

I have had the priviledge of seeing Black Skimmers too in the USA on a business trip to Amelia Island in June 1998. I was walking along the beach early in the morning before the conference got started and noticed a bird hurtling towards me at knee height. It was my first ever skimmer and I was beside myself with excitement, even called Fred to share the expereince.

The last time I saw the African Skimmer was in December 2004 with Brian and Di, same boat from Drotsky's, also with Salvation, but a very different photographic experience - Fred dropped his camera overboard! Brian did check-in with me to see whether we had any issues this time round, fortunately not!

Finfoot in the Bag

'Ky dya hiku engeta', Shangaan for 'once you have tasted, you will want to return'

Return we did, we are back in Louis Trichardt with a African Finfoot on the Big Year list. Another 4.30am start before meeting up with Samson. We had a fly-over of a group of noisy Grey-headed Parrots before going to a private dam for the Finfoot.


The dam is quite beautiful, restful, quiet and we waited quietly too for well over an hour before Samson noticed a female out in the dam feeding. Incredible to be seeing this bird at last and we were treated to special views. At one point the bird left the water and climbed onto the dam wall with a fish in its mouth. Yet another quite extraordinary moment in a year of many such moments.



We have just put in petrol and are headed for Botswana and will stop over in Francistown before going up to Shakwe....

Much Anticipation

I was up early this morning quietly at my desk with its view into the front garden, finishing off some work commitments. The irises are in flower in the pond, the Cape White-eyes are loving playing in the fountain and I can feel the excitement building. We are on the road again this afternoon.
Fred had lunch with Bernie and Neil a little while ago and Bernie had seen African Skimmers and Slaty Egrets on his trip up to Chobe. When Fred was relating the story to me I thought how can I have a Big Year without Skimmers! Immediately I got onto the phone with Piet at Drotsky's and we are booked in for this weekend. What a treat to be going back to the Kavango River, in April it was in flood conditions and I look forward to seeing it six months later.
We are driving to Botswana via Loius Trichardt, nothing like a small detour, to bird again with Samson and to have another go for African Finfoot.
I had a frustrating morning last Sunday birding along the Zaalkuildrift Road, my heart was not in it and my birding felt like an effort, I am now rested, ready to do this trip and to be in special places.