It's not about the Birds

So much of the pleasure I experienced during my Big Birding Year was listing, recording and writing about my travels once I got back from our trips. So to take a lead from Lance Armstrong's book, this year has not been about birds.

It has taken us to wonderful places, we have spent time together (at times stressful and at other times restful), we have met interesting people along the way and we are more in tune with the seasons and the world around us. I have birded in the cold, the wind, the heat, the rain, the mist, the dark and on land and out to sea. It has not all been pleasant either, I found the pelagic trips very challenging, I have been bitten by any number of unknown insects and had a bad case of tick-bite fever too.

I have kept detailed records of all my sightings, both birds and mammals, throughout the year as well as recording the distances we travelled to get to all our targeted birds and the days we spent in the field birding. The main purpose of the Big Birding Year was to resee my list and I only missed reseeing 30 birds, I got to 95%!

I worked consistently on the list and birded throughout the year, weekends at home we would pop out to local hotspots here in Gauteng or I planned trips to key destinations around South Africa, Namibia and Botswana. As can be seen in the graph below the numbers ticked up slowly and surely all year and I ended up seeing 657 birds, way beyond my expectations given my starting point of 592.

I added 95 lifers to my list which was a real bonus to the Big Year, highlights for lifers were Namibia and Botswana in April with Callan Cohen where I added 32 birds to my list , the dreaded pelagic trips added 16 birds, the Shy Albatross was bird number 600 for me, just incredible. The Karoo in September with Japie Claassen which added 7 and our final week birding the Zululand Birding Route where I got another 9 lifers. Some birds were ridiculously easy like the splitting of the Olive Thrush and 'ticking' the Karoo Thrush in our garden, to really challenging birds like finding the single pair of Blue Swallows at Kaapsehoop with Peter Lawson or spending several frustrating hours following the calling Harlequin Quails at Selati Game Reserve.
I learnt about commitment this year in a different kind of way. The singlemindedness of the task at hand required determination to keep going no matter whether I wanted to or not or how I was feeling at the time. I spent 153 days birding or 42% of the year.....
And we certainly did the hours and hours on the road in the trusty Jeep, more than 45000 kilometers on road, in the air and out to sea. Our spring month was a biggie with a trip to Cape Town for a pelagic outing and the West Coast National Park, then to Giants Castle in the Drakensberg with June and Ross for the Bearded Vulure as well as the Karoo trip!

Well its official, we could have circumnavigated the earth, we did over 45000 kilometers for the Big Birding Year!

Amatikulu

Amatikulu at dawn from the whale watching tower...

The sms came through just after 2am that the rain had stopped and we were to meet Junior at 4am at the Tollgate on the N2 just before the turn off to Amatikulu Nature Reserve. So for the last time for the Big Birding Year we were up at 'sparrow's, in fact before any sparrows were even calling, having coffee and a rusk and packing our picnic basket for breakfast.

Our destination for the day was Amatikulu a small reserve which occupies a narrow strip along the coastline north of Durban. It has an intriguing number of habitats - coastal, riparian and sand forest, grasslands, lala palm bushveld, an estuary and a (now dry) freshwater pan. We tackled both the walking trail and the 4x4 trail - Fred is in his element each time there is a trail for the Jeep.

Well the Jeep won over the day as all our birds for the morning were out in the grasslands, like this Little Bee-eater.

We have spent a good many hours over the last days with our bird guides looking and phishing for Grey Waxbills. Such a delight to eventually find a pair, they looked beautiful with their dove grey and red rumps against the moody sky.

The drive across the grasslands was amazing with Black-rumped Buttonquail running ahead of the Jeep on the dirt track and stopping to hide in the centre grass. We also flushed a Common Quail which we identified in flight. Such a treat to add these birds to my life list and along with the Grey Waxbills made the day a real success and an appropriate way to round off the Big Year.

The stars of the day though were a pair of Crested Guineafowl, who must be our most comical bird in Southern Africa and these photos are a fabulous tribute to these birds of the sand forest and a really wonderful week of birding along the Zululand Birding Route.

Green Barbets in the mist at Ongoye Forest

Floral detail in the grassland at Ongoye Forest

Ongoye Forest, set in the hills between Mtunzini and Richards bay, was shrouded in mist when we arrived at dawn for this morning's target bird, the highly localised Green Barbet. In Southern Africa these birds are only found in this large remnant patch of coastal forest which is some 3900 ha in extent. The other known location for Green Barbets is in Tanzania!

Once you have made your way to Ongoye it should not be a challenge to see the barbets, except in the mist and rain, so I was mildly panicky at the thought of not seeing the birds.

So a good responce to panic is to make coffee, have an early breakfast and wait for the sun to burn off the thick mist.

The collage of photos below show the 4x4 access trail to the 'mouth' of the forest.

When we ventured into the forest Jotham had no problem in locating the barbets for us with their distinctive 'quop, quop, quop' call and we could just make out the detail of the yellow patch behind its eye. They stayed high up in the canopy and with the mist, the conditions weren't good for photography.

I am sitting on the bed in our room at the Eshowe B&B, there is thunder outside and its threatening to rain. I not sure how I am feeling about this being the eve of the last day of the Big Birding Year, there is a part of me that is absolutely done but I am also certain that this iconic year is an inflection point in my life. I am hopeful to still get in a last day of birding with Junior Gabela at Amatikulu.

There will be time for reflection when I get back home.....

Zululand Habitats

Our base is in Eshowe for the last days of the Big Birding Year. Exploring all the different habitats covered by the Zululand Birding Route has been a revelation and of course the special birds that are found in each area have boosted the year list too:

• low altitude savannah from Eshowe through to Mkuse - Rudd's Apalis;


• tall, lowland forest on dunes or close to the coast such as at Cape Vidal, Umlalazi and Amatikulu - Brown Scrub-Robin;


• riverine forests with dense vegetation along the rivers in Mkuse - Grey Penduline-Tits;
  
• sand forests in Mkuse and around Nibela Lodge -Pink-throated Twinspot;
  
• swamp forest at Richards Bay and Mtunzini - Palm-nut Vulture;


• forested slopes of coastal escarpment at Dlinza, Enumeni and Ongoye - Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon (at this stage frustratingly only heard them not seen them as yet);


• coastal grasslands of Cape Vidal, St.Lucia and Amatikulu - Rosy-throated Longclaw;


• coastal wetlands of St.Lucia, Mkuze and Richards Bay;
  
• exposed, tidal mudflats near the coast of Richards Bay - Greater Sand Plover;
  

We were out today in the coastal scrap forest around Entumeni and Dreadnaught Farm with Jotham. Forests are always a challenge and no less so today, an Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon was calling but we could not find it high up in the canopy.

The drive out to Dreadnaught Farm was fabulous, rolling sugar-can hills, streams and patches of forest. The sightings along the farm roads gave me great pleasure this morning. Firstly the much sort after Striped Pipit - I must have tried at least 5 outings in Gauteng to get this bird and this morning we saw plenty, surprisingly for me on the forest edges.

The jewel of the drive was an African Pypmy-Kingfisher (at last and not a minute too late either), right next to the road and an easy photo opportunity for Fred.

The two photos below juxtapose for me the experience of birding - one the elusive, secretive Green Malkoha (left) that is a real challenge to see in the canopy as well as to get a reasonable photo. The other the Pin-tailed Whydah who flits about in the grasslands and is most obliging to any photographer and birder.

Just to make sure all my senses are being stimulated we found Cafe Zulu at Georges Hotel in Eshowe for a good cappuccino and a wholesome plate of peri peri chicken livers with homemade health bread. Early night needed to prepare for yet another 4.30am start.

Richards Bay and the Bird List exceeds 650!

The weather did an about turn today, cool and rainy conditions as we left Lake St. Lucia to head south to Richards Bay to meet Michael Blose from Birdlife. This was our last opportunity to find waders before the end of the Big Birding Year. Michael organised us access to the Harbour and we arrived at dawn just in time for low-tide. The waders were far out in the Estuary and we did not have a decent scope.

Well I did the only thing I could think of, wading out to the birds and at times the water was thigh-high! Fred and Michael also had tricky moments sinking into the mud. I have mentioned the borderline of obsession that birders experience and this was one such moment for me, total disregard for my Karriemor hiking boots and for getting wet and muddy. In fact I loved the feeling of the freedom to do just what I wanted.

I have noticed a shift in myself, that I am taking more physical risks since I turned 50 than I have taken in a lifetime - snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, dog-sledding in Norway, walking holidays in Europe and now quietly slipping into water to bird, even saw a small ray just in front of me as I waded out to the sand banks.

An Osprey sitting on a sandbank and Greater Sand Plovers took my list to 650 and the plovers were a lifer as well, just fabulous, also added Terek Sandpipers as I had not found them at the West Coast National Park earlier in the year.

The day was rounded off with a visit to the Raffia Palms of Mtumzini and some real close-ups of Palm-nut Vultures.

Gwalagwala, St. Lucia

How is it possible that it has taken me almost two decades to both hear and see an African Emerald Cuckoo? This exquisite bird was a highlight for Fred and me in St. Lucia this morning while birding along the trials of Gwalagwala. It was calling its distinctive 'pretty georgie' with the caterpillar in its bill. I was completely dazzled by the irridescent green combined with yellow and I was reminded why I chose to bird, its the sheer pleasure of seeing the wonder of the world around us.

Birding in Gwalagwala, the coastal forest on the Lake St. Lucia Estuary, was a joy. The trail is named after the Zulu word for Turacos and it is a very aptly named too as we were treated to good views of Livingstone's Turacos all along the walk. The Brown Scrub-Robin (below) was another easy sighting for the year list as was Rudd's Apalis.

Fred has another funny story for his repertoire after a run-in with a KZN ranger at Cape Vidal. We were illegally out of our vehicle and working a small pan for Rufous-winged Cisticolas. The PDA with the bird calls is faulty so Fred was carrying his laptop under his arm when the ranger arrived. What an amusing scene with Fred being asked if he was intending to poach rhinos - with a laptop!?! We giggled for hours afterwards and had our second lifer for the day.

Mkuse for Pink-throated Twinspots

Mixed reviews for todays trip to Mkuse.

I suppose it was always going to be difficult to live up to its reputation as a birding mecca here in KZN. I did expect to see more birds than we did, Mantuma Camp was very quiet and overrun by black-jacks. But having said that I did get to see the Pink-throated Twinspot, both male and female. If you had to ask me to chose one bird as my favourite it would be a Twinspot. They are just so exquisitely patterned with a spectacular colouring. Fred managed to get us a photo for the blog even though the pair were skulking in the deep shade.

We entertained ourselves at the hides by watching Terrapins do what terrapins do... here a pair were doing the high jump out of the muddy puddle reaching for the frogs eggs on the overhanging branch. They were using each other for leverage.

Among all the different habits one I particularly enjoy is the Fever Tree Forests. This one alongside Musi Pan was a highlight today even though we still could not find Neergaardt's Sunbirds, not for want of trying for two days in a row now.

I am feeling rather inenchanted with the bird as is Themba who is decidedly grumpy with his lack of success.

Another bird that challenged us over the last two days was the Red-fronted Tinkerbird. Its loud, ringing and monotonous call has been dominant on our walks, but was impossible to locate each time. We saw one eventually in a Fever Tree bobbing its head side to side to throw its voice out in all directions. Such a big sound from such a tiny bird.

We are now back at Nibela Lodge, tired after a 14 hour day, talk about stamina required for birding in the heat and humidity for hours on end! We have 9 birds to go to get to 650 birds for the Big Birding Year. Will be a wonderful achievement to do so.....

The Sand Forest of St. Lucia Wetland Park

The long awaited for week of birding in Northern KZN has started. We are booked into Nibela Lake Lodge. Our chalet blends magically into the surrounding Sand Forest and we woke up to the raucous call of Purple-crested Turacos. Its tranquil and walking on the boardwalks under the

canopy is wonderful.

Lake St. Lucia is still silted up at the mouth and is very low and has been so for the last 8 years, even so its an impressive sight from the lodge verandas.

The bird list here has endless possibilities so I was happy to be up and out into the Sand Forest at dawn. We are birding with Themba Mthembu for a few days and he was immediately picking up Neergaardt's Sunbird and Rudd's Apalis both of which I missed! My eyes just did not seem to be focussing and getting onto the birds.

Our first decent views of Woodward's Batis, calling is heart out in the Sand Forest here at St. Lucia

Eventually the rhythmn of walking set in as did the bird spotting and we saw Grey Sunbirds, Purple-banded Sunbirds and the treat for the morning, superb views of Woodward's Batis calling above us. Although I was alarmed to see yet another snake for the year, a Forest Cobra, really close to where we were walking.

By mid-morning I was taking strain in the heat and humidity but was rewarded with a Southern Banded Snake-Eagle perching on a dead tree as we were walking back along the trail.

After a picnic we headed out into the blazing sun onto the grassy St. Lucia flood plain for Rosy-throated Longclaw. The clumps of grass are knee-high and the walking tough but we did track down the longclaws which was an important tick for me for my Big Year List. Fred was so grumpy about missing the photo opportunity for our blog though, when Themba flushed the bird and yelled in delight and it flew away...

Black Kite and Senegal Lapwings were also seen on the flood plains. Never got to see that Neergaardt's or Rudd's Apalis during our afternoon walk at the False Bay Park, so tomorrow we are off to the world-renowned Mkuze. Hayley gave me a special book for my birthday this year which list the Top 100 Birding Spots in the World and Mkuze made the list, so hopefully it will be a noteworthy day for Fred and me.

A quick return to Wakkerstroom

By 7.30am on Monday morning, our last week of the Big Birding Year, we had two more lifers, a superb view of Barrow's Korhaan and a displaying Eastern Clapper Lark, which made me laugh with its antics.

Barrow's Korhaan in the low altitude grasslands on the Piet Retief Road from Wakkerstroom.

After Bryony and Gavin's glorious wedding on Sunday - well done Neville and Rosella, we were on our last road trip for the year at 3.30am, to northern Kwa-Zulu Natal with a call in to Wakkerstroom for some birding with Lucky and even more importantly, Breakfast Baguettes at the Hotel which are legendary.

Love it when the plan comes together, the target birds were Yellow-breasted Pipits which we saw in the mud puddle alongside the car on the Utrecht road, also managed a brief glimpse of the Pale-crowned Cisticola and a Rock Pipit.

So with 5 birds added to the year and baguettes eaten we made our way to the St. Lucia Wetland Park and our accommodation at Nibela Lake Lodge.

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.