Roodeplaatdam NR and Northern Farm

On Thursday afternoon I visited Roodeplaatdam NR and on Saturday Northern Farm. At Roodeplaatdam NR I had two very interesting records namely Brown-back Honeybird and Striped Pipit. Brown-backed Honeybird is not a common species in our area so it is always nice to see them.

The Striped Pipits were way out of their normal habitat, maybe they were only moving through this area. This is a new species for me for this reserve.

I love to visit Northern Farm for there is always a chance of seeing something interesting. It was no different this time around. You can learn more about this venue by visiting the following website: http://www.northernfarm.co.za/.

This must now be one of the best spots in Gauteng to see Comb Duck and I had nice views of them while they were walking with Egyptian Goose on the agricultural lands. On land they look rather comical I must say....

In the vlei area at the northern boundary of the pentad I saw a group of Orange-breasted Waxbills, to me the highlight of the morning’s birding. This was a relatively common species in Gauteng a few years back, but during the last two years a few birders mentioned to me, and it was also my experience, that these beautiful waxbills are nowhere to be seen. It was really good to see that they are still around. But I am still worried about their numbers…..

Other interesting species seen were Long-crested Eagle, Goliath Heron, Hottentot Teal, Great-crested Grebe and African Fish-eagle. The Fish-eagle’s call had the mountain bikers that were driving past me very excited especially as it was sitting right above me in a tree – however the bird they referred to was a White-breasted Cormorant!!! The Fish-eagle sat at its usual vantage point on the other side of the dam….

What a way to begin 2009

Myself and Stephan Terblanche decided to do our bit to get Gauteng to 100% coverage by atlasing one of the few remaining virgin pentads in Gauteng on 2 Janaury 2009. This pentad (2520_2800) covers the western section of the Tswaing Nature Reserve while the rest of the pentad consists of mostly rural villages.

We had a fantastic beginning when one the first birds we could add to our 2009 year list was a Bronze-winged Courser!! Sitting in the middle of the road!!

This sighting was quickly followed by a string of more common species as for instance Red-chested Cuckoo, Cinnamon-breasted Bunting, Pearl-spotted Owlet, Grey-backed Camaroptera, European Bee-eater and Crimson-breasted Shrike. The pan itself had lots of water and we could tick Cape Teal, Ruff and Black-winged Stilt. While scanning the water from the rim of the crater, a Striped Pipit called from its perch near us. A female Thick-billed Weaver prompted some remarks about how far this species have expanded their distribution in recent years. Black and Diderick Cuckoo also made themselves heard.

We then went for a walk through the reserve and could tick some very nice species including a few raptors namely Amur Falcon (we thought for a moment we also saw Red-footed Falcon but could not confirm the ID), Steppe Buzzard, Black-chested Snake-Eagle, Yellow-billed Kite, Brown Snake-Eagle and Black-shouldered Kite.

The second highlight of the day was a flock of Black-winged Pratincoles. Always nice to see.

This was quickly followed up with the third highlight of the morning - Common Whitethroat, sitting only a few meters from us. Icterine and Willow Warbler were seen a few meters from each other and the difference in size and feeding behaviour could be nicely seen. The walk back to the car through the veld was tough but for our efforts a Kurrichane Buttonquail was flushed right in front of us.

Leaving the reserve we had listed just under 80 species and with lots of common species missing from our list we thought we would try to get to 100 by driving through the villages in the remainder of the pentad. As I have now reported regularly on my blog the fact that the atlas "forces" you to visit areas that you would otherwise not visit, has it advantages. We found a number of dams and vleis right between the villages and we could tick a number of more common water birds. Of these Great Reed-Warbler was a really nice record. We soon passed the 100 species mark – only the second time that I have personally managed to reach this milestone for SABAP2.

A fantastic day of birding!

Sometimes I wonder if atlasing is fun

In many of my postings below I have emphasized a number of times what fun it is to do bird atlasing. And that is certainly the case. But I will be the first to admit that sometimes there might be that fleeting moments when even I will wonder if what I am doing can be considered as fun. During Sunday’s outing to the north of Cullinan I had exactly such a moment.

I did a pentad about 10km north of Cullinan – on the Gauteng border. An interesting area with lots of different habitats and some interesting species as for instance Tinkling Cisticola – an uncommon species for the Gauteng area.

But on Sunday after 1 hour of birding and nearly freezing to death I had exactly 8 birds on my list – yes that is correct EIGHT! So you cannot blame me if I did not consider this fun. But I decided to continue and although the eventual number of species came to only 44, I had great FUN and recorded some interesting birds.

The first interesting sighting was an African Harrier-hawk climbing around in trees as only they can do. My second sighting of this species during the last few weeks. Secondly I had a number of Striped Pipits. This is a common species in the pentad – at Little Eden. But I have never seen them outside of Little Eden - although I am sure other birders have. They were recorded on three occasions – sometimes next to the car and always near rocky areas.

Even more interesting was the record of a Red-headed Weaver. Again in some parts of the country a common species – but not so in Gauteng (I might be wrong – if you have more info please let me know by leaving a comment at the end of the posting). In fact it seems that as soon as the record is accepted it will be the first record for this species in Gauteng for SABAP2.

Unfortunately the Tinkling Cisticola was nowhere to be seen. Taking into consideration the weather I cannot blame them!

And yes - I had great fun.