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15-day Kruger to Kalahari Birding Safari Date:11 - 23 February 2008 Participants: Ira and Gloria Kupferberg Guided (and report written) by: Chris Lotz
Itinerary:
Brief daily report: Day 1, Feb 11: Chris fetched Ira and Gloria from Johannesburg International Airport in the early evening and we drove to KwaNdaba Game Lodge north of Pretoria. We were spectacularly excited about the following day, during which we would see almost 120 bird species. Day 2, Feb 12: Pre-breakfast birding on the lodge grounds generated a host of birds, many of them spectacular – things like Crimson-breasted Shrike, Crested Barbet, three hornbill species, two francolins, two mousebirds, Grey Go-away Bird, three lapwing species, Marico Flycatcher, Jacobin Cuckoo, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Marico Sunbird, breeding colonies of Lesser and Southern Masked Weavers and a whole host of other birds. After breakfast, a drive along the Zaagkuilsdrift Road produced many other great birds such as Scaly-feathered Finch, Eurasian, Blue-cheeked and Southern Carmine Bee-eaters and many more. This is a trip in which we tried to fit in a great deal during limited time (I guess all of our trips are like that!), so we did not spend as much time in this area as we would have liked. We decided to leave before “cleaning up” and we drove northwards to look for waterbirds on the Nyl River Floodplain. The floodplain had lots of water this season (it only floods every few years), and we saw good numbers of Lesser Gallinule, Lesser Moorhen, ten heron species, African Snipe, African Jacana, BLACK-WINGED PRATINCOLE, several duck species including quite a lot of Fulvous Whistling Ducks, as well as lots of fine terrestrial birds such as Green Woodhoopoe, Lilac-breasted Roller, White-crested Helmet-shrike and loads of others. At around 6 pm, we decided we better get to our next accommodation where we were to spend two nights at, Kurisa Moya Nature Lodge, where we arrived for a late dinner. En route, we saw a flock of Abdim’s Storks. Day 3, Feb 13: We started the day in a completely different habitat – the forests and moist grasslands of the Magoebaskloof area on the escarpment west of the Kruger National Park. Superb local guide David Letsoalo joined us for most of the day, helping us to find species such as BLACK-FRONTED BUSH-SHRIKE, YELLOW-STREAKED GREENBUL, Mountain Wagtail (the Grey Wagtail at Debengeni Falls did not show itself today), Olive Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Woodland-warbler, Knysna Turaco, Grey Cuckoo-shrike, Square-tailed Drongo, Chorister Robin-chat, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Cape Batis, African Olive Pigeon, African Goshawk and many others in this picturesque area. We then went to a BAT HAWK roost site, getting excellent scope views of this bird, and also located other fine birds in the area, such as Purple-crested Turaco and many others. Around Magoebaskloof, we found good numbers of Samango Monkeys along with the more common Vervet Monkeys and Chacma Baboons. After birding Woodbush Forest and adjacent areas, we visited the much drier woodlands west of the lodge (closer to the town of Polokwane), where we were to find the localized endemic SHORT-CLAWED LARK, Chestnut-backed Sparrow-lark, Cape Crow and as always, more. En route to this site, we had very close views of our first Lanner Falcon for the trip. Later, at a patch of high-altitude Protea savanna, we encounterd Wailing Cisticola, Gurney’s Sugarbird, Amethyst Sunbird, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Long-billed Pipit, Jackal Buzzard and other fantastic birds. Back around the lodge in the late afternoon and early the next morning we found nice birds such as Swee Waxbill, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, African Firefinch, Sombre Greenbul and Narina Trogon. Day 4, Feb 14: After nice birding around the lodge, we started descending the escarpment towards the “lowveld” in which the Kruger National Park lies. This was another superb day, at the end of which our trip list would exceed 200. In the dry woodland not far from the lodge, we located Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird, Chinspot Batis, Black Cuckoo-shrike, Black-backed Puffback, Southern Boubou, Violet-eared Waxbill and good numbers of other birds, most of them during a single, fantastic stop we made which was spectacularly full of activity. We then descended Magoebaskloof again (like we had done the previous day), finding Giant Kingfisher, Forest Canary, Cape Canary, Red-faced Cisticola, Drakensberg Prinia, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Barratt’s Warbler (very good, close views of a calling bird), Dark-capped Yellow Warbler and more. We eventually reached Phalaborwa Gate to the KRUGER NATIONAL PARK. Late afternoon birding between the gate and Letaba Camp, yielded loads of new birds for the trip, including Southern Ground Hornbill, European Roller, Burchell’s Coucal, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-backed Vulture, Steppe Eagle, Tawny Eagle, beautiful African Hawk Eagle (close views), Bateleur, Brown Snake-eagle, Gabar Goshawk, African Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Stork, Eurasian Golden Oriole, Black-crowned Tchagra, Orange-breasted Bush-shrike, African Paradise-flycatcher, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Red-winged Starling, Southern Black Tit, Wire-tailed Swallow, Cut-throat Finch, Spectacled Weaver and Shaft-tailed Whydah. As always in Kruger, mammals were good, and we found our first African Elephant, Hippopotamus, Blue Wildebeest, Impala (the park’s most abundant large mammal) and very tame bushbuck right in the rest camp (Letaba), along with the common Tree Squirrels. A night drive proved fairly good, the highlight being Verreaux’s (Giant) Eagle Owl, along with Square-tailed and European Nightjars. We spent the night at Letaba Rest Camp in this great national park.
A Baobab Tree in Kruger Day 5, Feb 15: this was our first full day in Kruger! One of the things that happened in the morning is that we managed to get ourselves in the middle of a big herd of elephants with young, and a couple of them mock-charged our vehicle, making us very nervous indeed (we got away as soon as we could). Bird-wise, our list continued to grow rapidly, with things like Ostrich, Swainson’s Spurfowl, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Black-collared Barbet, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, White-fronted Bee-eater, BROWN-HEADED PARROT (as usual, present in Letaba Camp, along with an abundance of other birds), Pearl-spotted Owlet, African Mourning Dove, African Green Pigeon, Red-crested Korhaan, Eurasian Hobby Falcon, MONTAGU’S HARRIER, the impressive Goliath Heron, White, Yellow-billed, Saddle-billed and Marabou Storks, Brown-crowned Tchagra, Southern Black Flycatcher, White-browed Robin-chat, Kurrichane Thrush, Yellow-breasted Apalis, the beautiful Red-headed Weaver, Jameson’s Firefinch, Red-billed Firefinch, African Pied Wagtail, Village Indigobird and Golden-breasted Bunting. A European Nightjar roosting in a tree in the rest camp was a real highlight. A couple of scarce DUSKY LARKS near the camp showed extremely well. We obtained further excellent sightings of Southern Ground Hornbill along with the three common hornbill species (Red-billed, Yellow-billed and Grey – all of which abound throughout the park). The star bird at Olifants Camp where we stopped for lunch during the drive southwards was Mocking Cliff Chat (a pair – extremely close views), but Olifants was also excellent for other birds such as a very large flock of Marabou Storks (possibly 100 birds). New mammals today included Spotted Hyena, Large-spotted Genet (on the night drive out of Satara Rest Camp where we spent the night), WHITE RHINOCEROS (we also saw good numbers of these over the next couple of days), Plains (Burchell’s) Zebra, Common Warthog, Giraffe and African Buffalo (which we would also see MANY more of).
The view from Olifants Rest Camp in the Kruger National Park
Mocking Cliff Chatifants Rest Camp Day 6, Feb 16: This was the first day we saw LION, otherwise all the other mammals we saw today we had already encountered on previous days. We found Puffadders both on the Lower Sabie sunset drive (during which we also found BRONZE-WINGED COURSER, both thicknee species and Fiery-necked Nightjar) as well as in the rest camp itself. From this point onwards, this trip was to become a “good” one for toxic snakes. The sunset drive also yielded an African Rock Python. Our birdlist, which had reached 246 species by the end of the previous day, continued expanding as we headed southwards from Satara Rest Camp to Lower Sabie Rest Camp where we were to spend two nights. Before leaving Satara, we got extremely close views of BENNETT’S WOODPECKER and AFRICAN SCOPS OWL in the camp, along with good but not quite as super-close views of Wattled Starling, the stunning Violet-backed Starling, Common Scimitarbill, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Black-headed Oriole and Red-billed Buffalo-weaver. Away from the rest camp while driving in the park, we found all the usual suspects as well as three vulture species (Hooded, Lappet-faced and White-backed – the attractive White-headed Vulture had to wait a couple more days before we saw it), Hamerkop, Woolly-necked Stork, White-browed Scrub-robin, Red-capped Lark and as always, others.
We got tired of Eurasian Rollers because there were so many
Spotted Hyena
Inquisitive Yellow-billed Hornbills came to see the car
Vultures collected around a lion kill
A sleepy-looking African Scops Owlet in a Euphorbia
Bennett’s Woodpecker, a special of Satara Camp Day 7, Feb 17: we had the entire day to bird the areas close to Lower Sabie Rest Camp, since we were to spend a second night at the same camp. We decided to start by doing the road all the way along the Sabie River to Skukuza Rest Camp further west. Pied Kingfisher, Little Bee-eater, White-crowned Lapwing, Shikra (Little Banded Goshawk), Little Sparrowhawk, BLACK STORK, Grey Tit-flycatcher, Green-backed Camaroptera and Collared Sunbird were some of the species we managed to add to our constantly growing list. Back in Lower Sabie Camp in the afternoon, we found Greater as well as Lesser Honeyguides. As far as mammals went, we found all the usual suspects, but the following day (our last day in Kruger) had some real mammal excitement in store…
White (Square-lipped) Rhinos
Day 8, Feb 18: the highlight of our early morning drive was a Leopard, but there were also stacks of other good mammals and birds around. Fine early morning birding gave us Comb Duck, Kori Bustard, Grey-headed Bush-shrike, Black Crake, Hamerkops building a nest, etc. Breakfast at Crocodile Bridge Rest Camp was good for some lovely birds such as Scarlet-chested Sunbird and White-bellied Sunbird. Eventually, we started heading towards Numbi Gate where we were to leave the park in the afternoon. But before leaving, in the Pretoriuskop area, we found more good birds, including DARK CHANTING GOSHAWK, SECRETARYBIRD, Pale Flycatcher, Icterine Warbler and all the others. Eventually, we left Kruger and ascended the picturesque escarpment into the rolling green hills of the Highveld around Dullstroom, where we were to spend a night at the idyllic Linger Longer Country Retreat, a fine guest house truly out in the country and in the middle of the region’s most exciting birding parts. Although it began getting dark as we approached Dullstroom, we did get a taste of highland birds (White-necked Raven, Amur Falcon and a couple of others).
The escarpment as one approaches Dullstroom is rolling – unlike the imposing cliffs of other parts of the Drakensberg
The lovely Linger Longer Country Retreat Day 9, Feb 19: We woke up to a plethora of new species - although only a couple of hours from Kruger, the habitat here is spectacularly different and thus are the birds. We found things like YELLOW-BREASTED PIPIT, BUFF-STREAKED CHAT, SOUTHERN BALD IBIS, Eastern Long-billed Lark, Malachite Sunbird, Cape Longclaw, Mountain Wheatear, Cape Robin-chat, Pied Starling, White-throated Swallow, Wing-snapping Cisticola, African Black Duck and very good numbers of other species. A quick visit to Gustav Klingbiel Reserve yielded LAZY CISTICOLA and several other more common birds. Mammal highlights today were the endangered ORIBI, as well as the much more common Blesbok. Around lunch time, we embarked on the fairly long drive to O. R. Tambo International Airport back in Johannesburg. At the Garden Court Hotel where Ira and Gloria were to spend the night, we saw a couple of Johannesburg’s common birds – Karoo Thrush, Common Mynah and others. Our list stood at 311 species – about what is expected after the first 8-9 days – our Kruger National Park and Escarpment birding safari. The next few days was a “bonus”, since we had decided to add an extension to the Kalahari for MEERKATS. Day 10, Feb 20: We took a very early morning flight from Johannesburg to Upington, arriving at 8 am, eating breakfast at the airport, getting our rental van and then heading northwards to the KGALAGADI TRANSFRONTIER PARK (formerly the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park). At our first stop on our drive northwards, in fact just outside of Upington, we found our second flock for the trip of Abdim’s Storks (they were also there four days later, on our return to Upington). Being in a completely new, drier region, there were loads of new birds for us, including Acacia Pied Barbet, Swallow-tailed Bee-eater, PYGMY FALCON, Chat Flycatcher, Karoo Scrub-robin, African Red-eyed Bulbul, Rufous-eared Warbler, Fawn-coloured Lark, Red-headed Finch, Black-faced Waxbill, Sociable Weaver, Lark-like Bunting and Yellow Canary. The dazzling Crimson-breasted Shrike was fairly easy to observe. All of these birds were seen on the drive through rolling, fairly well-vegetated (the rains had been good this year) red sand dunes. As we approached Twee Rivieren Rest Camp in the south of the park, we found some great new mammals, too, such as South African Ground Squirrel, Yellow Mongoose, Slender Mongoose and Springbok. Meerkats, the main thing we had come to the Kalahari to see, had to wait until the following day…
The dazzling Crimson-breasted Shrike Day 11, Feb 21: In the morning before breakfast, we decided to focus on finding MEERKATS (Suricates), and with the expert help and guidance of Didi, who works at Twee Rivieren Camp, after an hour or two we managed to find a family of these charming animals right next to the road! We followed them for some distance as they moved around a lot. Other Kalahari mammals we found were Red Hartebeest and Brant’s Whistling Rat. Birds included South African Shelduck, Spotted Eagle Owl, Northern Black Korhaan, Kori Bustard, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Double-banded Courser, Booted Eagle, Black-chested Snake-eagle, Bateleur and many other raptors, Pririt Batis, Spike-heeled Lark, Pink-billed Lark, etc. Today was a very good day for reptiles, with two Cape Cobras, a Puffadder, a Molesnake, Barking Geckos and a Tent Tortoise. On the sunset/night drive we embarked on, we encountered a second group of meerkats, as well as Cape Fox, Springhares (like small kangaroos!), Black-backed Jackal and Rufous-cheeked Nightjar. The Kgalagadi Park is a phenomenal place which is extremely unique – it certainly is one of Africa’s great game parks, but quite remote and poorly visited especially when compared to Kruger. A lot of the wildlife viewing in the park is concentrated along the big dry riverbeds which are dotted with large camelthorn trees. But, a different suite of birds (including lots of Pink-billed and Fawn-coloured Larks) occurs on the roads that cross the red sand dunes, away from the dry river beds. We spent a second night at Twee Rivieren Camp in the south of the park.
A typical Kalahari dry river bed and dune
Secretarybird and Springbok ( South Africa’s national mammal)
Gemsbok (Oryx)
Ostriches with young Day 12, Feb 22: we left the Kgalagadi Park early, reaching Upington for breakfast three hours later (seeing tons of Common Swifts en route). After breakfast, we proceeded to drive westwards along the Orange River – South Africa’s biggest river which runs westwards through the semi-desert Kalahari and eventually into the true desert closer to the coast. The river of course forms a long oasis, with lots of irrigated vineyards. By the time we reached Augrabies Falls National Park, we found ourselves (yet again) in an area of completely new habitats (and thus loads of new birds). Unlike the dry riverbeds and rolling sand dunes of Kgalagadi, Augrabies has thick riverine thickets, as well as lots of rocks and cliffs, plus very dry veld away from the river. In the rocky areas, we located two new mammals, the charismatic Klipspringer and Rock Hyrax, and a couple of new birds such as Pale-winged Starling and Alpine Swift. Birds of the more wooded areas near the river and rest camp included Ashy Tit, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, Acacia Pied Barbet, White-backed Mousebird, Namaqua Warbler, Orange River White-eye, Dusky Sunbird and etc. Eventually, we headed back through Upington and northwards again to the excellent Kalahari Guest House about 50 km out of Upington.
Augrabies – a large waterfall in the middle of the “Green Kalahari”
Note the Klipspringer silhouette Day 13, Feb 23: after final Kalahari birding around the guest farm, finding some excellent birds such as Fawn-coloured Lark and Bokmakierie, we headed to the Upington Airport and flew back to Johannesburg. A visit to Bullfrog Pan in Johannesburg generated a plethora of new trip birds very quickly – Cape Shoveller, Hottentot Teal, Maccoa Duck, Little Bittern, Yellow-billed Egret, African Purple Swamphen, Common Moorhen, Grey-headed Gull, etc, leaving our total trip bird list at 358 species. The trip mammal list had reached 37 species.
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