Belinda and I spent a long weekend in York for her birthday and Friday was our walking day. Leaving Norfolk at 05.10 we were walking by 10.00 in the SW corner of the North Yorkshire Moors above Sutton-under-Whitestonecliff.
From a birding perspective it was surprisingly good with 2 Willow Tits kicking things off nicely followed by 5 Nuthatches, a Raven mobbing a Peregrine, loads of Redwings moving north along the escarpment, c8 Fieldfares, and a large finch flock containing many Chaffinches, several Bramblings and several Yellowhammers. Further along 2 Common Buzzards were being hassled by the local Jackdaws and I added 2 Mistle Thrushes, 3 Song Thrushes and Blackbirds making it a 5-thrush haul!
Into the bargain it was also a 5 butterfy walk - Red Admiral, Comma, Peacock, Speckled Wood and Small Tortoiseshell
Minsmere Morning, 17 October 2018
I spent a nice relaxed morning strolling around Minsmere today.
The main reason for the visit was the juv Ferruginous Duck on the pool behind South Hide. It obliged by being on view as I arrived only to dive into the reeds 5 minutes later. It did show once more, emerging for a quick preen but quickly disappeared again. The whole of the area had loads of Bearded Tit action and it was also pleasing to note c3 Cetti's Warblers in song. A walk through the sluice bushes and vicinity revealed 3 Dartford Warblers, Blackcap, Stonechat and Song Thrush. On the levels were c150 Barnacle Geese, a Water Rail squealed and a Green Sandpiper flew from a pool.
Back at the carpark I found a nice Yellow-browed Warbler by the entrance while 2 Redpoll sp and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.
Yearlist = 241
The main reason for the visit was the juv Ferruginous Duck on the pool behind South Hide. It obliged by being on view as I arrived only to dive into the reeds 5 minutes later. It did show once more, emerging for a quick preen but quickly disappeared again. The whole of the area had loads of Bearded Tit action and it was also pleasing to note c3 Cetti's Warblers in song. A walk through the sluice bushes and vicinity revealed 3 Dartford Warblers, Blackcap, Stonechat and Song Thrush. On the levels were c150 Barnacle Geese, a Water Rail squealed and a Green Sandpiper flew from a pool.
Back at the carpark I found a nice Yellow-browed Warbler by the entrance while 2 Redpoll sp and a Great Spotted Woodpecker flew over.
Yearlist = 241
Ferruginous Duck
Rosy Pastor in Norwich, 14 October 2018
It's always nice when a good bird turns up in your home city and an adult Rose-coloured Starling in Costessey fits the bill nicely.
I was a bit casual about going, especially hearing stories of long waits for the bird to show but decided to go this morning before the rain set in. To my delight it was sat on the roof ridge of the first house I looked at at 09.10 amongst a few Starlings. During the next 30 minutes I watched it on several different roof tops until I'd had my fill and left. I was the only one there!
The light was dreadful for photography but these are the best I managed.
Yearlist = 240
I was a bit casual about going, especially hearing stories of long waits for the bird to show but decided to go this morning before the rain set in. To my delight it was sat on the roof ridge of the first house I looked at at 09.10 amongst a few Starlings. During the next 30 minutes I watched it on several different roof tops until I'd had my fill and left. I was the only one there!
The light was dreadful for photography but these are the best I managed.
Yearlist = 240
South Africa, Day 15, 15 September 2018 - Natures Valley NP & Storms River Mouth
This was the day we finished with the Garden Route, heading on the long drive to Port Elizabeth to fly to Kruger the following morning. Consequently there wasn't much birding but we were determined to make a couple of stops along the way.
The first was Knysna Heads where we explored the spectacular beach area. Birds weren't numerous but African Swifts were obvious and 13 African Sponbills, 4 Whimbrel and 3 Greenshank were on the eastern end of the lagoon.
Natures Valley NP wa next up which we found to be a huge disappointment. To be honest we didn't have enough time to do the place any justice at all but a short walk along one trail revealed 2 Knysna Turaco, 2 Speckled Mousbirds, Olive Woodpecker, Cape Batis, 2 Brown-throated Martins, 2 Olive Thrushes, African Dusky Flycatcher and Swee Waxbills.
Belinda wanted to do the walk to the hanging bridge over the Storms River Mouth before we drove to Port Elizabeth. It was spectacular but very busy with tourists. I was surprised but nonetheless very pleased to find a Chorister Robin-chat on the boardwalk on the return walk! Forest Buzzard, Terrestrial Brownbul and 3 Green Woodhoopoes were also seen.
On the long journey that followed a Black-headed Oriole flew into a roadside bush and we also saw Blue Crane, 2 Yellow-billed Kites and Pearl-breasted Swallow.
We checked into our guesthouse near the airport in Port Elizabeth, ordered a pizza delivery using Whatsapp (a new thing for me) and looked forward to phase 2 of the trip - Kruger and the Limpopo!
The first was Knysna Heads where we explored the spectacular beach area. Birds weren't numerous but African Swifts were obvious and 13 African Sponbills, 4 Whimbrel and 3 Greenshank were on the eastern end of the lagoon.
Natures Valley NP wa next up which we found to be a huge disappointment. To be honest we didn't have enough time to do the place any justice at all but a short walk along one trail revealed 2 Knysna Turaco, 2 Speckled Mousbirds, Olive Woodpecker, Cape Batis, 2 Brown-throated Martins, 2 Olive Thrushes, African Dusky Flycatcher and Swee Waxbills.
Knysna Turaco
Belinda wanted to do the walk to the hanging bridge over the Storms River Mouth before we drove to Port Elizabeth. It was spectacular but very busy with tourists. I was surprised but nonetheless very pleased to find a Chorister Robin-chat on the boardwalk on the return walk! Forest Buzzard, Terrestrial Brownbul and 3 Green Woodhoopoes were also seen.
Chorister Robin-chat
On the long journey that followed a Black-headed Oriole flew into a roadside bush and we also saw Blue Crane, 2 Yellow-billed Kites and Pearl-breasted Swallow.
We checked into our guesthouse near the airport in Port Elizabeth, ordered a pizza delivery using Whatsapp (a new thing for me) and looked forward to phase 2 of the trip - Kruger and the Limpopo!
South Africa, Day 14, 14 September 2018 - Wilderness NP & Woodville Forest
A showy Sombre Greenbul in the guesthouse garden from out patio door was a nice way to start today.
We re-traced our steps a little today, heading back west from Knysna a little to Wilderness NP.
As we were to find out, the forest birding along the Garden Route was hard and not very productive. Wilderness NP was our first experience of this. Walking through the camp grounds Streaky-headed Seedeaters were common and then we bumped into the first of 4 Knysna Turacos which were enough to lift the spirits. The 'Giant Kingfisher Trail' was closed so we attempted another trail on the other side of the river but it was busy and steep and rubbish! A close White-necked Raven perched up, a Square-tailed Drongo, Sombre Greenbul and 2 Forest Buzzards were all we saw. Back down on the camp site my first African Pied Wagtail was on the grass plus Brimstone Canary and then the only Grey-headed Gull of the trip flew along Wilderness beach.
Streaky
After leaving the mian part of the NP I was keen to try a couple of hides overlooking the wetlands and lagoons just to the east - Malachite Hide and Rondevlei Hide. These produced some good birds at last with an African Rail that flushed and ran alongside the boardwalk, 2 Greater Double-collared Sunbirds, Little Rush Warbler, Greater Striped Swallows, 2 Jackal Buzzards a well as Red-knobbed Coot, Little Grebes, Long-tailed Cormorants and a calling Little Bittern
We decided to lift our flagging spirits with a visit to the coffee roastery again for lunch and had some good photo opportunities in the gardens there - Southern Grey-headed Sparrows, Cape Bulbuls, Cape Weavers and Fork-tailed Drongos.
We headed inland next and up through numerous roadworks up to Woodville Forest and an area known as the 'Big Tree'. The forest birding here was a bit more productive, within about 45 minutes I'd scored with Green-backed Camaroptera, 2 Terrestrial Brownbuls, 2 Knysna Turaco, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Lemon Dove, 2 Cape Batis, African Dusky Flycatcher, Forest Canary and Bar-throated Apalis. I wish I'd have gone there earlier in the day for a longer look around!
Back in Knysna a scan of the lagoon revealed pretty much the same birds as yesterday.
Sombre Greenbul
We re-traced our steps a little today, heading back west from Knysna a little to Wilderness NP.
As we were to find out, the forest birding along the Garden Route was hard and not very productive. Wilderness NP was our first experience of this. Walking through the camp grounds Streaky-headed Seedeaters were common and then we bumped into the first of 4 Knysna Turacos which were enough to lift the spirits. The 'Giant Kingfisher Trail' was closed so we attempted another trail on the other side of the river but it was busy and steep and rubbish! A close White-necked Raven perched up, a Square-tailed Drongo, Sombre Greenbul and 2 Forest Buzzards were all we saw. Back down on the camp site my first African Pied Wagtail was on the grass plus Brimstone Canary and then the only Grey-headed Gull of the trip flew along Wilderness beach.
Knysna Turaco
White-necked Raven
After leaving the mian part of the NP I was keen to try a couple of hides overlooking the wetlands and lagoons just to the east - Malachite Hide and Rondevlei Hide. These produced some good birds at last with an African Rail that flushed and ran alongside the boardwalk, 2 Greater Double-collared Sunbirds, Little Rush Warbler, Greater Striped Swallows, 2 Jackal Buzzards a well as Red-knobbed Coot, Little Grebes, Long-tailed Cormorants and a calling Little Bittern
Greater Double-collared Sunbird
Red-knobbed Coot
Jackal Buzzard
We decided to lift our flagging spirits with a visit to the coffee roastery again for lunch and had some good photo opportunities in the gardens there - Southern Grey-headed Sparrows, Cape Bulbuls, Cape Weavers and Fork-tailed Drongos.
Southern Grey-headed Sparrow
Cape Bulbul
Fork-tailed Drongo
We headed inland next and up through numerous roadworks up to Woodville Forest and an area known as the 'Big Tree'. The forest birding here was a bit more productive, within about 45 minutes I'd scored with Green-backed Camaroptera, 2 Terrestrial Brownbuls, 2 Knysna Turaco, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Lemon Dove, 2 Cape Batis, African Dusky Flycatcher, Forest Canary and Bar-throated Apalis. I wish I'd have gone there earlier in the day for a longer look around!
Bar-throated Apalis
Green-backed Camaroptera
Back in Knysna a scan of the lagoon revealed pretty much the same birds as yesterday.
South Africa, Day 13, 13 September 2018 - Grootvadersbosch & Knysna
I was looking froward to spending most of the day walking and birding around Grootvadersbosch but in the end the forest trails were quite a disappointment.
The day started well with Greater Double-collared Sunbird being ticked right beside our cabin with several African Swifts and Alpine Swifts swirling overhead plus 2 close-up Greater Striped Swallows and a Black Saw-wing over an adjacent pool. On a very long loop walk of the trails birds were very thin on the ground with a fleeting view of a Knysna Woodpecker and a similar view of a Blue Quail being the highlights. Forest Buzzard, Sombre Greenbul, African Dusky Flycatchers, Olive Thrushes, Cape Robin-chats, Cape Batis, c10 Swee Waxbills, Bar-throated Apalis and Yellow Canaries were seen but that was about it. Leaving Belinda to amble back to our cabin I yomped up the road into the fynbos above the treeline where after hearing several I eventually located and with a great deal of patience (not something I'm normally renowned for!) got some lovely point blank views of Victorin's Warbler. Boy do these things know how to skulk!
By early afternoon we were ready to leave the site so got on the road to head to the coast to start out time on the Garden Route. Our abode for the next 2 nights was the Waterfront Lodge in Knysna so we headed there. En-route we saw the usual roadside suspects - Cattle Egrets, Grey Heron, Blacksmith Plovers, Common Fiscals and Yellow-billed Kites plus a Black-headed Heron, a Black-shouldered Kite then a tick in the form of 2 Jackal Buzzards near Mossel Bay as we hit the coast. We stopped for a superb coffee and cake at the Pause Coffee Roastery between Wilderness and Sedgefield before rolling in to Knysna. The woman who ran our guesthouse was seriously OTT with details, and 'helpfulness' to the point of being somewhere between hilarious and annoying! We settled ourselves in and I had a quick look around the garden and out onto the Knysna Lagoon. The garden had loads of African Sacred Ibis and Helmeted Guineafowl on the lawn plus Red-eyed Dove, Olive Thrush, Fork-tailed Drongo and Cape Bulbuls and a scope of the lagoon revealed 20+ Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Cape Cormorants, 2 Black-winged Stilts, 2 African Black Oystercatchers, 6 Whimbrel and 11 Greenshank.
The day started well with Greater Double-collared Sunbird being ticked right beside our cabin with several African Swifts and Alpine Swifts swirling overhead plus 2 close-up Greater Striped Swallows and a Black Saw-wing over an adjacent pool. On a very long loop walk of the trails birds were very thin on the ground with a fleeting view of a Knysna Woodpecker and a similar view of a Blue Quail being the highlights. Forest Buzzard, Sombre Greenbul, African Dusky Flycatchers, Olive Thrushes, Cape Robin-chats, Cape Batis, c10 Swee Waxbills, Bar-throated Apalis and Yellow Canaries were seen but that was about it. Leaving Belinda to amble back to our cabin I yomped up the road into the fynbos above the treeline where after hearing several I eventually located and with a great deal of patience (not something I'm normally renowned for!) got some lovely point blank views of Victorin's Warbler. Boy do these things know how to skulk!
Forest Buzzard
African Dusky Flycatcher
By early afternoon we were ready to leave the site so got on the road to head to the coast to start out time on the Garden Route. Our abode for the next 2 nights was the Waterfront Lodge in Knysna so we headed there. En-route we saw the usual roadside suspects - Cattle Egrets, Grey Heron, Blacksmith Plovers, Common Fiscals and Yellow-billed Kites plus a Black-headed Heron, a Black-shouldered Kite then a tick in the form of 2 Jackal Buzzards near Mossel Bay as we hit the coast. We stopped for a superb coffee and cake at the Pause Coffee Roastery between Wilderness and Sedgefield before rolling in to Knysna. The woman who ran our guesthouse was seriously OTT with details, and 'helpfulness' to the point of being somewhere between hilarious and annoying! We settled ourselves in and I had a quick look around the garden and out onto the Knysna Lagoon. The garden had loads of African Sacred Ibis and Helmeted Guineafowl on the lawn plus Red-eyed Dove, Olive Thrush, Fork-tailed Drongo and Cape Bulbuls and a scope of the lagoon revealed 20+ Little Egrets, Grey Heron, Cape Cormorants, 2 Black-winged Stilts, 2 African Black Oystercatchers, 6 Whimbrel and 11 Greenshank.
African Sacred Ibis
Red-eyed Dove
South Africa, Day 12, 12 September 2018 - Harold Porter Botanical Gardens & Grootvadersbosch
After a very windy night it was nice to see some seabirds blown into the bay from our balcony - 6 Shy Albatrosses, several Cape Gannets and a single White-chinned Petrel!
As it was only a few hundred yards from our guesthouse in Betty's Bay it would have been a shame not to visit the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens before we began our long drive to Grootvadersbosch.
It was like a miniature Kirstenbosch and we gave it a thorough going over including the waterfall and upper slopes between the 2 'kloofs' (valleys). I failed to find Victorin's Warbler but did manage c4 Cape Siskins. Down in the gardens themselves we had Brimstone Canary, Cape Canary, Cape Rock Thrush, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, 2 Cape Sugarbirds, Cape Wagtail, 2 Swee Waxbills, 2 Olive Thrushes, Cape Bulbuls, Laughing Doves and a huge flock of c500 Red-winged Starlings overhead.
We then made our way on a longish drive to Grootvadersbosch through rolling farmland. En-route we saw several Spur-winged Geese, c10 Blue Cranes, Cattle Egrets, 1 African Fish Eagle, 4 Cape Crows (including one on a nest on a telegraph pole), Cape Longclaw, Southern Red Bishops, Yellow Bishops and a pair of Grey Rhebok as we neared our destination.
After checking in at our little cottage near the entrance gate to Grootvadersbosch we had a short stroll up the track adding a lovely vocal African Crowned Eagle, Booted Eagle, 3 Bar-throated Apalis, 2 Yellow Canaries, Alpine Swifts, African Swifts, Rock Kestrel, Cape Batis, Fork-tailed Drongo, Cape White-eyes and 4 African Dusky Flycatchers.
As it was only a few hundred yards from our guesthouse in Betty's Bay it would have been a shame not to visit the Harold Porter Botanical Gardens before we began our long drive to Grootvadersbosch.
It was like a miniature Kirstenbosch and we gave it a thorough going over including the waterfall and upper slopes between the 2 'kloofs' (valleys). I failed to find Victorin's Warbler but did manage c4 Cape Siskins. Down in the gardens themselves we had Brimstone Canary, Cape Canary, Cape Rock Thrush, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Southern Double-collared Sunbird, 2 Cape Sugarbirds, Cape Wagtail, 2 Swee Waxbills, 2 Olive Thrushes, Cape Bulbuls, Laughing Doves and a huge flock of c500 Red-winged Starlings overhead.
Cape Siskin
Brimstone Canary
Cape Rock Thrush
Cape White-eye
We then made our way on a longish drive to Grootvadersbosch through rolling farmland. En-route we saw several Spur-winged Geese, c10 Blue Cranes, Cattle Egrets, 1 African Fish Eagle, 4 Cape Crows (including one on a nest on a telegraph pole), Cape Longclaw, Southern Red Bishops, Yellow Bishops and a pair of Grey Rhebok as we neared our destination.
After checking in at our little cottage near the entrance gate to Grootvadersbosch we had a short stroll up the track adding a lovely vocal African Crowned Eagle, Booted Eagle, 3 Bar-throated Apalis, 2 Yellow Canaries, Alpine Swifts, African Swifts, Rock Kestrel, Cape Batis, Fork-tailed Drongo, Cape White-eyes and 4 African Dusky Flycatchers.
African Crowned Eagle
South Africa, Day 11, 11 September 2018 - Constantia Greenbelts, Strandfontein Sewage Works, Rooi Els and Betty's Bay
Today was the day we quite the Cape Town area and headed east.
I arose early and made a dawn visit to Constantia Greenbelts to dip on Knysna Warbler but did manage 2 Lemon Doves and 3 Olive Thrushes before returning for breakfast.
I'd promised Belinda a visit to a sewage works because she loves them so much (!) and it was to be Strandfontein Sewage Works on the Cape Flats just east of Cape Town. I'd been warned that the area is dodgy but signing in at the gate we found the place as safe as houses and easily drove many of the tracks with me getting out to scope the various lagoons and pools. Right on cue before we'd even made our first stop an African Marsh Harrier flew right past the car and I'd soon bagged Yellow-billed Ducks, literally hundreds of Black-necked Grebes scattered all over. My other wanted waterfowl Southern Pochard and Hottentot Teal also fell quite easily plus Maccoa Ducks, Cape Shoveler, African Black Duck and Cape Teal. There were also loads of Greater Flamingoes, Cape Spurfowl, Moorhen and Red-knobbed Coot and a fly-over Black-crowned Night Heron proved to be the only one of the whole trip. 2 Black-headed Herons, Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Blacksmith Plovers, 1 Greenshank were also seen and the passerines were represented by Common Waxbills and Cape Sparrows.
I dragged Belinda away from the site (not!) and we headed east along the coast through seemingly endless township type areas and eventually round the corner to Rooi Els at the west end of Betty's Bay. A short walk along a coastal track here was pure birding gold with a pair of mega Cape Rockjumpers, Cape Rock Thrushes, Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Rock Kestrel, Peregrine, 2 White-rumped Swifts, Rock Martins, several Levaillant's Cisticolas and then a family party of 4 Ground Woodpeckers that allowed close approach!
Next stop was Betty's Bay where we eventually found a cafe for lunch before we took a look at the African Penguin colony there. A walk along the rocky shoreline there and to the nearby dunes occupied the rest of the day together with a splendid coffee in the lovely village of Pringle Bay. I could seriously see myself living there! Birds seen included Crowned Cormorants, Cape Cormorants, Little Egret, 2 Speckled Mousebirds, 2 Yellow Bishops and the numerous Cape Bulbuls. After booking in to the Bucaco Sud guesthouse and seawatch revealed some nice views of Southern Right Whales from our balcony - this was the life!
That night we dined in a restaurant in the village where we were the only ones there and the English owner even called us outside to see the International Space Station sail by!
I arose early and made a dawn visit to Constantia Greenbelts to dip on Knysna Warbler but did manage 2 Lemon Doves and 3 Olive Thrushes before returning for breakfast.
I'd promised Belinda a visit to a sewage works because she loves them so much (!) and it was to be Strandfontein Sewage Works on the Cape Flats just east of Cape Town. I'd been warned that the area is dodgy but signing in at the gate we found the place as safe as houses and easily drove many of the tracks with me getting out to scope the various lagoons and pools. Right on cue before we'd even made our first stop an African Marsh Harrier flew right past the car and I'd soon bagged Yellow-billed Ducks, literally hundreds of Black-necked Grebes scattered all over. My other wanted waterfowl Southern Pochard and Hottentot Teal also fell quite easily plus Maccoa Ducks, Cape Shoveler, African Black Duck and Cape Teal. There were also loads of Greater Flamingoes, Cape Spurfowl, Moorhen and Red-knobbed Coot and a fly-over Black-crowned Night Heron proved to be the only one of the whole trip. 2 Black-headed Herons, Avocets, Black-winged Stilts, Blacksmith Plovers, 1 Greenshank were also seen and the passerines were represented by Common Waxbills and Cape Sparrows.
Yellow-billed Duck
Hottentot Teal
Southern Pochard
I dragged Belinda away from the site (not!) and we headed east along the coast through seemingly endless township type areas and eventually round the corner to Rooi Els at the west end of Betty's Bay. A short walk along a coastal track here was pure birding gold with a pair of mega Cape Rockjumpers, Cape Rock Thrushes, Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Rock Kestrel, Peregrine, 2 White-rumped Swifts, Rock Martins, several Levaillant's Cisticolas and then a family party of 4 Ground Woodpeckers that allowed close approach!
Cape Rockjumper
Rock Kestrel
Ground Woodpeckers
Orange-breasted Sunbird
Cape Rockthrushes
Next stop was Betty's Bay where we eventually found a cafe for lunch before we took a look at the African Penguin colony there. A walk along the rocky shoreline there and to the nearby dunes occupied the rest of the day together with a splendid coffee in the lovely village of Pringle Bay. I could seriously see myself living there! Birds seen included Crowned Cormorants, Cape Cormorants, Little Egret, 2 Speckled Mousebirds, 2 Yellow Bishops and the numerous Cape Bulbuls. After booking in to the Bucaco Sud guesthouse and seawatch revealed some nice views of Southern Right Whales from our balcony - this was the life!
That night we dined in a restaurant in the village where we were the only ones there and the English owner even called us outside to see the International Space Station sail by!
African Penguin
White-breasted Cormorant
Crowned Cormorant
Speckled Mousebird
South Africa, Day 10, 10 September 2018 - Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens & Robben Island
We were staying only a couple of hundfed yards from one of the entrance gates to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens which made for a relaxing stroll after breakfast. Indeed we spent all morning in the beautiful gardens. The protea section had numerous nectar feeders including Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Southern Double-collared Sunbirds, Cape White-eyes and Cape Sugarbirds plus Forest Canary, Cape Canary, Cape Robin-chat, Olive Thrush and also Helmeted Guineafowl, Cape Spurfowl and Hadada Ibis strolling around on the lawns.
We then walked into the wilder sections above the gardens and I was delighted to locate 2 Sombre Greenbuls, Bar-throated Apalis, 3 Cape Batis, 2 Speckled Mousebird, 2 African Dusky Flycatchers and a circling African Goshawk. Back in the gardens, after much searching I eventually located a skulking Lemon Dove in the area near the canopy walkway.
After leaving the gardens we jumped in the car back at the guesthouse and headed off into Cape Town for a touristy afternoon around the Victoria Waterfront followed by a boat trip and tour around the infamous Robben Island, the prison home of Nelson Mandela for 18 years. The boat ride and coach tour around the island are best forgotten (except 1 Common Tern from the boat) but the walking tour of the prison itself by a former prisoner was very interesting. Birdwise I scooped with the main target on the island - the introduced Chukar as a pair fed on one of the lawns. Apart from thousands of nesting African Sacred Ibis and Hartlaub's Gulls I also saw a few African Penguins, Cape Spurfowl, Cape, Crowned and Bank Cormorants, African Black Oystercatchers, Kelp Gulls and 2 Swift Terns.
We then walked into the wilder sections above the gardens and I was delighted to locate 2 Sombre Greenbuls, Bar-throated Apalis, 3 Cape Batis, 2 Speckled Mousebird, 2 African Dusky Flycatchers and a circling African Goshawk. Back in the gardens, after much searching I eventually located a skulking Lemon Dove in the area near the canopy walkway.
Cape Batis
Forest Canary
Lemon Dove
Orange-breasted Sunbird
Helmeted Guineafowl
Hadada Ibis
Southern Double-collared Sunbirds
Olive Thrush
After leaving the gardens we jumped in the car back at the guesthouse and headed off into Cape Town for a touristy afternoon around the Victoria Waterfront followed by a boat trip and tour around the infamous Robben Island, the prison home of Nelson Mandela for 18 years. The boat ride and coach tour around the island are best forgotten (except 1 Common Tern from the boat) but the walking tour of the prison itself by a former prisoner was very interesting. Birdwise I scooped with the main target on the island - the introduced Chukar as a pair fed on one of the lawns. Apart from thousands of nesting African Sacred Ibis and Hartlaub's Gulls I also saw a few African Penguins, Cape Spurfowl, Cape, Crowned and Bank Cormorants, African Black Oystercatchers, Kelp Gulls and 2 Swift Terns.
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