CAPE BIRDING - SOUTH AFRICA by Philip Pope

22^nd – 29th March 2003 

The following is an account of a trip organised by Naturetrek. It is based on my own experiences and the birds that I saw personally. There were birds that others saw and I missed and vice versa. 

Day 1

After an 11 hour flight from Heathrow with South African Airways we arrived around 09:30 at Cape Town. The literature had promised sun and high 20’s centigrade, so it was somewhat disappointing to be greeted with leaden skies and a distinctly chilly feel to the air. Table Mountain could not be seen amongst the clouds. Nevertheless we were quickly through the airport formalities and meeting our guides Johan and Charles. The latter, being from Namibia, and being used to temperatures around 40 degrees was looking distinctly uncomfortable in these conditions. Piling into the two minibuses we were off birding straight away. Birders always get to see bits of the country that others miss and this was no exception , driving through some decidedly dodgy looking parts of the city and on to the local sewage works. 

Loading the buses we had already logged House Sparrow and Cape Wagtail, the first lifer for many. On the drive we saw plenty of Sacred Ibis and Blacksmith Plovers, a common but exceptionally attractive wader. The two local gulls were also much in evidence and we soon got to grips with these, Kelp Gull, looking very similar to our Lesser Black-backed and Hartlaub’s Gull, an attractive grey and white gull. 

Approaching the sewage works the birds started to come thick and fast. White Storks were overhead and many Cattle Egrets were in evidence. Our first Black-headed Herons and a flock of Cape Sparrows together with a Levaillant’s Cisticola. Some largish lagoons had a number of White Pelicans, always impressive birds to see, and a beautiful Black-shouldered Kite showed well in the scope, the first of many.

Two Orange–throated Longclaws skulked in the grass whilst Barn Swallows, Little and African Black Swifts wheeled around overhead.  

More lakes had Black-winged Stilts, Cape Teal, Great Crested, Little and Black-necked Grebes (in summer plumage), Little Egrets, Red Knobbed Coots, Red-billed Teal, Southern Pochard, Reed Cormorants and a Grey Heron. An African Sedge Warbler was seen briefly but well as it sang in the reeds and Cape Bulbuls were common. 

A couple of African Marsh Harriers hunted low over the reeds, occasionally giving us good views and allowing the differences from our Marsh Harrier to be examined. Further birds here were a nice flock of Greater Flamingos, a Purple Heron, White-backed Ducks, Avocets and two Purple Gallinules. 

Lunch was taken at Rondevlei nature reserve on the Cape Flats. Eating our sandwiches we were able to enjoy Cape Turtle Doves, Fiscal Shrike, Spotted Prinia and Cape White-eyes. Appetites satisfied, we wandered off to the hides. Generally there was a lack of water but the last hide had some Cape Shelducks and Caspian Terns. Working our way back we had good views of a flock of Common Waxbills and a Three-banded Plover was seen at very close quarters in front of another hide. A greeny yellow bird with streaking on the breast caused some debate and much field guide analysis. It was eventually decided that it was a Forest Canary. 

En route to our hotel at Noordhoek we saw Laughing Doves, Brown-throated Martins and Pied Crows. We were also much impressed by the scenery as we climbed up  through the mountains above Cape Town, although visibility was still poor.

With only a short time to change and shower before dinner the keener birders still managed to get out and examine a small reedbed near to the hotel. A small flock of Cape Weavers were seen well but the gathering winds kept most of the small birds out of sight. The weather seemed to be getting stormier and didn’t bode well for the following day . The planned pelagic was, predictably, called off. 

We drove out to a restaurant for lunch, notable for its fancy toilets and also its pet Otter! The latter took a fancy to my shoe on the way out and had to be forcibly removed by it’s owner. I’ve never been attacked by an Otter before!

Day 2

There was heavy rain overnight but when we gathered at 06:30 for an attempt at Ground Woodpecker things looked better. However, after 20 minutes of scanning the hillside to no avail we headed back for breakfast, and the weather took a turn for the worst again. By the time we were on the road there was torrential rain and a strong wind blowing. Any birding at all looked unlikely, but, with continued optimism we headed out along the coast road. After being entertained by passing runners from the local marathon, all dripping wet and looking as if they would rather be birding, we managed to park near to a good collection of seabirds who obviously didn’t mind the weather so much. Here we were able to compare Bank, Crowned and Cape Cormorants along with African Black Oystercatcher and Swift Terns. The huge waves breaking on the shore made us glad we hadn’t attempted the pelagic! 

The weather eased again slightly as we entered the Cape of Good Hope reserve. This is a classic area of Fynbos, the name given to the local flora, which is unique and consists of a huge number of endemic plants. It wasn’t long before we caught up with two of the endemics of the region, Cape Sugarbird and Orange–breasted Sunbird as well as other common residents, Cape Francolins, Cape Robin and the beautiful Bokmakierie.

Lunch was taken at Cape Point, where a cable car can take you up to the highest point. I decided to forego this for some seawatching from the car park as the winds seemed to be blowing the birds close into shore. Just as an insurance in case the pelagic didn’t happen later in the week. In half an hour I saw many Cape Gannets, some distant White-chinned Petrels and Sooty Shearwaters and a single Cory’s Shearwater quite close in. A walk down the hill to find Cape Siskin proved fruitless so I turned my attention to lunch. After purchasing some sandwiches and finding a comfortable seat watching the local Cape Buntings I was about to take a bite when I noticed a Chacma Baboon charging towards me at full speed. Quickly I hid the sandwich and the Baboon looked confused and backed off, but as soon as I took another bite he was back. I had to go into the café itself and finish my meal. When I wandered out again I spotted a Striped Mouse just a few feet away and as I watched a Rock Kestrel dived in, grabbed the squealing mouse and flew off with it! Plenty of wildlife drama around here! 

Safely back in the van we drove back through the reserve, observing several Ostriches and a Jackal Buzzard en route before arriving at the African or Jackass Penguin colony. This consisted of a wooden walkway that took the public, and there were plenty of them, straight into the middle of the colony, a bit like a zoo but we also picked up Rock Pigeon and Southern Boubou on the way.

Despite the weather we had managed some good birding today.

Day 3

We were off fairly early with the weather still indifferent, windy with some occasional rain, meaning that a Ground Woodpecker twitch was not on. Our first stop was at the Constantia Greenbelt where we walked a short way into some woodland, lined up and tried the tape for Knysna Warbler, but it seemed that given the wind and  the time of year it was rather a lost cause. We had other good birds though, a Black Saw-wing Swallow was overhead, a Cape White-eye on a nest, some Rameron Pigeons and a skulking Sombre Bulbul.

We then stopped alongside some pools by the road which were very productive. Yellow–billed Ducks, Red-billed Teal, Cape Shovelers were on the flashes along with three Glossy Ibis. A couple of waders were eventually identified as a Wood Sandpiper and a Greenshank. Then an African Snipe was spotted feeding in the cover of the vegetation at the edge of the pools, followed by second. Our only Alpine Swift of the trip flew over. 

After spending a fair bit of time at a bank we pulled into a service station that had a café producing its own bread and cakes. So, chewing a freshly baked loaf we scanned the surrounding area. Some Crowned Plovers were feeding behind the car wash and a flock of Yellow Canaries were around the garden. Whilst watching these I turned round only to find a chicken devouring the rest of my loaf! 

Lunch over, we drove on across an almost steppe like habitat of open field and low scrub. It wasn’t long before we spotted the bird that most of us were after, an adult Black Harrier. It flew alongside us for some time, crossing over the road and back again. It’s a beautiful bird, with an all black body and white rump with a striking contrast of black and white on the underwings , like a giant White-winged Black Tern. It made it straight into my Top 10 birds. 

Turning off the main road onto a track we encountered some Grey-winged Francolins, a large number of Helmeted Guineafowl and a lovely Southern Black Koraan by the side of the road. Both Barn and Pearl-breasted Swallows flew around the bus giving good views and a tantalising glimpse of a Blue Crane's head was seen over a rise. However, a little farther on we spotted two more birds showing well in a field with another on the other side of the road. There were also Red-capped Larks and a Grassveld Pipit in the same field. White backed Mousebirds were seen and a Bokmakierie showed well in the road during a brief respite from the vehicles whilst the tyre on one was being changed. 

As we approached our destination, Langebaan we saw several Ostriches in the scrub, these being long established feral birds. A short walk before dark gave us more views of Yellow Canary and a Hoopoe showing intermittently in a nearby Caravan park..

Day 4

First stop today was the quarry at Langebaan. The weather had very definitely reverted to normal and we were all enjoying the warm sun after the dullness of the last few days. The birds too were more active, with much more song evident. Karoo Robins seemed to be everywhere, a Chestnut-vented Titbabbler showed well in a nearby bush and a flock of Cape Penduline Tits passed by. The quarry itself seemed full of flocks of Pied and Wattled Starlings. 

A little further down the road we spotted two large shapes soaring off a low hill in front. A hurried stop and we were watching two superb Verreaux’s Eagles soaring right over us, several of us got them in our scopes and could see every detail as the birds turned and twisted overhead. Another contender for Top 10 bird list! 

We were then heading into the West Coast National Park. Driving through these steppe-like areas we saw two more Blue Cranes, in flight this time. On the side of the road and in the fields were many Capped Wheatears, Grassveld Pipits and several Sickle-winged Chats. We then found a very close pair of Long-billed Larks. These have been the subject of much splitting recently and this particular version showed extremely long decurved bills resembling a Hoopoe Lark. A bit further along was a singing Southern Thick-billed Lark performing nicely. 

We were leaving in some haste since the tide was beckoning but the other bus called us back a mile or so to see our only Southern Grey Tits of the trip. We made it to the hide at the Riviera mudflats in good time and walked out across the long wooden walkway which extends right out onto the mudflats. Once in the hide it was a wader buff’s dream. We were surrounded by birds, there were Turnstones, Curlew Sandpipers and Knot, many of which were in summer plumage. They would soon be taking off for the long trek up across Africa and Asia to Siberia.  Sanderling were in large numbers and a scan around revealed the odd Little Stint, Whimbrel, White-fronted, Ringed and Kittlitz’s Plovers. Walking back to the van we added some Ruff and Three-banded Plovers to the list. 

After a quick stop to eat our sandwiches we drove off across a different part of the reserve, soon stopping at some small pools. A couple of waders were identified as a Ruff and a Marsh Sandpiper and a scan of the reed edges revealed a couple of Black Crakes and an African Rail! 

Back at Langebaan we had a brief walk before dinner and decided to address the thorny problem of Grey-backed Cisticola. We had been confused on the ID of this one since it always seemed to look similar to Levaillant’s. So we decided to use the tape and see what happened. A quick burst of GBC tape had the bird flying to within three feet of us, scolding loudly. Was this conclusive? Maybe. 

The shore in front of the hotel had the usual Black Oystercatchers and some White-throated Swallows showing well.

Day 5 

Once again we started the day by visiting the Langebaan quarry to try and find some birds missed the day before. Two of us decided to walk up and join  the others at the quarry. We saw some Thick-billed Larks again, once more in song as well as the usual Karoo Robins, Cape Robins and a Familiar Chat. On reaching the quarry we spotted a female Mountain Chat, the one we were after! A large group of Rock Hyrax watched us from above. This was presumably the reason that the Verreaux’s Eagles nested here this summer. Heading back down the track we had good views of a pair of Acacia Pied Barbets. 

During the next few hours we headed towards Paarl, taking  a number of brief birding stops. The first was for a Karoo Lark, which showed superbly right on the side of the road. Crossing a bridge over a river a Giant Kingfisher was spotted perched high up in the overhanging branches. Typically it quickly moved away but not before we all had good views in the scopes.

Some pools by the road had a good selection of water birds. A few Intermediate Egrets were new for the trip as was a massive Goliath Heron, something of a rarity in this part of SA.

Paarl is an attractive town surrounded by spectacular mountains. We wound our way up a narrow track until we reached the Paarl mountain reserve. Here, the guides took a break and we were left to our own devices for a few hours. We took a trail that took us high around the edge of the reserve before looping back round and down. The scenery was quite stunning here. Malachite Sunbirds were much in evidence along with Lesser Double-collared Sunbirds. A Jackal Buzzard was first seen in the distance and then much closer profiled against the mountain side. Back at the car park we spotted an enormous Leopard Tortoise. 

Descending the track again we moved on to the Paarl Bird Sanctuary, a euphemism for the local sewage works. This place was heaving with birds. We started at the hide, which overlooked an interesting strip of reeds. A Malachite Kingfisher appeared on the edge of the reeds together with a Black Crake and a  Black-crowned Night Heron nearby. Amongst the wildfowl, which consisted of Yellow-billed Ducks, South African Shelduck and Spur-winged Geese, were two African Black Ducks. 

As we drove further along the track there were several waders apparent on the edge of the water, a Three-banded Plover, some Little Stints and a Common Sandpiper. The second hide produced a male Painted Snipe right in front (I still haven’t seen the more attractive female!) along with two African Snipe. There were many White-winged Black Terns flying over the water, most in immaculate plumage making them one of the highlights of the day. Also to one side of the hide we saw about ten White-faced Ducks along with many Avocets and another Malachite Kingfisher at close quarters.

Day 6

A poor night’s sleep was had due to another animal encounter! This time it was a mouse that persisted in eating our grapes and biscuits on the table and periodically would knock something over and wake us up. Breakfast was a little later so we utilised the time with a walk around the hotel grounds. The early morning sunlight on the surrounding mountains was superb! We saw a lot of the commoner species, Cape White-eye, Cape Robin but not the hoped for Swee Waxbills. 

Setting off we had two owl species in our sights. The first , a Barn Owl, was supposedly roosting in a nearby farm loft. Unfortunately it seemed to have departed when we investigated. The next farm down the road had a Spotted Eagle Owl showing extremely well in a tree in the back yard which we were all able to admire at our leisure. Two Peregrine Falcons were also seen here.

After a longish drive back to the coast we stopped at Helderberg mountain and took a walk along a track that followed the base of the mountain, The boulder strewn landscape was the habitat of the Cape Rockjumper, our main quarry. This bird is the size of a large thrush, with a rufous body, dark head and a striking white malar stripe. It was a must see bird. 

We walked for probably a mile, seeing another Verreaux’s Eagle soaring off the side of the mountain. A pair of Cape Rock Thrushes popped up onto the boulders one after the other and a Familiar Chat showed well, but no Rockjumper! Reluctantly we turned back and retraced our steps, the party split up, heads were down! The leaders were almost back at the bus and I was several hundred yards behind when a shout went up. Two of us sprinted the distance in almost world record time and there, hopping around in the back garden of the house near the start of the trail was the Cape Rockjumper. The lady of the house even came out and put food out for it. So, out of breath as we were, we enjoyed superb views of the bird as it just came closer and closer. 

Lunch was next, at Gordon’s Bay, sitting outside a café near the beach and eating scones in the sun. Very pleasant. Then it was on to try for Victorin’s Warbler. Lining up along the edge of a road bridge overlooking some dense scrub we played the tape. A pair of Cape Batis responded and we had good views of a Neddicky, but the warblers weren’t playing. 

A visit to the Helderberg nature reserve gave us a short time to walk amongst the proteas again. Some of the best views of Cape Sugarbirds were had here but I didn’t see any species new to the trip.

On the way back to Noordhoek we stopped off at a garden which seemed to be full of Spotted Dikkops!  Arriving back at our original hotel seemed almost like coming home. We just had time to find an African Paradise Flycatcher in the garden before the light went. An excellent barbecue was had that evening out in the garden.

Day 7

Another early morning dip of the Ground Woodpecker before breakfast! In fact there was another dip after breakfast as well, this time for a reported Honey Buzzard at Dehel. Then it was on to the main object of the day which was to explore the famous Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens. These superbly run gardens lie at the base of table mountain and offer all round spectacular scenery with the city of Cape Town lying below. A group of us chose to tackle the formidable Skeleton gorge trail, we were warned that this was gruelling but rewarding. After checking that we had plenty of water we set off to follow the signposted trail. Although the temperature was high, probably around 28 degrees, much of the walk was under trees and followed the stream in an increasingly steep gorge. We had a few birds, Cape Robins, Cape White-eyes, Spotted Prinias and several Dusky Flycatchers. But generally it was fairly quiet. Several of the group fell by the wayside as the path got steeper and steeper until it actually became a series of ladders! At this point all but one of them gave up (and he later arrived back looking completely exhausted). I have to hand it to Roger for making it to the top, particularly as he was carrying his scope as well!

On the way back down we stopped for a drink by the stream and a brown Accipiter flew up the gorge and landed just a few feet away from us. It was an African Goshawk and we watched it for a minute or so before it flew and continued its way up the gorge. A little further on there was a cry of “Snake” from in front, so I stepped over for a closer look to see a large black and yellow snake moving away from me in the undergrowth. I later described it to the guides who immediately identified it as a Cape Cobra, about the deadliest snake in the Cape! 

Back at the gardens themselves we just had time to wander around the ‘Fynbos’ section, in the hope of maybe getting Cape Siskin or a Bully Canary, but these were missed. The siskin was seen, however, by another member of the party on a different trail. There were other birds around though and we had good views of more Cape Sugarbirds, Lesser Double-collared Sunbirds and my first Olive Thrush of the trip. This reserve really needs at least two days to do it justice. 

After recovering from the walk with a well deserved ice-cream we headed back to the hotel. On the way we stopped off at a nearby residential area which had its own series of lakes. There were both Spotted and Water Dikkops, Great Crested and Little Grebes, Cape Cormorants, Darters and a flock of White Pelicans which circled the area the whole time.

Day 8

So to the highlight of the trip (for me!), left to the last day. I was getting seriously worried that this might not happen due to the inclement weather but the Saturday dawned warm, with little wind but rather misty.

We left the hotel early after a special ‘pelagic’ breakfast. This was basically the usual breakfast without the cooked bits! 

After a safety briefing from the captain we left harbour at about 07:15 in thick fog! It took a couple of hours before we started to come out of this. Up to then we had been getting some misty views of Cape Gannets as well as  several Cory’s and Sooty Shearwaters. As the visibility improved the White-chinned Petrels became easier to get to grips with, they seemed to be everywhere and several times we slowed the boat to scan rafts of birds on the water. 

Both Wilson’s and European Storm Petrels were passing the boat regularly although good views of the features were sometimes difficult due to the boat’s movement.

After about three hours out the moment arrived that I had been waiting for. An adult Black-browed Albatross came swinging past the left hand side of the boat before banking round and doing another pass. A few minutes later a Yellow-nosed Albatross  was seen well on the opposite side.

Several Great Shearwaters flew extremely close to the boat and some more were seen on the water at close range. It wasn’t long before the third expected albatross, the Shy Albatross, came into view. Albatrosses were now passing the boat every few minutes and most seemed to be adults.  Then a cry of “Giant Petrel!” went up, a large petrel took off from the water on the right side of the boat and it was just possible to make out the reddish tip to the large bill, making it a Northern Giant Petrel.

Twice Sub-Antarctic Skuas (the southern equivalent of our Bonxies) flew right overhead and Sooty Shearwaters were now all round the boat.

I decided at this stage that I had to go below to answer the call of nature and of course that was a cue for a Pomarine Skua to appear. This has always been a bogey bird for me, I’ve constantly missed them at Portland and on other pelagics. My despair was short lived though as two more Skuas came towards the boat. The first was an Arctic Skua and it seemed  to be pursued by the second skua which could clearly be seen to be much bulkier, obviously a Pom! It was a good comparison between the two, something that, I guess, doesn’t happen that often. Two superb Sabine’s Gulls also did a fly past. 

We had by this time turned around and headed back towards shore. I believe we had been out around 25-30 miles but hadn’t been able to find a trawler, a slight disappointment but I had had good views of all the birds hoped for.

As we neared the shore things quietened down, we went past a wave of Cory’s Shearwaters again and a few Arctic Terns and a single Crested Tern were seen.

It didn’t seem to be unduly rough at sea, I had taken seasick tablets, had followed all the rules (don’t walk about any more than necessary and keep your eyes on the horizon whenever possible) and had felt fine throughout the trip  Others, however, weren’t quite so lucky and one poor person was still being ill when we boarded the plane several hours later!

We just had time to go back to our hotel to change and shower before we were off back to the airport and our flight home  An excellent end to a trip that had a bit of everything for me..