Crystal Springs Mountain Resort

Crystal Springs Mountain Resort.

The view from our chalet.

 We drove the short distance (30kms) from Mount Sheba to Crystal Springs Mountain Resort, arriving late afternoon on 14th April. Although only separated by a short distance, they are very different places to bird. Crystal Springs is on the drier side of the mountains & is more rocky & open, having some good upland grasslands. Plantations dominate, but there are some dry forest patches in the valley bottoms & some largely inaccessible montane forest, in deep kloofs.

Blue Wildebeast

They were feeding around our accomodation.

Side-striped Jackal seen from our chalet at dusk.

Nicholson's Pipit

At least two pairs were present 

on the edge of the gorge.

Golden-breasted Bunting

After unpacking & settling in to our temporary home I went for a short walk just before dusk & saw four Nicholson's (Long-billed) Pipits on the rocks, at the edge of the gorge. In fact, this locality proved to be one of the very best locations for seeing this species.

Plains Zebra

Delana at the trail head.

African Dusky Flycatcher

Pin-tailed Whydah

Young Rufous naped Lark

Common around the

 accommodation areas.

On 15th April we took a mornings drive around the reserve. It was very scenic & enjoyable, although few birds of note recorded.

Yellow-streaked Greenbul in the mist!

Barratt's Warbler. Can you see it?

The next day due to the lack of birds seen the previous day we drove to Graskop & visited God's Window & Lisbon Falls. Unfortunately we picked a really drab & foggy day, so birding was difficult & slow going. We arrived at God's Window in thick fog & birding was only possible around the car park. Five Barratt's Warblers were singing, but proving almost impossible to see.

The top of Lisbon Falls

Lisbon Falls

Lanner Falcon

Young Cape Rock Thrush

The bad weather settled in again, so we ended up in the old pub in Pilgrim's Rest! We left the resort after breakfast on 17th for the drive to Dullstroom. 

Mount Sheba Country Lodge

 Delana & I drove the short distance (114 kms) to the Mount Sheba Hotel on the morning of 11th April. It is only a short distance, but it is in a different world from the bushveld. The road is steep & full of sharp bends, as one twists up on to the escarpment. There is a lot of commercial forestry here, but among this green desert are patches of native forest & grasslands. 

The lodge & grounds are very nice.

It is in a very scenic setting.

The lodge is full of old world charm & it makes for a very comfortable base to explore the afro-montane forest & grasslands. We were here for a three night stay as part of my birthday treat from Delana.

The lodge is surrounded by montane, 

evergreen forest.

Birding the forest on 

the approach road.

We found birding the forest to be hard work & we missed a lot of the forest specials. Few species were calling & despite our best efforts, few species were seen!

Samango Monkey

They are used to people & quite tame.

Speckled Rock Pigeon is common 

in the resort grounds.

Chorister Robin easy to hear but not to see!

Dark-capped Bulbul

Sombre Bulbul

Yellow-streaked Greenbul

Cape White-eye

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

We spent the morning of 12th April birding the resort grounds, the entrance road & one of the trails through the forest.

The grasslands on the Sheba Lookout Trail.

Buff-streaked Chat

Male singing.

In the afternoon we explored the lookout trail. It was a scenic area, but the walk was steep & slippy. We only managed fleeting glimpses of a Gurney's Sugarbird & more obliging Buff-streaked Chats. Then our walk was cut short by the oncoming rain.

We enjoyed a lovely evening in the 

restaurant, complete with an excellent meal.

The next day we again birded the forest trail & then the upper road. It was a dark & overcast day making photography difficult & we saw very little apart from Olive Thrush & Mountain Wagtail.

One slowly climbs up out of the forest on to the

open high altitude grasslands.

Female Grey Rhebok inhabit these upland areas.

Looking down on the Mount Sheba Lodge.

The Lost City!

Photographing those pesky Cisticolas!

A distant Cape Rock Thrush

Bar-throated Apalis. 

Note the colour of the underparts.

Wailing Cisticola

Rock-loving Cisticola

As it's name suggests, closely tied to

its rocky habitat.

Wing-snapping Cisticola

A high altitude grassland specialist.

Drakensberg Prinia

Then it was only a short drive to our next destination. Mount Sheba is a wonderful place to stay but we found the birding to be difficult, with the forest being largely silent. We will have to return in early summer when the birds are singing.

We left reasonably early on 14th April to take the short drive to our next destination Crystal Springs Mountain Resort. However, first we had to pack our little car! On the way out we decided to explore the so-called Lost City, which is a massive collection of rocks on the nearby hillside. Birding is very different here, with very few species, but some good open country high altitude specials.