We are up early on 4th December for the long drive to Beaufort West on route to Pearly Beach. Once again the cats are with us & yet again behaved impeccably on the drive. It was a long, but uneventful drive of 1,039 kms.
Happy Cat!
Olive Farm
We once again we stayed overnight at the Olive Farm, which is a very pleasant spot on the map. But all too soon we were up early & on our way again. There was a small dam behind our chalet with 2 Little Stints on it. I would imagine an unusual record for so far inland. White backed Mousebirds were common in the garden.
The house
The view!
We arrived late afternoon & it was great to see both the house & the sea again. The next five days were terrible! We had sent furniture & personal possessions down from Pretoria & the truck arrived the next day. Unloading, arranging all the stuff took us much longer than anticipated.
Part of the huge feeding flock of Cape Cormorants
feeding offshore, estimated at 15,000 birds.
Hundreds were also on the rocks.
We didn't have time to do any birding at all until 10th December, when a quick look at the sea revealed 10 African Penguins! Otherwise it was just birding from the veranda & garden.
We feed the Sugarbirds & Sunbirds
Unfortunately this one flew
into the window!
Cape Sugarbird
Malachite Sunbird
in a nest in the garden.
From 12th December onwards spent time sea watching from the veranda. A little quiet this time of year but often thousands of Cape Cormorants feeding offshore & Giant petrel sp. seen most days. Eventually identified both Northern & Southern species. Also each evening, Arctic Skuas arrive to roost on the calm seas in the bay, up to 68 birds seen together.
14th December was spent Christmas shopping in Hermanus, which is a lovely spot to visit. We enjoyed a nice outdoor lunch but didn't have time to do any birding.
among the kelp.
at the resort.
I don't see them very often.
On 16th December we did a four hour birding walk along the foreshore, the resort area & back via the residential area. 56 species were tallied, the best being eight Pearl breasted Swallows breeding.
but a different world from the coast!
which makes it easy to explore.
there was a pair of Levaillant's Cisticolas
on it!
On 21st December Delana & I went for a walk in the hills behind her house. Bird diversity here is low, we saw 11 species in a few hours! However quality is high & we really enjoyed our afternoon out.
Cape Grassbird
It was a fine few hours out & about, but very windy & sometimes difficult to birdwatch. A late afternoon sea watch from the veranda produced 47 Arctic Skua coming into roost on the sea.
Delana & I enjoyed a nice walk along the coast on 24th December, seeing 47 species, but nothing unusual. The weather was great though & we took a few photos.
beach in Argentina, not Pearly Beach.
Wading cross the freshwater stream.
I did a little bit of sea watching on 25th December, noting 2 Giant Petrel sp., 1 Southern Giant Petrel & 12 Arctic Skua.
The weather was superb on 26th December, so we walked east along the coast to where the freshwater stream crosses the beach & enters the sea. We then followed the stream away from the coast & found a little tarn, where we took a break. Nothing unusual was noted but 42 White fronted Plovers bathing in the stream was noteworthy.
White fronted Plover
The weather & wind changed dramatically late afternoon, so I do a bit of sea watching: 32 Arctic Skua, a Cory's Shearwater & 11 Sooty Shearwaters were all welcome sightings.
Sea watching was the order of thee day on the morning of 27th December. The wind was still from the north-west, but had decreased a little. Highlights were 49 White chinned Petrels & 14 Sooty Shearwater flying west.
On 28th December Delana & I walked slightly inland around the edge of the rubbish dump. This area has a mixture of native & exotic trees & bushes. It was a hot day & we started a little late, but we picked up a few Yellow Canaries, which were nice.
A lazy morning around the house on 29th December. However, we decided to explore a little in the afternoon around Wolvengat. It was very windy so not ideal conditions but we did see a nice selection of species: Secretarybird; 2 Blue Crane; 2 Denham;s Bustard & 3 Large billed Lark.
Sandwich Tern
Aberrant bird on the left!
We then drove down the Reifontein Road into the Agulhas National Park. We parked at the end & were treated to spectacular coastal scenery, a breeding colony of White breasted Cormorants & 94 Great crested Terns. Definitely a place to go back to & explore more carefully. All in all, a very pleasant afternoon outing.
It is the last day of the year! Delana drops me off at the main road junction & I walk slowly back home. It was an overcast morning & quite cool but bird activity was high. I recorded 55 species in just over two hours, which is good going in these parts.
It has been quite a year! Delana & I started out in Pearly Beach, then Pretoria (mainly to get my broken foot sorted out) & then had a lovely two weeks in Sabie Park & adjacent Kruger National Park. Our next stop was Mauritius & Rodriques Island. All was going to plan so we flew out to Argentina & then things started to rapidly go wrong! Four months later we arrived in the UK & after a few weeks in southern England we hired a car & took off for a six week tour of Scotland. Then an idyllic month in Namibia, staying at some really fancy places & enjoying some great birds & mammals. Exactly eight months & one day after we set off we finally landed back in South Africa! Spent sometime at our Pretoria home & then headed south to Pearly Beach. In the process we saw 707 species of birds on three continents & two Indian Ocean Islands. It was a strange year but not a bad one as we seemed to time our movements very well. I wonder what 2021 will bring?
