The West Coast National Park.

 This was a new destination for me. I had long wanted to visit, but somehow had never managed it, often driving straight by on the way to somewhere else! Delana had of course been there many times before! We suddenly had a few days free, as our UK freight was delayed yet again! So early on 7th February we set off for the three hour drive to the West Coast National Park. 

The lovely manor house at Geelbek.

Rock Martin, sheltering from the wind.

Kittlitz's Plover

Large tracks of saltmarsh & reedbeds.

Geelbek Hide

Greater Flamingo

311 birds were present today.

It was high tide so nearly all the waders had left.

The hide affords fantastic close up views.

Abrabhamskraal Hide

This is the only area of freshwater in the park.

Adult Little Grebe feeding chick.

African Sacred Ibis & African Spoonbill

Yellow billed Duck

Cape Shoveler

Purple Gallinule

Orange throated Longclaw.

White backed Mousebird

Jo-Anne's Cottage

The view!

A closer look reveal superb beaches.

The view from inside the cottage.

Cape Francolin, very common here.

Speckled Pigeon

Three striped Mouse

Rock Kestrel

Cape Robin Chat

Karoo Robin

White backed Mousebird

Bokmakerie

Eating snails

White throated Canary

Atlantic Viewpoint

A very scenic spot on the map.

Up early on 8th February & visited the Atlantic Viewpoint on the west side of the park. It is a scenic area, but we missed our main target species which was Karoo Lark. 

Yellow billed Kite

Black winged Kite

Rock Kestrel

Hunting over the dunes.

Karoo Scrub Robin

Geelbeck Hide

The view from the hide.

One can get really close to the birds 

as the tide rises.

The tide was rising, so we quickly moved on to the Geelbek Hide. It was an excellent couple of hours, as our timing was spot on.

Greater Flamingo

Grey Plover

Some individuals already showing

 signs of summer plumage.

Marsh Sandpiper

Common Ringed Plover

Sanderling

Little Stint

Curlew Sandpiper

Birds:

Greater Flamingo 300+; Black winged Stilt 95; Pied Avocet 99; Grey Plover 47; Common Ringed Plover 78; Whimbrel 147; Eurasian Curlew 7; Ruddy Turnstone 4; Ruff 1; Curlew Sandpiper 1800; Sanderling 82; Little Stint 580; Greenshank 21; Marsh Sandpiper 2; Osprey 1; African Fish Eagle 2.

Seeberg Viewpoint

At the viewpoint.

Our last day in the park was on 9th February & we started at the Seeberg Viewpoint. It is a very scenic spot & straight away we started seeing good birds starting with Southern Black Korhaan in the distance. It was a fine male calling, but just too far away for any meaningful photographs. We saw two more males later in the morning. 

Large billed Lark

Karoo Lark

Difficult to approach & photograph.

It is a very Pipit like lark species.

This is a widespread species within its range, 

but often difficult to find.

We were very pleased to see this species.

We then saw a couple of Large billed Larks & then hit the jackpot with at least three Karoo Larks. The Karoo Larks were quite flighty & not easy to observe.

Black Harrier

Quite common within the park.

Grey-backed Cisticola

Southern Grey Tit

Thinly distributed within its range.

We saw a group of three birds, 

which eventually came close.

Southern Penduline Tit

A very smart little endemic!

Kelp Gull

With huge sand eel prey!

Our final stop within the national park was at the Seeberg Hide, which was disappointing because the tide was still too far away. 

Pasternoster, a charming little Cape coast village.

Cape Columbine, notice the track on the left.

One camps right next to the sea.

It is wild & windy here.

A sunny, sheltered spot on the beach.

We then drove to Pasternoster, a nice authentic Cape settlement on the coast. It is a pretty little spot with nice places to stay & eat. In the afternoon we visited an old haunt of Delana's The Cape Columbine Nature Reserve. It has limited diversity but is a scenic spot for camping & lounging for a couple of days.

Common Greenshank

This would be aa nice spot on the map to spend a couple of days basically doing nothing.

Blue Cranes were common on the farmland.

Black headed Heron

Cape Long billed Lark

Saw six birds, but didn't manage a good photo!

Large billed Lark

Sickle-winged Chat

This is a species I hardly ever see.

 I don't spend much time in its range.

So nice to get good views this morning.

The next morning Delana had to work, so I went birding down a little used dirt road looking for Cape Long billed Lark & Sickle-winged Chat. The conditions for birding were terrible! The wind was very strong & made life difficult. However I did see both target species well.

That was the end of our few days away along the west coast. The places were fantastic, but the constant wind was a drain. Delana says this is normal here, so camping could be interesting! We did enjoy some spectacular scenery & some great birding. We will be back!