The view from the house. Nice to see the sea again.
We arrived home in Pearly Beach late afternoon on 7th December. It is still a long (but scenic) drive from the Karoo National Park to Pearly. Then it was the usual unpacking & settling in. We were both tired after the drive, so had an early night.
The African Christmas Tree!
A beautiful sunset from the house.
Cape Spurfowl
Jackal Buzzard
Young Southern Crag Martins
on the side of the house.
Greater Striped Swallow
Cape Sugarbird
Male Malachite Sunbird
Young Malachite Sunbird
Amethyst Sunbird
Cape Sparrow
Black Saw-wing
They are so fast, difficult to photograph
The next day I had a walk around & saw an adult Black Harrier flying over, plus a pair of Black Saw-wings nesting in a banking.
Steppe Buzzard
Denham Bustard
Blue Crane
Whiskered Tern
They breed on isolated ponds
amid the farmland.
Red-knobbed Coot
Common Moorhen
Cape Crow
African Pipit
Large-billed Lark
Red-capped Lark
Capped Wheatear
Young Capped Wheatear
Cape Canary
Brimstone Canary
Young Brimstone Canary
On the 9th December I had a drive around on top of the escarpment, which is all farmland around here, but still surprisingly good for birding.
Arctic Skua
Part of the flock that roosts on the sea.
Orange-breasted Sunbird
On 10th Delana & I briefly visited the Agulhas National Park, however it was blowing a gale up there & we only saw Orange-breasted Sunbird. In the evening I conducted a sea-watch from the house recording 87 Arctic Skuas coming in to roost.
Rock Kestrel
Mainly Great-crested Terns & Hartlaub's Gulls
Ruddy Turnstone
On the 11th December I drove the Birkenhead 4x4 Trail along the coast. Nothing too exciting was seen but the weather & scenery were great.
A Leopard as captured on a trail camera
just 2kms from the house.
Great to see that they are still surviving in this area.
We had a tremendous storm on the night of 12th & so I was up at dawn on the 13th December conducting a sea watch from the house. It proved to be a brilliant morning:
1 White-chinned Petrel; 1 Southern Giant Petrel; 4 Cory's Shearwater; 1,016 Sooty Shearwater; 41 Cape Gannet (a good total for here) & 4 Arctic Skua.
Delana where the small freshwater stream
enters the sea.
Egyptian Goose often found next to the sea.
Crowned Cormorant
Cape Cormorant
This species engages in co-operative feeding
in huge flocks
Sacred Ibis
Little Egret
Cape (Kelp) Gull
Hartlaub's Gull
Three species of Tern on the beach.
Common & two Sandwich Terns
Water Dikkop
African Oystercatcher
White-fronted Plover
African Marsh Harrier
An uncommon & localised species.
Pearl-breasted Swallow
Bar-throated Apalis
Delana Juantelle & Tyler
At the Parlotones concert.
Later in the morning Delana & I had a walk eastwards along the beach. The weather was good & we had a nice time. Best birds were: 26 White-fronted Plover; 4 Water Thick-knee; 22 Eurasian Whimbrel; 12 Common Tern; 16 Sandwich Tern; 9 Great-crested Tern; African Marsh Harrier & 3 Pearl-breasted Swallow.
Fulvous Whistling Duck
A rarity in this area.
Black headed Heron
Jackal Buzzard
White-throated Swallow
African Pipit
Long-billed Pipit
This was an unexpected find in this area.
Grey-backed Cisticola
This is the red-capped form found in this area.
Cloud Cisticola
The 14th December was a big birding day. I took the back roads to Struisbaai, stopping at a variety of birding spots along the way. Even though the landscape was very dry, a good variety of birds were seen.
Immature Pomarine Skua
The next day I saw an African Penguin on the sea. This is my first record for a long time. In the evening I conducted my usual evening sea watch recording 80 Arctic Skua & 3 immature Pomarine coming into roost. 4 Southern Giant Petrel & a Sooty Shearwater were also noted.
Olive Woodpecker
African Dusky Flycatcher
Cape Batis
Common Waxbill
On 16th December we made an early morning visit to Witkrans. This is a small patch of indigenous forest, which holds some good birds. We found it to be hard going, but we enjoyed the morning. We heard Knysna Woodpecker several times but it failed to reveal itself to us! Olive Woodpecker was much more obliging, with three birds showing well.
Gale force winds overnight meant that dawn on 17th December was to be a sea-watching day! And it proved to be a fantastic morning:
Southern Giant Petrel
Northern Giant Petrel
6 Arctic Skua; 2 Pomarine Skua (including an adult); 8 Southern Giant Petrel; 1 Northern Giant Petrel; 1 White-chinned Petrel; a wonderful 187 Cory's Shearwater & 2,718 Sooty Shearwater. What a great morning!
The evening sea watch produced:
A terrible photo of an adult Long-tailed Skua
Adult Long-tailed Skua; 20 Arctic Skua; 1 Pomarine Skua; 1 Southern Giant Petrel & 9 Cory's Shearwater.
Blue Crane
Denham Bustard
Cape Vulture
The heat haze made photography difficult.
Grey-winged Francolin
Plain-backed Pipit
African Pipit
On 18th December I headed out on the dirt roads towards Malgas. I was full of optimism of seeing a host of little brown jobs, but the hot conditions made birding difficult & i saw very little.
Early morning on 19th saw me sea-watching & it produced 6 African Penguin & an immature Pomarine Skua.
In the afternoon Delana & I visited the Uilenkraal Estuary & it was a productive time in good weather. The stand out sighting was of an adult Black Stork, our first record for the Cape Region.
Black Stork
Mainly Great-crested Terns
Caspian Tern with Great-crested Terns
Little Stints and Common Ringed Plovers.
Little Stint
Best birds:
46 Grey Plover; 68 Common Ringed Plover; 95 Whimbrel; 2 Bar-tailed Godwit; 2 Curlew Sandpiper; 126 Little Stint; 1 Caspian Tern; 21 Sandwich Tern & a colossal 450 Great crested Terns.
African Swamphen
Cape Grassbird
Levaillant's Cisticola
Female Yellow Bishop
On 20th December Jaques & I visited Klein Paradise. This is an interesting site, as it has a dam with lots of vegetation, pasture land, exotic woodland & the slopes of the mountain. We recorded 35 species in a couple of hours.
Best birds:
African Swamphen; African Snipe; Cape Grassbird; Levaillant's Cisticola; 2 Black Saw-wing; 10 Orange-breasted Sunbird & Cape Bunting.
Feeding frenzy!
The next day was notable for one thing: a record breaking number of Cape Sugarbirds at the feeders! 27 birds at once were on the veranda.
Juanelle & Pieter
Both experienced & fanatical birders!
The 22nd December turned out to be a great days birding. I met up with Pieter & Juanelle in Hermanus. We birded the Hermanus pentad for atlassing purposes & recorded an astonishing 130 species in the day!
A sleeping Maccoa Duck
A distant White-backed Duck
We first visited Vermont Salt Pan & we recorded some cracking species: White-backed Duck; Maccoa Duck & Black Goshawk. I managed poor photos of the two ducks (they were at extreme range) but missed out on the Black Goshawk flying over. We recorded 39 species in about 40 minutes of birding.
Alpine Swift
Purple Heron
African Snipe
Cape Teal
Common Reed Warbler
Levaillant's Cisticola
Our next stop was Hawston, which turned out to be very good indeed! Both Alpine; Common; African Black; Little; White-rumped & a rare (here) Palm Swift hawked overhead. The small marsh there proved to be excellent: Purple Heron & African Snipe. The water treatment Plant produced Cape Teal.
Plain-backed Pipit
The next spot were some open fields on the edge of town, which proved to be quite productive.
Light phase Booted Eagle
was a bit of a surprise here!
A very distant Great crested Grebe
complete with fish!
Kittlitz's Plover
Sanderling
White Stork is an erratic visitor
to the Cape Region.
We then visited Fisherhaven & although the tide was out we saw some good species here. What was amazing was that we saw 130 species in such a small area & we finished birding around mid-day! A great day out with Pieter & Juanelle, who worked out the route & had intimate knowledge of the birdwatching spots.
On the 23rd December I saw 5 Common Swift hawking over the sea in front of the house. I then paid a brief visit to the Pearly Beach Sewage Works: 37 Cape Shoveler & 28 Cape Tere both very high totals.
Spotted Eagle Owl
Out in the open, in the middle of the day!
Brilliant!
A small portion of a feeding flock
of Cape Cormorants
Around mid-day I paid a visit to the Pearly Resort Water Treatment Area. This area consistently produces unusual species for Pearly & so it proved today. In the evening 105 Arctic Skuas roosted on the sea opposite the house.
In the UK:
Jonathan & Rowan at home.
Christmas dinner.
Nicci & Justin's house.
Gabriel, Peaches & Nicci.
Present time!
The gathering!
In the UAE:
Ahmed, Clare & Saleh
Maybe a trifle overdone?
It's time!
A happy little boy!
In Australia:
Toni's house.
In South Africa:
The table is set!
Christmas snacks!
The presents!
Hint I am wearing it!
Nothing much happened on the 24th & 25th, as it was Christmas!
Looking down from the heights on to Hermanus.
Fantastic views from up here.
Looking for the Rockjumpers!
Peregrine
Male Orange-breasted Sunbird
Immature male.
Female
On the 26th December Delana & I drove up Rotary Way in Hermanus. It is a road that gains access to the high mountains fringing the coast. This is a known location for Cape Rockjumper, but we failed! In the evening 127 Arctic Skuas roosted on the sea in Pearly.
Beautiful scenery & only 3kms from the house!
Jaques, Delana & Jason
White-necked Raven
Cape Grassbird
Singing!
On the 28th December Jaques & Jason joined us for an exploration of a private farm on the outskirts of Pearly Beach. It turned out to be an excellent morning, in an unknown area for us. However, we couldn't reach the excellent indigenous forest patches or the high rocky slopes of the mountains. It was a nice morning's birding though in excellent company.
Juvenile Orange-throated Longclaw
Taken through the windscreen.
This dull plumage doesn't last for long.
One can just see the start of an orange throat
moulting through.
Zitting Cisticola
Poor photography, as this individual
was at quite a distance.
This location was about 5 kms from Die Dam.
The next day was blowing a gale here, unfortunately it was from the wrong direction for sea-watching! However, around mid-day Delana & I had a little drive out to an area close to Die Dam. It was hard birding, but we did see Orange-throated Longclaw & Zitting Cisticola It is the first time we have recorded Zitting Cisticola this close to Pearly Beach.
The area.
Looking inland down the estuary.
The walkway that goes towards the sea.
The 30th December was the penultimate day of the year. We decided to drive the 90 kms to De Mond Nature Reserve, This reserve surrounds the Heuningnes Estuary, which is an excellent place for terns & migrating shorebirds. It is however not an easy place to bird, as the bridge over the estuary which gets you closer to the birds is broken. One has to bird across the estuary these days & the birds are far away. However, we still enjoyed a good morning's birding there.
Sometimes you have to wade across the channels
to reach where the birds are.
Cape Cormorant
Cape Cormorants with a few White-breasted
in the foreground
There is a 1st winter Arctic Tern in this flock.
Can you spot it?
A bit closer!
Poor photography because of great distance.
Two 1st winter Arctic Terns &
3 Red Knot in this photo!
Damara Terns with a lone Common Tern
Common Ringed Plover & Curlew Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
The two Ist winter Arctic Terns were a bit of a surprise. It just shows you how easy this species is to overlook! This record capped a good morning's birding.
The last day of quite a memorable year: trips to the sub-Antarctic; a ten week Namibia sojourn; a six week trip to Brazil; a wonderful short trip to Madagascar, (where I saw my 8,000 bird species) & great times in Sabie Park & Pearly Beach, where we are now. Let us see what 2026 brings!
