Mopani: Kruger National Park

 To be completed once back in internet range.

St. Lucia

 We drove north along the coast to St Lucia on 3rd June. We had booked into the Sugarloaf Campground at the southern end of town, mainly to be close to the coastal forest, which was to be the main focus of our time here. St Lucia is a small tourist orientated town, surrounded by some of the best coastal forest birding in southern Africa. It also has some great dune forest, marshes & to the north of town some open grassland areas. 

Our campsite, with some great shade.

Sugarloaf Campground is enormous! It has 92 stands & we were the only people there! It proved to be a secluded & excellent base for our few days here.

The next morning we were up early exploring a nearby coastal forest trail. Birding hear is exciting but always challenging. One can hear things but seeing them is another matter, never mind getting a photograph!

To be completed!

Mtunzini

 On 30th May we drove to the Natal coast. It was an easy drive, as these days one doesn't have to go into Durban. Mtunzini is one of my favourite places in Natal. In fact, one of my favourite places in South Africa! It is a small, very pretty town surrounded by excellent birding opportunities. There is little crime here & the municipality run the place very well. We arrived late afternoon to our campground on the edge of the town. We quickly set up camp & enjoyed the much higher temperatures! One is surrounded by sub-tropical vegetation here. What a contrast to the rest of our trip! 

We had a lazy morning in camp on 31st May , as we were both tired from the previous days drive. Then we set off to bird the forest around the Raphia Palm Monument. To say it was late morning, we did very well, seeing a host of new species for the trip. 

Red Duiker is common in the forest 

surrounding the town.

A pair of very distant Palm Nut Vultures.

White-eared Barbet.

A common species, even in the town

 parks & gardens.

Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird

Olive Sunbird: here found in coastal forests.

Square-tailed Drongo

Small groups of Dark-backed Weavers were seen.

Natal is a funny place to bird, as most of it is covered by the monoculture of sugar cane. First impressions are not good & one sees few species as you pass through. However, once one hits patches of indigenous vegetation everything changes & bird life becomes abundant. The other thing about Natal is that so many species are found here, which are restricted to this region. So we were hoping for an increase to our photographic big year. And so it proved.

Umlalazi Lagoon, surrounded by coastal forest

& mangroves.

There are nice beaches here.

Delana enjoying the sunshine!

In the afternoon we briefly visited the Umlalazi Nature Reserve on the edge of town. This reserve has a great range of habitats from sand dune forest, lowland forest, mangroves & associated muddy areas with a beach. It is a great place to walk around & do some birding. 

Mangrove Kingfisher

Black-bellied Starling

Restricted to mangroves & forest.

Our main target species for this location was Mangrove Kingfisher & it didn't take us long to find one! This species is very localised & breeds in coastal forest along the Wild Coast in summer. However, in the winter months it moves northwards along the coast to mangroves. Numbers are low, as the coastal forest it relies on for breeding have been rapidly diminished by human activity. Umlalazi is one of the best places to see it in the winter months. 

On the 1st June we hired a local bird guide for the day. It proved to be a good decision as he was both knowledgeable & very good company.  

The Pigeons were a long way away!

There is one in this photo!

Can you spot it?

A little closer! 

The bird is in the bottom of this photo.

Female Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon

Spotted Ground Thrush

It took a bit of finding, 

but eventually gave great views.

We were up at dawn & headed for the Dlinza Forest. This is a relatively small patch of forest up in the hills & holds two very special range restricted species: Eastern Bronze-naped Pigeon & Spotted Ground Thrush. Both of these species have small populations in the highly fragmented mid-elevational forests. The Spotted Ground Thrush is a winter visitor here, as it breeds in afro-montane forests at a higher elevation. Both species are totally reliant upon these small indigenous patches of forest which remain today. 

Ngoye Forest.

Showing the highly fragmented nature

of this forest.

Green Barbet

It finally came out in the open!

Our next stop was the famous Ngoye Forest, which holds the only population of Green Barbet in South Africa. This is an isolated sub-species of a bird which is found mainly in montane forests from southern Kenya, through Tanzania, Malawi & Mozambique.

Scaly-throated Honeyguide

Our last stop of the day was back in town as the guide knew of a songpost for Scaly-throated Honeyguide. And after a few minutes we saw it! This is always a tough species to actually see (often heard) & it was a fitting end to a very pleasant day.

Rufous-winged Cisticola

We were again up early on 2nd June, as we had to pack up & drive to St. Lucia. However, before that we had a quick trip to the local nature reserve again, in order to connect with Rufous-winged Cisticola. We had tried for this before, but as the day wears on it gets increasingly windy & it becomes impossible to see. But in the early morning it is calm & we saw it quite easily. Feeling pleased with our early morning we then drove the relatively short distance to our final birding stop of this trip. 

Mtunzini had yet again proved to be an excellent spot to visit. It really is a lovely little town & it makes an excellent base to explore some really good nearby areas.

Southern Drakensberg & Lesotho

Our camp

A great place to stay!

We arrived at our campsite on the farm Khutso late afternoon on 26th May. This is a working farm, but it has a nice secluded campsite & we were the only people here during our four night stay.

The lowest section of the 

Sani Pass Road

Part of a large flock of Olive Pigeons.

Cape Grassbird

Cape Rock Thrush

The next day we visited the lower reaches of Sani Pass, up to the SA Border Post. It proved to be a frustrating morning, as we spotted a Forest Buzzard, but we failed to get a photo! Then we spent a long time looking & eventually finding a Barratt's Warbler. I glimpsed the bird twice, but Delana failed to get on to it & it would have been a new bird for her! The afternoon was spent in camp.

The track is quite narrow.

Looking for those difficult

 highland specials!

Cape Rock Thrush

Cape Bunting

Bokmakerie

The big day dawned. It was the 28th May & the day we drove up the Sani Pass & into Lesotho. The drive is a 4x4 track, with a few switchbacks & sheer drops. We stopped several times along the way.

At the top!

There is a small hotel

& restaurant here.

The sign says it all!

The view from the bar!

Sloggett's Vlei or Ice Rat

Common at this altitude, but very nervous &

 bolts down its burrow when alarmed.

Drakensberg Rockjumper

In habitat!

Male

Highly localised & difficult to find.

Female singing!

Grey Tit

Drakensberg Siskin

Cape Bunting

We spent a couple of hours in Lesotho enjoying the scenery & lunch. Then we headed back down the pass. It proved to be a little more difficult driving downhill.

Knysna Turaco

It was very dark as we were birding here!

Orange Thrush

As we were leaving, this bird came to drink

 in a puddle on the track.

African Crested Flycatcher

We spent a nice evening in camp. The next morning we packed up & drove to the coast. Hopefully a bit of warmth at last!

We spent the morning in camp on 29th May, then drove to the Xumeni Forest. This is a small tract of indigenous forest & was very birdy in the late afternoon. We made a mistake here, as we should have birded the forest in the early morning. However we had an excellent couple of hours here in the dwindling light.