January | 2020 | Mostly Birding

Ahhh, 2020 is already moving ahead apace and I am just finalising my “My Birding Year” post for the past year …. how time flies as you get older!

Before getting into a summary of my birding exploits for 2019, I asked myself – what were my birding expectations at the beginning of the year and how far did I go in achieving what I set out to do? I decided that they were …..

Atlasing – my first priority nowadays and I aim to atlas one day per week – I generally managed to do so and my species list atlased for the year reached 426 spread across southern Africa, a more than satisfactory outcome in my book – not for personal glory but rather an indicator that my atlasing efforts were well spread across many parts of the country
Birding outside southern Africa – knowing we would be visiting Australia for the first time in April and May was an exciting prospect and the country and its bird life were an absolute treat
Lifers – most birders are driven by the desire to add new lifers to their lists and I am no different, however I have found that this aspect of birding is becoming less important with my focus shifting to citizen science activities such as atlasing. Nevertheless I cannot deny being thrilled each time I added a lifer – I saw just one lifer in southern Africa during the year but made up for that with 68 new birds added to my “world list” from our Australia trip
Photography – I find bird photography in particular to be an ongoing challenge and am always on the lookout for that special one (photograph, not Jose Mourinho the manager of my favourite football team).

Rather than get into a lengthy month by month description as per previous years I thought I would let the photos do most of the talking with a short note here and there to add some background

As with recent years, it all started in the Southern Cape, around Mossel Bay and further afield

**Gondwana area** **– an inviting path through fynbos**

Marievale Bird Sanctuary remains one of the best and most pleasant places to bird in Gauteng with its well-kept hides and fluctuating water levels

A short stay at Pine Lake Resort near White River was an opportunity to bird the resort itself and to do a day trip to nearby Kruger Park

**Dusky Lark, Kruger Day Visit – this is one of the scarcer Lark species so it was athrill to find it near one of the dams**

Mabusa Nature Reserve is a quiet, less visited reserve some 100 kms from home and I love spending time atlasing there

Spike-heeled Lark, Mabusa Nature Reserve, Mpumulanga

Then in April came our first trip to Australia, covered in some detail in earlier posts so I don’t want to repeat myself – suffice to say we had an exciting time discovering what this fine country is all about and finding many new, often spectacular, birds. This is a selection of some of the standout birds that I found (or they found me, I’m never sure) …

**Laughing Kookaburra, Raymond Island, Victoria**

**Australian Pelican, Lake Guyatt Sale**

Back home over the winter months, I focused on atlasing an area north-east of Pretoria, which proved to be challenging at times, having to contend with the traffic on tar roads and the dust on the gravel back roads

**African Snipe (Gallinago nigripennis), Kusile area**

**Pied Starling (Lamprotornis bicolor), Bronkhorstspruit area**

**White-bellied Sunbird (Cynnyris talatala), Bronkhorstspruit area**

**Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina), Bronkhorstspruit area**

A last-minute booking saw us spending a week in Kruger Park – the best place to do some quality birding

**African Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus vocifer), Olifants area, Kruger Park**

Yellow-billed Stork (Mycteria ibis / Geelbekooievaar), Lower Sabie area, Kruger Park

**Trumpeter Hornbill (Male) (Bycanistes bucinator / Gewone boskraai), Lower Sabie camp, Kruger Park**

More Gauteng atlasing followed during the winter months

**Temminck’s Courser (Cursorius temminckii / Trekdrawwertjie), Cullinan area**

**Capped Wheatear (Oenanthe pileata / Hoëveldskaapwagter), Delmas area**

**Cape Longclaw (Macronyx capensis / Oranjekeelkalkoentjie) (Subspecies colletti), Suikerbosrand**

We do look forward to our week at the Verlorenkloof resort in Mpumulanga, and with reason – it’s a perfect place to combine relaxation with some excellent birding

**Purple-crested Turaco (Tauraco porphyreolophus / Bloukuifloerie). Verlorenkloof**

**Cape Rock Thrush (Female) (Monticola rupestris / Kaapse kliplyster), Verlorenkloof**

**Lazy Cisticola (Cisticola aberrans / Luitinktinkie), Verlorenkloof**

On one of my atlasing outings, I spent a pleasant morning at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, not far from home

**Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica / Europese swael), Rietvlei NR**

**Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida / Witbaardsterretjie), Rietvlei NR**

I joined a team of 3 other keen birders for the annual Birding Big Day at the end of November. We ended up with 184 species for the day and a pleasing 50th place countrywide. There was only time for a quick snatched photo of the team heading through bush at one of our many stops

We closed out the year in Mossel Bay, where Sugarbirds visit our garden

With the new year in its infancy, it’s time to select a few photos which best represent our 2019. In some cases, selection is based on the memory created, in others I just like how the photo turned out, technically and creatively.

If you have any favourites, do let me know by adding your comment!

The Places

The highlight of our travels during the past year was without doubt our trip to Australia to visit our son and family and to do a bit of touring through the State of Victoria. Other than that we did not venture far afield but managed to tame our travel itch with several local trips and extended visits to our second home town of Mossel Bay in the Southern Cape.

The year started and ended in our second home town of Mossel Bay. Walks along the seafront boardwalk are always a highlight with scenes like this to enrich the soul

The Wilge River Valley, about an hour’s drive from Pretoria, is a popular birding spot amongst Gautengers and delivers many species in summer as well as attractive landscapes

The Vlakfontein grasslands north-east of Pretoria are a favourite atlasing area for me – away from the hectic traffic of Gauteng

The Delmas area south-east of Pretoria is another favourite atlasing area, however traffic is a challenge – this early morning shot was taken in winter when the skies are a lot smokier – good for dense colour but nothing else

The road to Cape Otway Lighthouse in Victoria, Australia – we did not realise just how much forest Australia has – well the bit of Victoria that we saw anyway

The very popular tourist spot called the Twelve Apostles along the Great Ocean Road to the west of Melbourne, Australia certainly lived up to its reputation as a “must see and photograph” – quite a dramatic scene created by weathered columns of rock

The beautiful beach at Cowes, Philip Island, just south of Melbourne

A special rainbow while walking in Sale, Victoria Australia

The early morning train approaches in mist to take us from Sale to Melbourne

The Klein Karoo is another favourite atlasing area despite low bird numbers – it has a special attraction of its own. This photo was taken south of Oudtshoorn, Western Cape

The Wildlife

With visits to Kruger National Park and Karoo National Park, as well as our time in Australia, we enjoyed some usual and unusual wildlife sightings