Continuing the monthly look at where Atlasing, or Birdmapping as it is also known, took me in August 2020 ….. in this case to two pentads in the Ruiterbos area north of Mossel Bay, which turned out to be as contrasting as two pentads adjoining each other can be

Ruiterbos Area – 25 August

Still using my earlier analysis of pentads in the southern Cape which had not yet been atlased in 2020, I noticed that the Ruiterbos area had one pentad not atlased since 2018 and with very low species totals recorded, which piqued my interest – nothing like a challenging pentad to make things interesting! Low totals, I have found, are usually due to limited diversity of habitat (all birds are particular to a specific habitat) or limited means of access to parts of the pentad, preventing the atlaser from getting to all the habitats. In some instances both of the above can apply, which results in really low totals.

I decided to target the challenging pentad as well as the one directly south of it, which seemed to hold more promise. Both are within about 45 minutes of home – the maps below show the location of the former…

The Route

With sunrise gradually coming earlier each day in late August, just a week away from Spring day, I set the alarm a bit earlier and left home at 6.15 am. I followed the R328 regional road to Oudtshoorn, passing Brandwag village and turned left at Ruiterbos Farm stall then travelled a couple of Kms along this quiet road before reaching the start of the first pentad at around 7 am.

Pentad 3355_2155

Birding got off to a brisk start with calls of several species welcoming the new day – a cool, fresh morning with little cloud. Blue Crane, Bokmakierie, Cape Grassbird, Grey-backed Cisticola, Red-necked (Cape Turtle) Dove, even Hadada Ibis all joined the chorus.

Not much further along the gravel road I stopped at two adjacent fields which showed how differences in usage of farming land can have a noticeable impact on the species to be found. The first was covered in lush green lucerne and was seemingly reserved for the “big boys” – Egyptian and Spur-winged Goose and Blue Cranes were prominent. The adjacent field had short patchy grass with a scattering of stones and cowpats – clearly used for grazing of cattle and the realm of the smaller guys – Lapwings (Crowned), Larks (Red-capped) and Pipits (Plain-backed).

Descending into a valley, I passed a fruit farm which had entire fields draped in protective shade cloth, mostly to keep insects out I would guess, but equally proficient at keeping birds away, creating a very sterile environment.

I did not dawdle and proceeded out of the valley into the hills beyond – what a contrast – suddenly the hills were alive with bird sounds, which were music to my ears (why do I feel a song coming on?). The next twenty minutes were bountiful, with 3 species of Sunbird (Southern Double-collared, Orange-breasted and Malachite), Cape Buntings and Cape Canaries twittering away, Stonechat and an African Olive Pigeon (New record).

Klaas’s Cuckoo (new record) announced its presence with its well-known “Meitjie” call and I wondered if it was an early arrival or perhaps one of those that had overwintered in the area, as they are known to do. A Cape Batis became my first record of this species for the year.

After an hour and a half in the pentad, I had logged 34 species – a good start, and being close to the second “challenging” pentad, I decided to tackle it while birds were still active and come back to the first pentad a bit later. This would hopefully maximise my chances of getting a reasonable total in the second pentad which, from the stats, was going to produce a low bird-count card, for reasons as yet unknown.

I returned later in the morning to complete a second “shift” in this pentad, carrying on where I had stopped before. I was now out of the prime birding area, into flatter countryside with less bush, but was still able to add regularly to my atlas card with the likes of Rock Kestrel, Victorin’s Warbler and African Black Swift (New record).

I managed to get a reasonable photo of the Rock kestrel – I had seen it returning with a small prey to its perch on top of a utility pole and guessed it would be pre-occupied while devouring it, which would allow a closer approach than usual. I was right and it only flew off again when the prey was ripped apart and swallowed.

Along the last stretch before exiting the pentad,another photo opportunity arose – this time an Olive Bushshrike (New record). I heard it calling from a particularly bushy area alongside the road and once I thought I had found the spot where it was concealed (which they are very good at doing) I tried some “pishing” which is a useful way of getting some species to pop out momentarily.

The Bushshrike obliged for just a few seconds, curious as to what was making this sound which birds associate with danger and I was able to snatch a few images – my best of this species to date!

The pentad had produced 50 species in all, and some very special ones at that.

Pentad 3350_2155

This was the pentad that had me wondering about the low totals logged by others. I soon found out why – apart from the first km or so which runs through open hills, the rest of the only access road ran through a commercial pine plantation, habitat which is notoriously sterile when it comes to bird life. The open stretch held Cape Grassbird, Karoo Prinia, Red-necked Spurfowl and African Pipit.

Entering the plantation, birding – and indeed life itself – seemed to slow down…

It was nevertheless a most pleasant environment to be in, despite being less than attractive for most bird species – exceptions were Black-headed Orioles, Cape Canaries, Cape Bulbul, and Cape White-eye, all of which I found easily and repeatedly, mostly at the fringes of the plantations.

At one stop, Greater Double-collared Sunbirds were curious bystanders but most stops were met with dead silence and no discernable movement, so each species added was quite precious as I slowly built on the list.

After two hours birding in the invigorating pine-scented air, I found I had reached 20 species, amazingly the second best total for the pentad out of 15 cards completed to date! I later found that I had added 3 new species to the pentad records, being Hadada Ibis (!), Speckled Pigeon and Black Sawwing.

Footnote : Where I show percentages in brackets, these refer to the relative scarcity of the species according to the pentad surveys completed to date over the ten years that the project has been running. So if 100 pentad surveys have been done to date and a species has been recorded 5 times by the observers, it will be shown as 5%. Notable species in my book are those with a % of less than 10%

Continuing the monthly look at where Atlasing, or Birdmapping as it is also known, took me in August 2020 …..

Albertinia north-west – 7 August

I looked for two pentads not too far from Mossel Bay, our home during lockdown, and not yet atlased in 2020 – my survey resulted in me selecting two pentads in the area north-west of Albertinia, an area which I have found to be pleasant and productive from a birding point of view, so they fitted my plans well.

The Route

Getting to the starting point of the first pentad meant driving west along the N2 National road to Albertinia, then north towards the mountains and west again along the gravel road that ran through the pentad, ensuring that the sun would be behind me during the prime early morning birding hours.

As I drove along the already busy N2, the view northwards was across low valleys which were filled with mist, giving them the appearance of large fluffy lakes surrounded by hills.

The morning was one of the coldest I’ve experienced in these parts, with the car indicating an outside temperature of just 1 degree C as I approached the starting point – thank goodness I had purchased a woolen beanie the day before, which I now donned to prevent the cold penetrating beyond my ears to my brain – who knows what damage that could do (although some would say the damage was done ages ago).

Fortunately it warmed up as the day progressed and by 11 am I was in shirt sleeves and the beanie was replaced by my battered hat.

Pentad 3400_2125

The map below shows the location of the pentad, north west of Albertinia. For those who have not visited South Africa, the town marked Agulhas at bottom left is where the southernmost tip of the African continent is located and is a favourite tourist stop.

And this is a closer view of the first pentad, shown by the red square below

Right at the start of this pentad I came across a roadkill victim in the middle of the gravel road and stopped to see what it was (dead birds can be recorded when atlasing) – it was a Crowned Lapwing, largely undamaged so I moved it to the verge just to save it the further indignity of being trampled by other vehicles.

The road was damp with puddles in places from the previous day’s rain and birds were plentiful. Changing quickly into atlasing mode, I followed my usual strategy of driving very slowly and stopping frequently to look around and listen for calls – in the first hour I recorded 26 species while progressing just 2 kms along the road, with so many interesting and promising spots to investigate.

Fresh footprints in the damp mud at roadside had me somewhat puzzled – left by someone running, judging by the depth of the imprints, and someone with very tough feet, going on the very gritty surface.

All the usual suspects were present including Blue Crane and Large-billed Lark, African Pipit and Fork-tailed Drongo, but also some of the scarcer species such as Denham’s Bustard (twice) and Grey-backed Cisticola.

Cape Longclaw on a fence presented a good photo opportunity, as they so often do, but Red-capped Larks in the road were not as cooperative and flew off each time I tried to position the car/ myself/my camera, settling tantalisingly back in the road a way ahead and often on the opposite side to where my camera was pointing. It was probably my imagination but I thought I detected a smirk on their faces each time they left me cursing under my breath. Bird photography can sometimes be a tad frustrating!

A small dam held Grey Heron, Yellow-billed Duck and Little Grebe to add some waterbirds to my list. The last half hour produced two Canaries – Brimstone and Yellow Canary, the third Lark of the day – Agulhas Long-billed Lark, and Cape Grassbird to take the card total to a respectable 48 species.

Pentad 3400_2120

The second pentad of the morning lies directly west of the first, so I continued along the same road and through habitat similar to the first. Species were mostly a repeat of what I had recorded in the first pentad. Some notable exceptions were Little Rush Warbler which I heard calling from a well reeded stream that I crossed and a Rock Kestrel that passed overhead during one of my many stops.

I spent a coffee break at a copse of bluegum trees next to the road at a farmyard and watched the Fork-tailed Drongo‘s actively flying about and hawking flying insects. A Cardinal Woodpecker called a loud rapid ch-ch-ch-ch-ch and it didn’t take too long to find it high up against the branches of the trees, pecking at cavities and using its barbed tongue to extract larvae of beetles and other insects, spiders and ants.

Passing fields brimming with bright yellow canola, a Yellow Bishop with an equally bright yellow rump and perched on the fence presented an interesting photo opportunity, so I positioned myself and my camera, with some difficulty, so that the background would be the yellow of the canola while hoping the Bishop would stay where it was. It did and I managed to take a few shots, but the distance from the bird meant it was not as sharp as I had hoped… still quite unusual –

Moments later it flew off

A last dam before leaving the pentad held a pair of Water Thick-knee, inconspicuously standing among bushes along the fringe of the dam, while a few Brown-throated Martins raced about over the water.

As I left the pentad I spotted some Red-billed Queleas in a thorn tree, the last record for the day to take the pentad total to 41 and my day’s total to a pleasing 63 after some 5 hours of atlasing this most pleasant part of the southern Cape.

Continuing the monthly look at where Atlasing, or Birdmapping as it is also known, took me in July 2020 …..

Klein Karoo South of Oudtshoorn – 1 July

Klein Karoo (Little Karoo) ? – for those not familiar with this South African region it is the dry area

The Route

Before embarking on this atlasing outing, I did an analysis of the frequency of atlasing over the last three years in the area around Mossel Bay, homing in on those pentads which appeared under-atlased in the period. I came up with about 10 pentads and, keen to do some Karoo birding, I decided on two that were located off the R328 road between Mossel Bay and Oudtshoorn, on the northern side of the Langeberg mountains.

I have made several trips to this area in the past and love the feel of the Karoo, so I was anxious to get there by sunrise – around 7.30 am during the mid-winter months. I reckoned it would take an hour’s drive so left home just after 6.30 am and headed past Hartenbos along the R328 road past the familiar landmarks of Eight Bells Resort (currently closed) and the twisty, steep in places Robinson Pass which tops out at 860 m. I always keep an eye on the car’s outside temperature gauge at this point and wasn’t surprised to see it reflecting a chilly 4 degrees C. I reached the first pentad soon after.

Pentad 3340_2205

The air was crisp and clear when I made the first stop near the turn-off to the village of Volmoed and I spent the next 15 minutes drinking in the pureness of it while the sun cast a pale rosy wash over the surrounding hills.

It did not take long to pick up the calls of Large-billed Lark, seen shortly after, Grey-backed Cisticola, Ring-necked (Turtle) Dove and a distant Southern Black Korhaan to get the list off to a good start.

The booming call of an Ostrich and a nearby group reinforced just how popular this enormous bird is as commercial farming livestock in these parts, dating back 100 years to the era when ostrich feathers brought great wealth to the region, still visible in the old “Ostrich Palaces” which the farmers of those times built with their new-found wealth. But I did not record it as it is not a natural resident of the area. A Karoo Chat made up for that,,,

A flock of Pied Starlings passed by, no doubt off to start another busy day of foraging.

Driving on slowly, watching out for approaching vehicles so that I could pull over onto the verge, I saw Cape Bulbul, Malachite Sunbird, White-throated Canary and Layard’s Titbabbler (New record) before reaching the turn-off signposted Mount Hope, which raised my … er … hopes.

I spent some time driving the gravel road which initially runs next to a dry river course – single width in places so I had to be extra cautious while watching for oncoming cars and bakkies (pickups). Birds were not plentiful so I headed back to the main road and on to the next turn-off, this time to the opposite side and signposted Kandelaarsrivier (literally “chandelier river” – wonder where that name came from?) – suddenly birds were more plentiful, probably due to the farms, ploughed fields and ostrich encampments which lined the first part of the road.

My encounters with curious farmers have been a feature of my atlasing outings and I have met many interesting people along the way, albeit briefly. Today was no exception, although the age profile of the “farmer” was somewhat different this time – more about that at the end of this post.

It was not too long before I reached the boundary of the first pentad, with my species total standing on 38 hard-won species. The second pentad was adjacent to the first but involved a 15 minute drive to get to a convenient starting point before I could start recording again.

Pentad 3340_2200

I started the new pentad in familiar territory in the village of Volmoed (literally “full of hope”) but it was now 11 am and it was immediately apparent that slow “middle of the day” birding lay ahead, with very few birds showing in the arid habitat.

This area is so arid the local rugby “field” is un-grassed – I doubt if they do those spectacular dives when scoring a try on this ground!

Hoping to get a better start, I headed to the Paardebont turn-off a few kms further – the first stretch of this gravel road is used by heavy vehicles transporting sand from the quarry some way down this road and I had learnt from previous visits that it is a road best avoided until after the quarry, as the dust kicked up by these vehicles creates something akin to a thick brown fog each time they pass, making any attempt at birding at best unpleasant, at worst impossible

Fortunately I also knew that there is an unmarked side road/track that heads back to the village, which I took and spent the next hour exploring as it runs near another dry river course with enough bush to attract several bird species, including Karoo Scrub-Robin, African Hoopoe, Chestnut-vented Titbabbler, Cape Bunting and Long-billed Crombec.

Back on the dusty Paardebont road I stopped for a recce at the low water bridge, thankfully with a concrete surface that was a veritable island in a sea of dust when the inevitable large truck rumbled past. A Namaqua Warbler took my total for the pentad to a modest 20 and after passing the quarry birding got even slower. Ahead lay more attractive, hilly countryside dotted with pleasant farmsteads, which I hoped would be more productive.

I lingered at every likely spot for the last hour and after the minimum two hours required for a “full protocol” pentad card, I had increased the total to 28, including a White-throated Canary and a very pleasing Greater Honeyguide calling from the valley below me, right on the pentad boundary.

Despite the low-ish totals and lack of any bodies of water, I returned home well pleased – there is something very rewarding about atlasing in the Klein Karoo.

An encounter with a farmer..

As mentioned earlier, my encounters with farmers while atlasing in their “patch” have often been a highlight of the day. Today produced yet another encounter with a farmer, or more correctly a future one.

I was driving slowly along a dead quiet back road lined with fields when I noticed a quad bike approaching in the rear view mirror and was soon overtaken by it – it was being driven by a young boy and an even younger girl was clinging for all she was worth to her big brother. They looked at me curiously as they went by but did not stop.

Not long after, they returned and stopped next to my vehicle – the lad, no more than 10 years old at a guess – asked me “kyk Oom voels?” (Are you looking at birds?) I replied “Ja” and tried to explain, in terms that I thought a youngster would understand, what I was doing. I established that he was Liam and his “sussie” (sister) was Lea, whereupon Liam in bright fashion carefully explained how to get to a certain gate on their (ie his parent’s) farm, where I was welcome to go in and, as he put it, spend some time waiting for the birds to come, while keeping myself concealed (all in Afrikaans, with a delightful “brei” – the distinct rolling of the r’s while talking, unique to parts of the southern Cape ).

He assured me that, using this technique, I would see “blerrie baie voels” (literally “a bladdy lot of birds”). I had to suppress a chuckle at his choice of words, obviously picked up from his parents, but at the same time felt his grasp of what I was doing was quite mature.

All this time his young sister, perhaps 6 years old, kept quiet, watching me with large eyes. I thanked Liam for his advice but told him I couldn’t linger too long as I had a day’s atlasing ahead. We parted ways with him advising me to look out for White-eyes as they were plentiful in the area, leaving me pleased about his enthusiasm and understanding at such a young age.

Footnote : Where I show percentages in brackets, these refer to the relative scarcity of the species according to the pentad surveys completed to date over the ten years that the project has been running. So if 100 pentad surveys have been done to date and a species has been recorded 5 times by the observers, it will be shown as 5%. Notable species in my book are those with a % of less than 10%