On Friday the 24th of September 2010 (a public holiday in South Africa) I met up with Andre' Marx and spent three hours birding the Cumberland Bird Sanctuary in Bryanston (just opposite the Bryanston Golf Course). I had driven past the sanctuary on two occasions over recent months and was really keen to bird the spot. It is not currently open to the general public. Here are some scenery pics:

As we waited for Andre' I spotted Common Mynah, Hadeda Ibis, Cape Robin-Chat, Dark-capped Bulbul, Southern Masked Weaver, Cape White-eye, heard Helmeted Guineafowl (we saw them later) and got a tantalising sighting of a raptor that I hoped would be the Black Sparrowhawk that breeds in the sanctuary (it would be a Lifer for me if I was to see it today). Andre' arrived and we made out way across the bridge over the stream (the Little Jukskei River) - and immediately sighted a Brown-hooded Kingfisher (and closer inspection of the photo reveals a Bronze Mannikin (which we would see often in groups during the morning) sitting right in front of the Kingfisher (actually the second pic was taken by my 5 year old son - with a little Canon Powershot - and is much clearer than mine - he totally upstaged me!)

We found the nest of the Sparrowhawk and also saw the raptor fly off from a tree in the centre of the sanctuary down towards the northern section and we decided to make our way in that direction. I still did not have even a record pic to go by for the 2 sightings. We spotted African Palm Swift circling above the Sanctuary.

We arrived at the little dam in the middle of the Sanctuary and had to cross a little steam to get to it (my wife also spotted a Hadeda Ibis nesting in a tall tree):

As we approached the dam we spotted a Crested Barbet (we also heard Black-collared Barbet) and an African Hoopoe and then saw Thick-billed Weaver building a nest in the reeds. A White-bellied Sunbird briefly slowed us down before we left the dam and continued down the path. We saw a Warbler in a thicket that kept moving quickly and refused to pose for the perfect shot. I have added it to the forum to check it's id - but here is the best two pics that I got. It could well be a Marsh Warbler which would be a lifer for me!

A Speckled Mousebird flew over our heads followed by Karoo Thrush and then two Spotted Thick-knee posed for us. Two Tawny-flanked Prinia sounded loudly and flew over our heads. We got another tantalising glimpse of the Black Sparrowhawk up in the shade in a tall tree - and at least got a record shot. Would that be all I got on my first sighting? I hoped not! It flew off back in the direction of the nest that we had seen earlier.

We carried on down the hill, towards the spot where African Harrier-Hawk has been spotted engaged in nest building activity in recent weeks. As we entered the thick forest area we spotted a juvenile Cape Robin-Chat. We then found the Harrier-Hawk nest - a bit further north than had been anticipated and we could see tail feathers and eventually got a few tantalising glimpses of it's face - but it has chosen the tallest tree and unlike the Black Sparrowhawk does not use a fork in the tree but nests up among the canopy of the tree.

On the way back up the hill we spotted Red-faced Mousebird and Red-eyed Dove and spent some time in the bird hide at the Little Dam. What a stunning spot it is. A male Southern Red Bishop in full breeding plumage was chasing the females around, the Thick-billed Weaver carried out their building duties which a Common Moorhen sneaked around in the reeds.

A second Lifer for the day suddenly appeared in the reeds - Little Rush-Warbler. It posed beautifully for me - it could teach the Black Sparrowhawk a lesson or two!!!

Here are a few more scenery pics from this area of the sanctuary:

We then continued up the hill towards the Sparrowhawk nest and got our first view of one of the two juvenile Black Sparrowhawks - it settled in a tree, then flew off and gave us an excellent view of it's young plumages - speckled brown with the distinctive striped tail feathers. We lost sight of it and did not see it again on the day. A Pied Crow flew overhead as we made our arrive at the nest site and suddenly we spotted it - the Black Sparrowhawk - nicely perched on a branch for us to see clearly. It flew off once and then settled again - allowing me to sneak up a bit closer and get some decent pics. Finally, I felt like I had the great shots for a first sighting.

Before we had coffee and tennis biscuits at the picnic spot we spotted White-rumped Swift, we heard African Reed Warbler, saw Laughing Dove and Cape Turtle-Dove, another Crested Barbet, heard Southern Boubou and saw Amethyst Sunbird in a flowering "bottle-brush" tree. Oh, and finally a Grey-Go-Away-Bird made an appearance. A few more Bronze Mannikin appeared and we also noticed a bee-hive in a hole in a tree which probably accounts for the presence of a Honeyguide that Andre' has seen here on a few occasions. We also noticed that Common Mynah are breeding in a tree next to the picnic area which might mean that the Rose-ringed Parakeet that also appear here will be chased away.

Over coffee I had an opportunity to ask Andre' a number of questions about Atlassing and was convinced that in many ways how I bird is already atlassing and there is nothing hindering me from registering. I have already downloaded all the material and just need to go ahead and register!

By the end of our time together we had recorded 35 bird species and I had gotten at least 2 lifers, with the other warbler (still to be identified) a possible third.