I left De Hoop at dawn heading for De Mond and where the reserve road joins the main gravel road spotted another denham's Bustard - this time closer to the road - but once again these pathetic shots are all I am left with. What am I going to have to do to get close to this species?

A bit further down the road I kept on hearing Cape Long-billed Lark (but this record shot is all I was able to manage - I was not too worried as I was heading to the west coast and would surely get another chance to photograph the species):

Arriving at De Mond Nature Reserve, I made my way down to the lagoon in search of the Damara Tern which breed along the shoreline and feed in the lagoon. I was upbeat having chatted to the ranger who said they were currently present in the lagoon and I should look out for a really tiny Tern. Here are some shots that I got of what I believe are the Damara Tern (you can see the size perspective in the shots where they are in the frame with Caspian Tern):

Here is a set of pics I took of this Tern feeding in the lagoon:

The Ranger mentioned how delighted they were that Caspian Tern were currently breading in the reserve:

Here are some scenery shots that I took during the day:

I managed to capture this juvenile Kelp Gull taking off and landing near it's parent:

I have only every seen a single Grey Plover at a time (and only on two occasions) so to spot this flock of Grey Plovers was amazing:

Another species that I have very seldom seen, and still have not gotten close enough to photograph is Common Whimbrel - I am slowly getting closer:

It took a lot of patience to get these semi-decent pics of White-fronted Plover:

The Curlew Sandpiper were also out in decent numbers:

This little flock of Waders remain unidentified:

Here are a few other pics I took in the area:

My last sighting at this great spot was this tiny little tortoise - I am just glad I did not drive over it: