Trip 1: April 2010
In April 2010 on a trip back from house sitting in Sabie we followed up on the trip suggestions in Birding Gauteng (chapter 92) and explored the Tonteldoos Conservancy. We took a 30 kilometer dirt road through an area where the Wattle Crane is being rescued from extinction. I hope the program is working because we did not see one! We did see some other birds however - including a first time sighting of the Southern Bald Ibis! Here is a selection of pics that we took on the route:

On our way to Sabie we hoped to explore the town of Dullstoom but we arrived there at 6am and it was totally misted over - aparently a common thing in this little town. However, on the way from Dullstroom to Sabie we did managed to see 32 bird species - and here are some pics from that part of our trip:

Trip 2: December 2011
In December 2011 two friends and I visited Dullstroom and arranged to visit the Crane Conservancy. We did not get to see the Wattled Cranes but did get great sightings of Yellow-breasted Pipit:

Some of the other highlights were seeing flocks of Blue Crane, a few Common Quail, Lesser Masked Weaver, Denham's Bustard, Jackal Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Wing-snapping Cisticola, Grey-winged Francolin, Cape Canary, Southern Bald Ibis, Gurney's Sugardird, Malachite Sunbird, Dark-capped Yellow-Warbler, Sentinel Rock-Thrush, Drakensberg Prinia, etc. Here is a selection of some of these bird sightings:

Here are some photos of little critters that my mates caught and released:

And some mammals that we sighted:

Finally, here are some scenery shots in the reserve and around the town: