In December 2011 we headed off to KZN as I needed to spend time with my folk in Pinetown. We booked in at Caravan Cove in Park Rynie on the South Coast and along the way I did a "little" birding. On the way down to Durban we stopped off at a Forest in Fort Nottingham and I was thrilled to see White-starred Robin for the first time. I was getting bitten by all sorts of biting thingamajiggies who seemed to love my legs but it was worthwhile to get a shot of this shy bird (some of the other birds seen included Sombre Greenbul, Chorister Robin-Chat, Common Quail, Bar-throated Apalis, Grey-crowned Crane, Black Cuckoo, Diderick Cuckoo and Red-chested Cuckoo):

I spent a good deal of my time birding at Umdoni Park which was about 9km away from our camping site. I managed to pick up a few special lifers at this spot including African Crowned Eagle (although this sighting was in a tree down in the valley and I would only get up close to a juvenile on the road to Scottburgh a few days later) and Brown Scrub-Robin. Sadly I got close to two potential lifers in this reserve but just could not get pics - they were African Goshawk (it flew so closely past me that I could have reached out and touched it) and Red-fronted Tinkerbird.

We spent some time in Pinetown with my parents before making out way down the coast to Caravan Cove where we pitched out tent - our site was right next to the railway line and the dunes - not more than 50 meters from the crashing waves - paradise! Here are some scenery shots we took at the beach:

In the spare time I spent birding around Caravan Cove I spotted: Chinspot Batis, Southern Masked-weaver, Bronze Mannikin, House Sparrow, Common Peacock, Dark-capped Bulbul, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, African Pied Wagtail, Purple-crested Turaco, Neddicky, Diderick Cuckoo, Purple Heron, Black-collared Barbet and Terrestrial Brownbul. A juvenile Southern Black Flycatcher was a cool sighting:

On one of the day my wife and I headed off to Bulwer to bird in the forests in the area. The scenery along the way was incredible - once the mist lifted:

On the way to the forest we had a sighting of what I believe is Lanner Falcon - as always I am open to correction!

We decided to start with the Nxumeni forest near the little town of Donnybrook - here I got tantalisingly close to Buff-spotted Flufftail that were calling all around us but sadly we did not get a sighting. Here are some of the birds we saw in this forest: Speckled Mousebird, African Olive-pigeon, Buff-spotted Flufftail (heard), Knysna Turaco, Red-chested Cuckoo, Black-headed Oriole, African Paradise-flycatcher and Red-winged Starling.

On the way to Bulwer we spotted this Jackal Buzzard on a pole and it allowed me to get quick close for a few pics:

When we arrived at the Marutswa Forest near Bulwer I realised that we had made a mistake and should have headed there first to start our birding in this prime location! It is a stunning reserve - with board walks and multiple look out points along the 3km trail! Oh, we loved visiting the town of Bulwer as we honeymooned at the Mountain Park Hotel 24 years ago! It was rather nostalgic to revisit the spot. Okay, I got side tracked - Marutswa was stunning - and getting 2 lifers in the form of Forest Canary and Yellow-throated Woodland-Warbler. Sadly we got great sights of 2 Bush Blackcap but they were so hectic that I could not get a single pic no matter how hard I tried in the scorching mid-day sun! If only we had been there in the morning it would have been another lifer added to the trip! There is always tomorrow! It was great to see a second sighting of White-starred Robin for the trip - and a bird that I am convinced was Buff-spotted Flufftail ran past me in thick ground cover - and I had just head it calling from that direction.

On the way back to the coast we spotted this African Harrier-Hawk stealing an egg from a nest on the side of the road:

On one of the days we spent the day with my parents in Pinetown and we drove off to the beach front to enjoy great fish at the Ocean Basket - and of course had to drive along Umgeni River - the bird life was abundant - and I was fortunate enough to pick up a lifer in the form of Common Tern that was among the Swift and Caspian Terns (as well a Curlew Sandpiper and Common Greenshank). They were out on the sandbanks in the middle of the river and my 300mm lens let me down (Please do not get your eyes tested - it's my pics that are out of focus and not your eyes!!!):

On our way back to Park Rynie from Scottburgh (just near the mall) I spotted a juvenile African Crowned Eagle in a tree right next to the road - it was even there when I left - an amazing up close and personal sighting:

The next morning I headed to explore the Empisini Nature Reserve in Umkomaas but did not find it productive so I headed off to the TC Roberts Nature Reserve in Scottburgh where I got some better sightings including Grey Heron, Burchell's Coucal, Yellow Weaver - not too spectacular and the lack of waders on the river was surprising. It is however a stunning and well maintained reserve with incredible promise!

I decided to head off to the Vernon Crookes Nature Reserve for the rest of the morning. The highlight of the time in this reserve was an unexpected lifer in the form of Croaking Cisticola:

I also got some other really decent sightings including Southern Black Tit, Grey Go-away-bird, Pin-tailed Whydah, Crested Barbet, African Firefinch, African Green-pigeon, Trumpeter Hornbill, Dark-backed Weaver, Square-tailed Drongo, Dusky Indigobird, Southern Black Flycatcher, Golden-tailed Woodpecker, African Dusky Flycatcher, African Hoopoe, Little Bee-eater, Green Wood-Hoopoe, Yellow-rumped Tinkerbird, Yellow-billed Kite, Rufous-naped Lark, Natal Spurfowl, Black Saw-wing, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Croaking Cisticola, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Cape Longclaw, Zitting Cisticola, Black-headed Heron, Black Cuckoo, Violet-backed Starling, Amethyst Sunbird, Yellow-billed Duck, Grey Crowned-crane, Cape Wagtail, Yellow-fronted Canary and Barn Swallow.

Here are a few pics that I took in the reserve:

We headed off to Southport to visit my sister who stays in a house overlooking the beach and I had high hopes of seeing the Pied Mannikin that are supposed to be a reliable tick in the gardens of the town. We searched some gardens and heard them in a tree but they would not show themselves and no one was home and I did not want to get arrested for breaking and entering private property - so we carried on to my sisters home and I got all excited when we pulled up and spotted a Mannikin gathering nest material about 2 meters above my car - sadly it was Bronze!!! We looked around after our visit in gardens in the town but left without seeing Pied Mannikin!

On our last morning of our trip I left home at 5:30 to return to Umdoni Park where I did another stakeout for the Green Twinspot that visit the bird feeder at the environmental center but once again was unlucky to miss them. I chased calling Tambourine Dove's around the reserve for about an hour - I kept getting only getting fleeting glimpses as it few off whenever I would approach it's location in a tree. Then when I returned to the center and poured myself a cup of coffee I looked up and one was approaching to bath and drink. Strange how you can hunt so hard and then the bird comes to you! Anyway, it happened to be bird #550 for my life list - the last lifer I saw on this trip.

I also saw Red-capped Robin-Chat - a bird that I just can't seem to get decent shots of!

I also managed to get a few more pics of the Brown Scrub-Robin:

Here are all the birds that I saw at Umdoni Park: Red-billed Firefinch, Egyptian Goose, Spur-winged Goose, Tawny-flanked Prinia, White-eared Barbet, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Brown Scrub-robin, Spectacled Weaver, Sombre Greenbul, Cape White-eye, Lesser Striped Swallow, Grey Sunbird, Black-backed Puffback, Giant Kingfisher, Hadeda Ibis, African Goshawk, Bar-throated Apalis, Black-bellied Starling, Red-fronted Tinkerbird, Red-eyed Dove, Green-backed Camaroptera, Olive Sunbird, Tambourine Dove, Red-capped Robin-chat, Southern Boubou, Swee Waxbill and Grey Waxbill.

A great sighting, only my second ever, happened as I was leaving the property - a Grey Waxbill gathering nest material:

I also enjoyed using the Konkoit birding software to record my sightings along the way - it is awesome to be able to download a report on all your sights after a trip and not have to spend time typing them all into a spreadsheet - and each sightings is saved with a GPS co-ordinate! Thanks Imax for encouraging me to check it out. You can check it out at Konkoit.

My last count was around 122 birds seen on the trip with 8 lifers (Forest Canary, Croaking Cisticola, Dark-throated Woodland-Warbler, Tambourine Dove, African Crowned Eagle, White-starred Robin, Brown Scrub-Robin and Common Tern)! Not bad for a family holiday with 3 kids in tow!