In July 2011 I was invited to speak at a conference in White River and of course, thanks to the generous honorarium booked three nights accommodation in the Kruger - one night in a chalet at Mopani and two nights camping at Punda Maria. We were accommodated outside White River for the first night by the conference organisers at Petra College and surprisingly it turned out to be a great birding spot - and I finally got to see Chorister Robin-Chat during the 2 hours that we spent birding on the grounds in the afternoon after my session.
The Sunbirds were out in force including White-bellied, Collared, Amethyst and Greater Double-collared.
We also saw White-fronted Bee-eater, Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike, Grey-backed Camaroptera, Klaas's Cuckoo, Ashy Flycatcher, Bronze Mannikin, Striped Pipit, Red-capped Robin-Chat (no matter what I do I can't get a shot of this little chap out in the open or in good light), Black-backed Puffback, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird and Cape White-eye.
Here are some scenery shots that we took around Petra College:
We set off just after breakfast for the Kruger - driving to Phalaborwa where we did our shopping for our three nights in the park and entered the Park at the Phalaborwa Gate. Our first stop was at the Sable Dam and Bird Hide. We were treated to a lion sighting right away with a male and female who came down to the dam - seemingly more interested in each other than in the buck coming to drink at the dam.
The birds we saw around the Sable Dam included Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Burchell's Starling, Red-billed Hornbill, Three-banded Plover, Egyptian Goose, Blacksmith Lapwing, Yellow-throated Petronia and what I am fairly confident is Sabota Lark.
Our next stop was the Nhlanganini Dam where we saw Chinspot Batis, Crowned Lapwing, Laughing Dove, European Roller, Red-billed Firefinch, Long-billed Crombec, Little Bee-eater, Crested Francolin, Spectacled Weaver, Black-backed Puffback, Cape Glossy Starling, Blue Waxbill, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, Hamerkop and Helmeted Guineafowl.
We stopped for lunch at Letaba and spent a while birding in the rest camp seeing Black-collared Barbet, Crested Barbet, Cardinal Woodpecker, Bearded Woodpecker, Southern Black Flycatcher, Jameson's Firefinch, Green-winged Pytilia, Lesser Honeyguide, African Grey Hornbill, Brown-crowned Tchagra and Greater Blue-eared Starling.
One of the highlights of the day was driving along the Letaba River on the H1-6 towards Mopani - the bird life on the way was amazing: Bateleur, African Fish-Eagle, Black-winged Stilt, Great Egret, Grey Heron, Giant Kingfisher, Malachite Kingfisher, Pied Kingfisher, Green-backed Heron, African Pied Wagtail, Cape Wagtail, Little Egret, Little Swift, African Palm Swift, Arrow-marked Babbler, Natal Spurfowl, Hadeda Ibis and White-headed Vulture.
A birding highlight was spotting a pair of Double-banded Sandgrouse in the road:
We headed to the Matambeni bird hide but did see too much apart from Dark-capped Bulbul, Egyptian Goose, Little Egret, Blacksmith Lapwing, Black-winged Stilt, Natal Spurfowl, African Fish-Eagle and Grey Go-away-bird.
As we continued along the Letaba River we spotted 5 Kori Bustards, as well as Red-crested Korhaan, Black-shouldered Kite and Red-billed Quelea.
The rest of the trip to Mopani was rather uneventful as the weather was looking ominous and we needed to press on to get there before nightfall. We had a chalet that overlooked the Pioneer Dam and I spent the next morning visiting the Shipandani and Pioneer Dam bird hides before leaving for Punda Maria. On the dam we saw Reed Cormorant, African Darter, Common Moorhen, Egyptian Goose, Black-winged Stilt, Goliath Heron, Grey Heron, African Fish-Eagle, Little Egret, Great Egret and Red-billed Oxpecker (on hippo).
A highlight was seeing a flock of African Openbill on the dam in the mornings (sadly there were well out of range of my 300mm lens).
At the Shipandani Bird Hide I saw Arrow-marked Babbler, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Cape Turtle-Dove, Blacksmith Lapwing, Natal Spurfowl, Fork-tailed Drongo, Grey Go-away-bird, Tawny-flanked Prinia, African Grey Hornbill, White-winged Widowbird, Laughing Dove and Blue Waxbill. While at the Pioneer Dam bird hide I saw African Jacana, Egyptian Goose, Green-backed Heron, Reed Cormorant, African Fish-Eagle, Blacksmith Lapwing, African Darter, African Openbill, Yellow-billed Hornbill, African Grey Hornbill, Red-billed Hornbill, Groundscraper Thrush, Natal Spurfowl, Southern Masked Weaver, Yellow-fronted Canary, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Fork-tailed Drongo, Neddicky and Long-billed Crombec.
Here are some shots of animal sightings we had on this part of our trip:
We left Punda Maria around 9am - after I had birded the 2 bird hides on the Pioneer Dam and headed to Shingwedzi. Along the way we saw Comb Duck, Red-crested Korhaan, Saddle-billed Stork and Neddicky - not exactly a great list - but Saddle-billed Stork is always special to see although the pair was some distance from us with no chance of getting closer.
We spent about half an hour birding at Shingwedzi rest camp and saw African Mourning Dove, White-bellied Sunbird, Black-headed Oriole and Swainson's Spurfowl.
After a light lunch we hit the road north - mindful that we had quite a long way to travel to get to Punda Maria and still needed to set up our camp when we got there so it kinda limited the time we could spend on the road and at waterholes. Nevertheless along the way we had some great sightings including: Lilac-breasted Roller, Crested Barbet, Grey Go-away-bird, Hadeda Ibis, Arrow-marked Babbler, Striped Kingfisher, Spectacled Weaver, Black-chested Snake-Eagle and Steppe Buzzard (at the Letaba River bridge), Bateleur, White-winged Widowbird, African Hoopoe, Golden-breasted Bunting, Southern Black Tit, Dark-capped Bulbul and Blue Waxbill.
We had some good fortune on the approach road to Punda Maria rest camp (the H13-2) when we stopped to confirm the id of a Mousebird and a Greenbul - when we spotted a large herd of Buffalo next to the road and spotted a lifer in Yellow-billed Oxpecker!
We checked in at reception and proceeded to set up our tent before setting off on foot to bird the Flycatcher Trail that winds it's way along the hill around the campsite. The bird life was not prolific on the walk - although I am sure that on a summer's morning it would be a different story! But we did get to see Dark-capped Bulbul, Laughing Dove, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Tawny-flanked Prinia and Terrestrial Brownbul (I guess this bird, although not a lifer, made the walk worthwhile).
Where the walk ends at the main gate we spent a while trying to photograph the Sunbirds that were around the flowers including Collared Sunbird and Scarlet-chested Sunbird.
During our time around camp we keep looking out for birds around our tent and in the trees around the camping area and managed to record: Blue Waxbill, House Sparrow, Greater Blue-eared Starling, Fork-tailed Drongo, Kurrichane Thrush, Terrestrial Brownbul, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Collared Sunbird, Scarlet-chested Sunbird, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Red-headed Weaver, Black-backed Puffback, Long-billed Crombec, Lesser Honeyguide, Yellow-breasted Apalis, Chinspot Batis and Southern Grey-headed Sparrow. Here are a few pics that I took:
Of course I needed to include a shot of my Son Drew, affectionately known as Little Birdman because of his love for birding, and our tent that he thoroughly enjoyed!
My wife and I then decided to leave the kids to enjoy camp life while we headed off to bird part of the Mahoney Road route, we knew we would not make the 25km route as we only had an hour or so before the gate closed at 5:30 (yeah, cruel!!!) and even though we had no photo highlights to show off here we did record the following species: Bronze Mannikin, Grey Go-away-bird, Cape Turtle-Dove, Natal Spurfowl, Yellow-billed Hornbill, White-browed Scrub-Robin, Arrow-marked Babbler, Tawny-flanked Prinia, African Hoopoe, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Fork-tailed Drongo, Green-winged Pytilia, African Green-Pigeon, Dark-capped Bulbul, African Firefinch and Swainson's Spurfowl.
The next morning we set off before the sun rose to spend the day birding in the Pafuri area - which was the main reason why we had decided to camp so far north in the Kruger this time round. We made our way on the S60 past the Klopperfontein Dam and got chased by a female Lioness who came charging out of the bush at us (followed by another lion) and then a very close encounter with a male lion blocking our way to the dam. The birds we saw at the dam included Laughing Dove, Black Crake, Three-banded Plover, Blacksmith Lapwing, Water Thick-Knee, Natal Spurfowl, Grey Go-away-bird and Black-headed Heron.
As we continued our drive north we recorded: Magpie Shrike, Double-banded Sandgrouse (fast becoming our Kruger Trash-Bird!), Natal Spurfowl, Black-crowned Tchagra, White-crested Helmet-Shrike, Cape Turtle-Dove, Red-billed Firefinch, Southern Red Bishop and a pair of African Hawk-Eagles sitting not too far from the road but right in the harsh morning sunlight! Here are some of our photos from this part of the trip - including a Little Brown Job that I am struggling to identify:
While we were scanning the landscape at the Nkovakulu Water Hole I was watching a group of Zebra through my binocs and then started to focus on some Dove in the area when I spotted way off in the distance a tiny little shape that shout Pearl-spotted Owlet to me! I played the call and it flew straight at us and settled in a tree close to our car. We got a few shots and carried on our journey towards Pafuri.
We arrived at the bridge over the Levuvhu river just before 8am.
Here are some scenery shots around the bridge:
We began our birding time in the Pufuri area by spending time on the bridge where we saw Burchell's Coucal, Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike, Dark-capped Bulbul, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Speckled Mousebird, Red-capped Robin-Chat, Common Waxbill, Wire-tailed Swallow, African Fish-Eagle and Kurrichane Thrush.
We then headed off along the S63 dirt road that heads towards the Pafuri Picnic site and then on to Crooks corner. We had gone about 50 meters when we spotted a grey raptor that appeared to be raiding a nest in a tree next to the road - a nice close sighting of African Harrier-Hawk. My second ever sighting of Tropic Boubou took place next followed by a juvenile Martial Eagle and one of the many Meves's Starlings that we would see. The other birds we saw on our way to the picnic site were: Burchell's Starling, Egyptian Goose, White-bellied Sunbird, African Pipit, Red-billed Hornbill, Yellow-billed Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Canary, Blue Waxbill, Southern Masked Weaver and a Red-capped Robin-Chat.
We arrived at the Pafuri picnic spot at around 9am and spent a while chatting to Frank (the local bird guide) who gave us some information on what we could expect to find in the area at that time of the year. Our birding around the spot was productive with sightings of Purple-crested Turaco, African Paradise-Flycatcher, Red-billed Quelea, Black-backed Puffback, African Yellow White-eye (a special lifer for me), Blue Waxbill, White-fronted Bee-eater, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Fork-tailed Drongo, Chinspot Batis, Cardinal Woodpecker, Natal Spurfowl, Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove, Spotted Flycatcher, Long-billed Crombec, Red-billed Firefinch, Red-capped Robin-Chat (and this time I got some fairly decent shots at last!!!) and Yellow-bellied Greenbul (the common Dark-capped Bulbul of the northern part of the Kruger).
The drive from the picnic spot to Crooks Corner was surprisingly productive given that it was around 10:30am by now. We saw Wattled Starling, White-browed Scrub-Robin, White-browed Robin-Chat (another lifer for our trip), Common Waxbill, Egyptian Goose, Black-backed Puffback, White-fronted Bee-eater, Helmeted Guineafowl (but sadly still no Crested Guineafowl!), Laughing Dove, Cape Turtle-Dove, Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, African Fish-Eagle, White-crested Helmet-Shrike, Little Bee-eater, Lilac-breasted Roller, Purple Roller, Lappet-faced Vulture, White-bellied Sunbird, White-backed Vulture, Neddicky, Collared Sunbird, African Palm Swift, Crowned Lapwing, Hadeda Ibis, Levaillant's Cisticola, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Purple-crested Turaco, Speckled Mousebird and Dark-capped Bulbul.
Half way along the road we stopped to watch a herd of elephants taking a dust bath:
Here are some scenery shots from the rest of the journey towards Crooks Corner:
Here are some bird shots from the rest of the journey towards Crooks Corner (Bird2 which could be Levaillant's Cisticola has me stumped):
At Crooks Corner we enjoyed a picnic lunch and took time to read the board that described the history of Crooks Corner - it is well worth a read:
Here is a list of the birds that we saw at Crooks Corner: Chinspot Batis, Burnt-necked Eremomela, Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike, Giant Kingfisher, Blacksmith Lapwing, Dark-capped Bulbul, Pied Kingfisher, Ashy Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Apalis and White-crowned Lapwing (it took a while to id this one as it was on the other side of the river).
A highlight was seeing three Robin-Chat species around the same bush (White-throated, White-Browed and Red-capped):
On our journey back to the H1-9 tar road yielded birds common by now (Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Black-backed Puffback, Red-billed Quelea and Brown-crowned Tchagra) and a great sighting of Purple Roller.
It was only about 1pm but my family had had enough birding for one day and we decided to head back to our campsite at Punda Maria. Here are some mammals that we saw on the day:
On the way back from Pafuri I pulled off to take a look at the Mazanje Water Hole and was treated to yet another sighting of Double-banded Sandgrouse (yep, definitely a Trash-Bird on this trip but always a delight to see!) and White-crested Helmet-Shrike.
We drove the S61 via Klopperfontein Dam and saw White-backed Vulture (oh, and yet another lion - they became my Trash-Mammal during our 4 days in the Kruger!!!) and got to see White-backed vulture and a little further along the road another sighting of Kori Bustard (this time 3 birds).
Suddenly out of nowhere we hit the jackpot - sitting on a branch in a tree right next to the road was a bird that I have never seen before but one that I immediately knew was Eastern Nicator. I had looked for this chap everywhere - even hearing it in a forest in St Lucia in December last year. Surprisingly it allowed us to back up to it and take a good few shots before it flew off! A special lifer at the end of a long trip to Pafuri and back!
I dropped my family off at the camping area and decided to complete the Mahonie Loop one last time. This time around I saw Crowned Hornbill, Golden-breasted Bunting, Red-billed Oxpecker, Natal Spurfowl, Blue Waxbill, Fork-tailed Drongo, Dark-capped Bulbul, Black-backed Puffback, Yellow-billed Hornbill, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Neddicky, Crested Francolin, African Green-Pigeon and Brown-hooded Kingfisher.
On the last morning in the Kruger we made an uncharacteristic and lazy start to the day by only rising at 7am and enjoying breakfast before packing up our camp to head back to Johannesburg. On the way to the Punda Maria Gate we headed off along the S98 Road seeing Southern Ground Hornbill, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Red-headed Weaver, African Yellow White-eye, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Grey-headed Parrot (a lifer for me but unfortunately I did not get the shots I needed as they took off as we approached the tree in which the pair was sitting - they responded immediately to the call we played and called back and the horrible pics seem to confirm our id as well), Arrow-marked Babbler and Black-collared Barbet. Here are some pics we took on this route:
On the way to the picnic site at the main gate we spotted an Eagle in the distance that we are tentatively identifying as Tawny Eagle:
Just outside the park we had a sighting of Lizard Buzzard and sadly our time at the Kruger had come to an end. We had recorded around 147 bird species and I had managed to pick up 5 Lifers in the park (Yellow-billed Oxpecker, African Yellow White-eye, White-browed Robin-Chat, Eastern Nicator and Grey-headed Parrot) plus the lifer we got in White River (Chorister Robin-Chat). A truly worthwhile trip!
Here are some of the mammal sightings we had on this part of our trip:
