On Saturday afternoon the 22nd of October I got a text message from a birder alerting me to a Breaking News report about a rare wader that had been seen in the Kruger National Park - Baird's Sandpiper. He said that he and 2 other birders were planning a day trip to the Kruger to try and locate the bird at the waterhole. To cut a long story short I left home at 2am and picked up Martin and Niall and met up with Roger at his lodge. He drove us to the Kruger and we arrived at the Paul Kruger gate at around 8am. By the time we had driven from the gate to the waterhole just past the Tshokwane camp site we had seen or heard the following birds: Pied Crow; Black Cuckooshrike; Southern Black Tit; Rattling Cisticola; Green Wood Hoopoe; Laughing Dove; Arrow-marked Babbler; Fork-tailed Drongo; Cardinal Woodpecker; Yellow-throated Petronia; White-browed Scrub-Robin; Wahlberg's Eagle; Grey Go-away-bird; Orange-breasted Bush-Shrike; Long-billed Crombec; Black-crowned Tchagra; Diderick Cuckoo; Brown Snake-Eagle; White-browed Robin-Chat; Hadeda Ibis; Dark-capped Bulbul; Tawny-flanked Prinia; Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill; Helmeted Guineafowl; Klaas's Cuckoo; White-bellied Sunbird; Southern Black Flycatcher; Speckled Mousebird; Black-backed Puffback; Natal Spurfowl; Lesser Striped Swallow; Wire-tailed Swallow; Crested Francolin; Pied Kingfisher; Tawny Eagle; Hooded Vulture; Chinspot Batis; Sombre Greenbul; Cape Turtle-Dove; Red-billed Oxpecker; Jacobin Cuckoo; Bateleur; Yellow-billed Kite; White-rumped Swift; Yellow-breasted Apalis; Red-breasted Swallow; African Hawk-Eagle; Burchell's Starling; African Grey Hornbill; Magpie Shrike; Lilac-breasted Roller; Yellow-throated Longclaw and Southern Masked Weaver. Here are a few pics that I took:

We arrived at the waterhole filled with anticipation and nervousness given that we had driven so far to locate a little wader that looks like a Little Stint. Here are a few scenery shots showing the incredible diversity of wildlife and bird life around the waterhole:

We located two little waders that looked like Little Stint and noticed that one of them had wings that were longer than it's tail feathers at rest and it seemed to have a really unique way of feeding - as well as some other features that had us wondering if we had indeed seen Baird's Sandpiper - a bird that has only been seen in the subregion less than 20 times in history. None of the shots that I took looking into the sun are worth including in this report. In fact, we decided to head back to the picnic spot to wait until the sun passed overhead as it was too harsh to get decent shots of the bird. Here is a list of birds we saw: White-backed Vulture; Hamerkop; Wood Sandpiper; Saddle-billed Stork; Cape Glossy Starling; Blacksmith Lapwing; African Quailfinch; Egyptian Goose; African Pipit; Common Greenshank; Emerald-spotted Wood-Dove; Three-banded Plover; Common Sandpiper and Southern Grey-headed Sparrow. Here are a few shots I did manage to take:

At the Tshokwane picnic site I managed to get a few shots of African Mourning Dove, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike and Greater Blue-eared Starling (we also heard Golden-tailed Woodpecker calling):

From the picnic site we drove to the Orpen Dam lookout spot and here we managed to see Black Saw-wing (an extremely rare bird for the Kruger) as well as Water Thick-knee, Egyptian Goose, Yellow-bellied Greenbul, Greater Blue-eared Starling, juvenile Black-chested Snake-Eagle, White-crested Helmet-Shrike, Marico Sunbird, Common Waxbill and European Bee-eater:

It was around midday and we noticed that the temperature gauge was showing 42 degrees - it was extremely hot out and the light breeze made it even hotter:

We returned to the waterhole and the sun was much better for photography. We saw Lappet-faced Vulture, Barn Swallow, Fan-tailed Widowbird, Golden-breasted Bunting, Grey Heron, White-headed Vulture and Ruff. Here are some shots of the birds we saw:

There were a few Vultures flying around the area - probably waiting for an Impala stuck in the mud to die:

A great sight was seeing a lone Mosque Swallow among the Red-chested Swallows - it took a lot of patience to get these record shots (and the last is of Red-breasted Swallow) - at least there was one lifer in the trip for me!

Oh, we located the bird that was supposed to be Baird's Sandpiper - but on closer inspection and confirmation by Trevor who handles rarity sightings we was confirmed to be Little Stint. These pics are definitely the most costly pics of Little Stint in my collection:

At the bridge over the Sabie River we spotted a Senegal Lapwing nicely silhouetted against the water (the other birds we encountered on the way out of the park were Southern Ground Hornbill, Pied Wagtail and Red-faced Cisticola (I heard this and it would have been a lifer but we were blocking someone trying to get past on the bridge and we had to move on) and Purple Roller:

Here is a selection of mammals that I saw on the day:

And some reptiles:

It was a long way to travel to see a possible new bird (the Baird's Sandpiper) but honestly even though we did not see it - the day was still a really valuable experience. I learnt so much from the more experienced birders that I was travelling with. I learnt that it is essential to be sure about a species before ticking it off one's list and feel that my decision to only include birds I have photographed and clearly seen and experienced in my life list to avoid errors.