Chapter 89 in Birding Gauteng explores the mountainous area around Magoebaskloof about 60 kilometers east of Polokwane. Forest birding at the best of time is difficult but combine that with mountainous spots where the mist lives and the rains seems to fall continuously - you have a recipe for disappointment. But for some weeks I had been reading about the Grey Wagtails that were sighted at the picnic spot at Debengeni Falls and I was looking for an excuse to visit the spot. We decided to overnight in the area and spend New Years day in the area. The only accommodation we could get was in Polokwane but it was close enough to make the most of the spot.

We arrived in Polokwane at 11am and after settling in at our accommodation made out way to Magoebaskloof with the goal of having a picnic lunch at the falls. The weather was fine in Polokwane but as we approached Magoebaskloof the mist rolled in and it started to rain. Not a great start to the day. But as we turned onto the dirt road towards the falls it seemed like the conditions could be turning for the good. We unpacked at the falls and the kids went off to swim in the rock pools. There are warning signs all over the place and memorials to the kids who have drowned there in recent years so we urged them to take care. I took a walk down the river and had no luck spotting the Grey Wagtail although I definitely heard it in the thick bushes.

Returning to the picnic spot to get lunch going, I was just about to bite into my hotdog when there it was - not more then 30 meters away, on the other side of the river, the Grey Wagtail with two Mountain Wagtails. Both were lifers for me! What a sighting!!!

Our next stop was the Magoebaskloof Dam on the R71 about a kilometer or two closer to Tzaneen. The scenery was awesome but the birds rather common including Cape Wagtail (a mother feeding her young was great to watch), Mousebirds, Crested Barbet, Yellow-fronted Canary, Thick-billed Weaver, Dark-capped Bulbul, Greater Striped Swallow, Kurrichane Thrush, and Pin-tailed Whydah.

From the Dam we made our way to the spot where the Bat Hawk nest on the raised platform in a massive Eucalyptus tree. We got to see Black Saw-wing (we parked on the road next to a burrow in the sand and within a few seconds it flew out and up through the trees - I just forgot to take a pic in the wonder of it all!!! Another lifer gets away!).

We arrived at the spot with the three massive Eucalyptus trees and although we spent about an hour in the area did not get to see the Bat Hawk - we did get pics of their nest on the platform that has been built for the birds to nest on:

We saw a number of bird species in the area including Swee Waxbill, Amethyst Sunbird, Cape White-eye, Tawny-flanked Prinia, This little Warbler is interesting in that it looks like African Reed Warbler apart from the pink legs:

A highlight just before we left the area was seeing a black bird on a telephone wire (it's two tone bill had us scratching our heads) and when it turned around there was a flash of brilliant yellow right across it's back. It got us diving for our bird books to try and id it - it turned out to be Yellow Bishop (a lifer) - but disappeared as quickly as it appeared and my pics were all horribly over-exposed so I hoped I would see it again on the trip.

We headed back towards Polokwane and our next stop was at a quaint restaurant on the R71 where we spent some time trying to photograph White-throated Swallow with little success.

On the following day I returned to Magoebaskloof (while my family stayed behind to enjoy the sunshine away from the misty mountains) but it had been raining all night and drizzling and misty). In fact, there had been so much rain that I was too scared to even venture off the tar roads - the red soil was like butter. I decided to drive through the kloof and head off to the Tzaneen Dam.

Here are a few shots of the Tzaneen Dam - I visited the resort but wasted my money as it was raining and I saw very few birds let along got any pics:

Here are a few other shots of what was not a great day birding given the horrible weather conditions (I took shots of Mannikin hoping to see a Red-backed species, but I believe I lucked out):

A highlight for me was seeing Yellow Bishop that I had spotted the day before. Even though I saw a number of them they move about really quickly and the rain that was falling did not exactly help with photography. Getting a shot of the female was great too:

When I got back to Polokwane I had a great time birding at the place we were staying - it is called Broadlands Equestrian Centre - and we stayed in the beautiful Goose Cottage which is really luxurious and amazingly affordable. For bookings you can contact Nicky at 0827151627. Here are some of the birds I was able to photograph:

A highlight of the late morning was taking pics of Marico Sunbird (including male, female and a juvenile):