On the 30th of June we visited the Oribi Gorge Nature Reserve which is about 20 kilometers north of Port Shepstone on the South Coast. Not only did we get to experience incredible scenery of the mountains and the gorge itself, but I finally captured Gurney's Sugarbird. The other lifer on the day was a Grey Cuckooshrike, but I managed to get much better photos of Trumpeter and Crowned Hornbill which made this a most rewarding experience. We saw 30 bird species in our short time, but knew that we were missing many birds that called from the thick bush along the way. We found the African Crowned Eagle's nest (about 1.5km from the main turn off on the road down the gorge - park at the picnic spot and walk 100 metres up the road towards the tall tree with the nest) and saw them soaring high above and got a tantalising view of one of them not more than 30 metres from the window of my car, but as I stopped it flew off. Next time!!!

Here is a full list of all the birds we saw, in the order that we saw them: Hadeda Ibis, Fork-tailed Drongo, Trumpeter Hornbill, African Crowned Eagle, Grey-headed Bush-Shrike, Crowned Hornbill, Southern Bulbul, Red-winged Starling, Blue Waxbill, Greater Double-collared Sunbird, Brown-hooded Kingfisher, Black-collared Barbet, Black-headed Oriole, Common Waxbill, Common Fiscal, Yellow-throated Longclaw, Ashy Flycatcher, Gurney's Sugarbird, Amethyst Sunbird, African Stonechat, Cape Longclaw, Purple-crested Turaco, Olive Bush-Shrike, Grey Cuckooshrike, Bronze Mannikin, Black-backed Puffback, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Village Weaver and Yellow-fronted Canary.

One tip for anyone visiting the reserve - be sure to drive right through the reserve until the T-Junction and then look for a private farm about 200 metres on the right hand side of the road owned by Mary and Vix Neethling. The farm is called Minshere and is plot 18B. Mary specialised in aloes and Strelitza plants which attract sunbirds and the Gurney's Sugarbird. She was most welcoming and allowed us to bird for as long as we wanted.

Here are a few pics of the scenery in the Gorge:

Here are some pics of the birds that we saw: