On Saturday the 4th June 2011 I spent the day at the Pretoria National Botanical Gardens (covered in chapter 25 of Birding Gauteng). I did not have high expectations for the spot but have been wanted to visit the spot for some months now. I saw a total of 45 bird species during the 4 hours I spent at the gardens - apparently not bad for a winters day. The scenery pics I have taken and presented here don't do justice to the beauty of these gardens - they are well worth a visit!
I began by spending some time around the entrance to the park where I saw the following birds: White-bellied Sunbird, Karoo Thrush, Speckled Mousebird, Speckled Pigeon, Dark-capped Bulbul, Common Myna, Crowned Lapwing, Southern Boubou and Cape Glossy Starling.
The next area I focussed on was the wetland in front of the restaurant - just west of the entrance gate. The highlight here was seeing Common Moorhen feeding her three chicks. The other sightings in this area included: Cape Turtle Dove, Cape Sparrow, Southern Masked Weaver, Laughing Dove, Common Moorhen, Hadeda Ibis, Amethyst Sunbird, Reed Cormorant, Egyptian Goose, Long-billed Crombec, Grey Go-away-bird, Thick-billed Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Common Fiscal, Red-eyed Dove, Red-headed Finch.
I set off on the Dassie trail (walking past the sound stage on the lawns) and was surprised to see such a significant waterfall in the gardens:
The indigenous gardens on the Dassie Trail are really something to see (as was the views of Pretoria from the top of the hill):
Of course the Dassie Trail lived up to it's name - the raucous Rock Hyrax were everywhere - as noisy as ever - and a little Mongoose also put in a guest appearance!
On the top of the koppie the bird life was surprisingly good with sightings of Tawny-flanked Prinia, Cape White-eye, Southern Boubou, White-bellied Sunbird, Blue Waxbill, African Hoopoe, Black-chested Barbet, Hadeda Ibis and Pied Crow.
From the top of the koppie I noticed that there is a section of lawns on the northern side of the gardens so I made my way down a pathway and saw Blacksmith Lapwing, Crowned Lapwing, Cape Glossy Starling and Bronze Mannikin.
I made my way back up the koppie and spent a bit of time around the office complex (seeing just Cape Robin-Chat and Cape White-eye) and then heading down the south side of the koppie to spend some time on the lawns below the office complex seeing Crimson-breasted Shrike, Kurrichane Thrush, Cape Wagtail, Southern Red Bishop, Arrow-marked Babbler, Yellow-fronted Canary, African Hoopoe, Tawny-flanked Prinia and Fiscal Flycatcher.
Rather than heading for the exit I decided to head back to the top of the koppie and spend some time staking out the little pond on the northern side of the koppie. This proved to be a good decision as I saw Bar-throated Apalis, Karoo Thrush, White-bellied Sunbird, Speckled Mousebird, Grey Go-away-bird, Laughing Dove, Blue Waxbill, Southern Masked Weaver, Bronze Mannikin, Cape Sparrow, Cape White-eye and Southern Grey-headed Sparrow.
I headed all the way around the north-western side of the gardens and spotted Crested Barbet, Crowned Lapwing, Spotted Thick-Knee and Helmeted Guineafowl on the lawns just below the dam and the wetland.
The last 30 minutes or so was spent having coffee next to the restaurant in the gardens where I got to watch a Cape Robin-Chat having a bath, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow and Village Weaver:
Having done justice to the gardens I headed home, but decided to make a quick stop at Smuts Hill where the Rose-ringed Parakeet nest. Here are some pics that I took (okay, I mean a lot - I can't get enough of this photogenic little guys! They just love the camera!):
A bonus was seeing a Lesser Honeyguide that was interested in a bee hive in one of the trees:
Another great day birding in spectacular surroundings!