On Saturday the 18th September 2010 my son and I visited the Rietfontein Nature Reserve (Chapter 6 in Birding Gauteng) in Paulshof (north of Johannesburg) - the location of the FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. We had spent an hour at the President Ridge Nature reserve in Randburg, then tried to get in to the Cumberland Nature Reserve in Bryanston (which was unfortunately closed) which meant that our arrival at Rietfontein around 11am was not ideal for birding this spot.

We first tried to visit the FreeMe centre and strangely did not feel welcome at all. I am sure they are doing a great job - but it could have been a decent PR moment for them to allow my son and I to at least take a sneak peak at some of their birds in rehabilitation. We completed the 2.5km circular walking trail (which is one of the best kept walk ways that we have even come across - including great informational sign boards along the way giving information about birds, reptiles and mammals).

Here is a pic of the walkway up the hill and some shots of the gardens in the parking area:

We saw a decent amount of birds (including Cape Glossy Starling, Sacred Ibis, Cattle Egret, Little Swift, Southern Masked Weaver, Helmeted Guineafowl, Streaky-headed Seedeater, Pied Crow, Rock Pigeon, Black-collared Barbet, Cape Robin-Chat, Red-faced Mousebird, Hadeda Ibis, Dark-capped Bulbul, Southern Boubou, Cape Turtle-Dove, Crested Barbet, White-bellied Sunbird, Fiscal Flycatcher, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Cape Sparrow, Laughing Dove, Common Mynah, Greater-striped Swallow and African Palm Swift) but photography skills or conditions were somewhat lacking on the day - so have to show and tell:

There are quite a number of buck roaming free in the hills: