On the 29th of December 2010 I spent the day at Bloemhof Dam and visited both of the nature reserves described in Birding Gauteng chapter 101 (Sandveld and Bloemhof). I finally saw and photographed a number of species that have eluded me in recent months - I had done my homework and knew what I was looking for, knew their calls and behaviours - and that made all the difference. It was a most enjoyable day - and a spot that I will definitely want to visit again (at least for the Pririt Batis that managed to hide away from me). A huge surprise was spotting a unique Duck in one of my pics - and realising that it is most probably Northern Pintail. I managed to record seven lifers in the day: Tinkling Cisticola, two forms of Gabar Goshawk, Fawn-coloured Lark, Flappet Lark, Northern Pintail, Ashy Tit and Orange River White-eye.

After a drive of 3 hours from my home in Joburg, I arrived at the bridge over the Bloemhof Dam as the sun was rising. I spent some time watching the hundreds of Little Swift and South African Cliff-Swallow that nest under the bridge - apparently Heron prey on the Swallows under the bridge but were not around today:

I paid at the main gate and was let into the reserve:

I made my way along the road that follows the edge of the dam before taking the Grassland Loop that would yield amazing results. Here are the birds that I saw from the gate to the start of the Grassland Loop:

If you are new to birding or the area and need to tick Korhaan - this is the spot to visit. It seemed like there was a Northern Black Korhaan ever 100 meters and I at least one Red-crested Korhaan:

This area would also produce a great deal of Larks - starting with Rufous-naped Lark:

A Sabota Lark was the next to make an appearance:

Next came a special lifer - the Flappet Lark - whose aerial display and unique call is truly special:

It took a bit more work to find the next special - the Fawn-coloured Lark - and playing it's call helped to bring it out of hiding.

I have been told that Tinkling Cisticola are usually around when there are Fawn-coloured Lark in the area - and today was no exception!

I checked an out of focus pic of the Fawn-coloured Lark and saw that my lens had focused on a spiders web with many spiders - and to think that I was stomping around the bush trying to locate the Lark:

I spotted a unique Black bird in a tree and took some pics that turned out to be a Melanistic form of a female Gabar Goshawk. And not far away I spotted a Male Gabar Goshawk that I chased from tree to tree trying desperately to get decent pics:

A Rock Kestrel put in an appearance as did a Lesser Kestrel:

A juvenile African Fish-Eagle was not going to be outdone!

I found the Sociable Weaver nests in the area near the dam but they were deserted - I am yet to record this species:

I spent some time down at the dam and saw Caspian Tern, White-winged Tern, Grey-headed Gull, South Africa Shelduck (there was at least twenty in a group), White-breasted Cormorant, Black-headed Heron, Reed Cormorant and Yellow-billed Duck.

While I was processing my pics I noticed an unusual looking duck among the birds on the shoreline - they look like Northern Pintail:

I made my way off to the bird hide at the waterhole and was surprised by a group of 20 giraffe that came to drink:

Other birds around the waterhole included Three-banded Plover, Scaly-feathered Finch, Kalahari Scrub-Robin and Southern Grey-headed Sparrow.

The rest of my time was spent birding around the campsite where I saw: Orange River White-eye (a lifer for me), Southern Masked Weaver, Groundscraper Thrush, Brubru, Karoo Thrush, Black-faced Waxbill, Common Fiscal, Willow Warbler, Chestnut-vented Tit-Babbler and African Hoopoe.

These two little chaps were enjoying scraps around the campsite:

I left the reserve and made my way back to the road and then over the bridge to the entrance to the Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve. I only had an hour to spare before I headed back to Joburg and made my way to the windmill and waterhole. There was not much happening so I continued down to the edge of the dam:

I had a great time down near the shoreline with a large group of different birds including: Crowned Lapwing, South African Cliff-Swallow, African Pipit, Black Crake, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Gull, Whiskered Tern, Red-billed Teal, Southern Red Bishop, Red-knobbed Coot, Cape Wagtail, Ruff, Sacred Ibis, Grey Heron, Blacksmith Lapwing, Red-billed Quelea, Long-tailed Widowbird, Levaillant's Cisticola and Great Egret. Here are some of the pics that I took:

On the way home I pulled over to take some shots of a raptor flying overhead - I believe it is a juvenile Black-chested Snake-Eagle:

What an amazing day's outing - I saw 83 unique bird species and recorded 7 lifers.