On Monday morning the 22nd November I left home at 4:30 to explore the Seringveld to Rust de Winter Dam route as covered in Chapter 58 of Birding Gauteng. As I arrived at the start of the route I saw Red-billed Buffalo-Weaver, Pied Crow, Black-shouldered Kite and Helmeted Guineafowl so it looked promising. I was a little concerned at the heavy cloud cover in the area - the prospects for photography looked bleak to put it mildly. I stopped at the Krokodilspruit and the first little dam and with the help of my photos managed to identify the handful of birds in the area: Souther African Cliff-Swallow, Little Swift, Yellow-billed Duck, Red-knobbed, Little Grebe, Dark-capped Bulbul, African Fish-Eagle,a and Blacksmith Lapwing. The African Fish-Eagle perched in the middle of the dam is the only half decent pic that I can show given the conditions.

My next stop was the Mutango Lodge and Conference Center and if I was not adamant about completing the whole route I could have quite easily sent the WHOLE day at the spot. I arrived at the entrance to the lodge and tried to scan the dam from the main road but it was too far away - so I drove through the open entrance and made my way towards the security entrance - where I met a delightful gentleman who suggested that he'd call the CEO (Frik de Lange) and get permission for me. It must have been around 6am and he called returned the missed call immediately and invited me to spend time on the property. The security guard left me alone for a while at the dam and then rejoined me and guided me through the rest of the property to point out the Cranes to me (which were in fact Black-headed Heron). About an hour later I met up with Frik and while I felt I might be overstaying my welcome he assumed me that I could spend as much time there as I wanted. And I did - 5 hours - seeing 79 bird species in all. Here are some scenery pics of this most delightful and strangely affordable lodge (it would make an ideal weekend camping experience for my family!). The spot has a rocky outcrop, a vlei and a dam with a few other small "dams" close to the accommodation area - and a camping site down near the Boekenhoet River.

Here are some of the highlights of my time birding on the property: (1) Chasing after my bogey bird (Black Cuckoo) - hearing and seeing it but not getting a shot (I guess this was a lowlight of my day - but still a lot of fun as I climbed the rocky koppie a few times and risked being turned into Spiderman with all the spiderwebs I encountered in the thick bush. (2) Photographing a Broad-billed Roller which is far south of it's range. (3) Getting up close to African Paradise Flycatcher - they were everywhere. (4) Finally seeing a female Violet-backed Starling. (5) Seeing the resident African Fish-Eagle. (6) Getting a half decent pic of Red-chested Cuckoo. (7) Seeing Groundscraper Thrush in flight from behind - the wings markings are really unique!

Here is a list of all the bird species that I saw on the property: African Darter; African Fish-Eagle; African Green Pigeon; African Hoopoe; African Hoopoe; African Jacana; African Paradise Flycatcher; African Pipit; African Stonechat; Amethyst Sunbird; Arrow-marked Babbler; Barn Swallow; Bar-throated Apalis; Black Crake; Black Cuckoo; Black-backed Puffback; Black-crowned Night Heron; Black-headed Heron; Black-headed Oriole; Blacksmith Lapwing; Brown-hooded Kingfisher; Burnt-necked Eremomela; Cape Turtle-Dove; Cape Wagtail; Cape White-eye; Cattle Egret; Common Fiscal; Common Moorhen; Common Sandpiper; Crested Barbet; Crowned Lapwing; Dark-capped Bulbul; Diderick Cuckoo; Fork-tailed Drongo; Glossy Ibis; Green Wood Hoopoe; Green-backed Heron; Grey Go-away-bird; Groundscraper Thrush; Hadeda Ibis; Helmeted Guineafowl; Klaas's Cuckoo; Kurrichane Thrush; Laughing Dove; Lazy Cisticola; Lesser Striped Swallow; Little Egret; Little Grebe; Long-billed Pipit; Malachite Kingfisher; Mocking Cliff-Chat; Pin-tailed Whydah; Red-chested Cuckoo; Red-collared Widowbird; Red-winged Starling; Red-winged Starling; Reed Cormorant; Rufous-naped Lark; Southern Boubou; Southern Masked-Weaver; Southern Red Bishop; Speckled Mousebird; Spotted Flycatcher; Spur-winged Goose; Tawny-flanked Prinia; Thick-billed Roller; Three-banded Plover; Violet-backed Starling; Whiskered Tern; White-bellied Sunbird; White-breasted Cormorant; White-browed Scrub-Robin; White-faced Duck; White-fronted Bee-eater; White-rumped Swift; White-winged Widowbird; Woodland Kingfisher; Yellow-billed Duck and Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird. Here are a selection of my pics:

I literally had to drag myself away from the lodge to continue on my journey! I stopped opposite the Kloof Shop at the can update the instructions in Birding Gauteng - you don't have to ask the shop keeper for permission to bird the koppie because the place is deserted as you can see in my pic:

I did not need to bird the koppie as it is linked to the Mutango property and I had already climbed it a few times searching for the Black Cuckoo that I was hearing - so I continued on the road to the little town of Moloto. Along the way I spotted: Greater Striped Swallow; Diderick Cuckoo; Banded Martin; Rufous-naped Lark; Long-billed Pipit; Rattling Cisticola; Pin-tailed Whydah; Red-billed Quelea; Red-winged Starling; Speckled Pigeon and Black-throated Canary.

I missed the turn off to Rust de Winter dam which is not currently signposed - fortunately I only drove for about a kilometer - there is a great signboard coming from the other direction at the intersection. The intersection is just past a river that comes right up to and under the road (after the 2 big traffic circles as you approach the town). In the next four kilometers I saw White-throated Swallow; Northern Black Korhaan; Pin-tailed Whydah; Cattle Egret; Rufous-naped Lark; Long-tailed Widowbird and Lesser Grey Shrike.

I arrived at the little dam (3.6 kilometers from Moloto) and decided to walk down to the dam through the gate that looks well used. I guess I risked being arrested for tresspassing and planning on asking for forgiveness since there was no one around to ask for permission! Boy, am I glad I decided to get closer. There was just so much around the dam that I would never have seen from the road. One of my pics (of Spur-winged Goose flying off) actually included an African Snipe which I never saw. I managed to capture a few less that great pics of two waders - but at least I can confirm what I saw at the dam. I chased after Northern Black Korhaan but after walking for about a kilometer decided it was time to head back to my car. Here is the list of birds I spotted around the dam: Southern Pochard; Spur-winged Goose; Yellow-billed Duck; Egyptian Goose; Grey Heron; Blacksmith Lapwing; Common Sandpiper; Red-billed Teal; White-faced Duck; African Snipe; Reed Cormorant; Hamerkop; Marsh Sandpiper; Purple Heron; African Jacana; Common Greenshank; Cape Longclaw and Pied Crow. Here are some scenery pics followed by some bird pics:

It was surprisingly hot outdoors - although it was around 12:30 - and I jumped back into my car to continue the route towards Rust de Winter - into the direction of what looked like the mother of all storms.

On the road towards the turn off to Vergenoeg Mine my highlight was a sighting of Steppe Buzzard - which is clearly higher on the food chain because when it flew from one telephone pole to another a Pied Crow gave way for it. I was surprised that it took me this long to see my first Magpie Shrike and Lilac-breasted Roller on this route. Here is the full list of sightings: Fork-tailed Drongo; Reed Cormorant; Red-knobbed Coot; Lilac-breasted Roller; Magpie Shrike; Black-shouldered Kite; Steppe Buzzard; Laughing Dove; White-rumped Swift; Red-chested Cuckoo and Rufous-naped Lark. The little dam near a conservance had nothing more than the Reed Cormorant and a Red-knobbed Coot.

When I arrived at the entrance to the Vergenoeg Mine I was in two minds about trying to get permission to bird the spot. The weather by now was really threatening - but fortunately I pressed on. At the security gate I was given a number to call a manager (Greg was his name) to arrange permission. He said that it was possible as long as I meet with him to hear some ground rules. I made my way to his office and met a most pleasant chap who urged me to stay away from the actual mining works and not take pics of the operations. Hey, I'm a birder - so that would be easy! I began recording bird immediately as I made my way through the operations area and down to the big dam on the property. Here is what I saw: Cape Glossy Starling; African Grey Hornbill; Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill; Lesser Striped Swallow; Woodland Kingfisher; Arrow-marked Babbler; Red-chested Cuckoo; Red-winged Starling; Burchell's Starling; White-fronted Bee-eater; Diderick Cuckoo; Dark-capped Bulbul; Southern Masked-Weaver; Crested Barbet; Amethyst Sunbird; Tawny-flanked Prinia; Little Egret; African Fish-Eagle; Cape Turtle-Dove; Green-backed Heron; African Hoopoe; Egyptian Goose; Pied Kingfisher; African Darter; Yellow-billed Duck; Blacksmith Lapwing; Common Sandpiper; Reed Cormorant; Little Stint; Helmeted Guineafowl; Pied Crow; Grey Go-away-bird and Common Sandpiper. That is a total of 33 species in the very short time that I spent there in the fading light.

Where the road to the dam ends there is a fence with a game lodge on the far side - here I saw some game that looked rather lively including Giraffe, Blesbok and Waterbuck:

I stopped in at the management offices to thank Greg and left the property - deciding to head on to Rust de Winter - hoping to see something at the bridge over the Elands River - but apart from great scenery saw nothing - and not long after this the heavens opened so I made a hasty retreat to the N4 before heading back to Johannesburg.

And my final bird species count for the day? 112 - that is 2 higher than what is listed in Birding Gauteng - this is the first time I gotten close to their count - let alone surpassing it! I would consider that a great day of birding - and the sighting of Broad-billed Roller to add to my life list - that makes it an Awesome day outdoors!