This week I had a unexpected birding outing. I was scheduled to present a 2 day MS Excel training course for Office Professionals in Pretoria and remembered reading about Smuts Koppie (Birding Gauteng chapter 31) and that Irene Country Lodge (where I was presenting) was a nearby spot for accommodation. So not only did I pack my laptop and training material but my camera as well.

I tried on the first morning (about 2 hours before my seminar was due to start) to get to Smuts Koppie but due to hectic traffic had to turn back. Nellmapius Road was totally congested and I feared I would end up late for my seminar. I did take a quick walk around Irene Diary but it felt more like a farm than a genuine birding spot. That afternoon I tried to get to Smuts Koppie at the end of the day and once more turned back due to the backup of traffic. It was looking like I would never get there!

Today (the 22nd of July 2010) I arrived early and still found the traffic backed up so I spent the time birding Irene Country Lodge. I recorded 25 bird around the dam, the farm land and wooded areas on the Lodge's property: Black-headed Heron, White-faced Duck, Mallard, White Swan, Common Moorhen, Blacksmith Lapwing, Yellow-billed Duck, Reed Cormorant, Egyptian Goose, Red-knobbed Coot, Hadeda Ibis, Helmeted Guineafowl, Cattle Egret, Sacred Ibis, Southern Red Bishop, Southern Masked Weaver, Common Fiscal, Karoo Thrush, Common Myna, Ring-knecked Dove, Cape Turtle-Dove, Cape Sparrow, Lourie, Southern Grey-headed Sparrow and Cape Robin-Chat. Not bad for a "day at the office!"

Here are some scenery pics of the Lodge's dams:

As I left Irene Country Lodge I turned on the radio to 702 and you won't believe it, but Mark Anderson was being interviewed by Jenny Cruise-Williams and he was talking about the Rose-ringed Parakeet (and that is on of the main reasons why I wanted to visit Smuts Koppie - it would be a Lifer if I saw it!). It was like a sign that I needed to get there - and guess what, the traffic was almost non-existent. Just before the entrance to the museum and reserve (and opposite a residential estate called Twin Rivers, I heard the birds screeching from the trees that lined the road. Here is a pic of took of the road - you can see the trees they inhabit:

I got permission to walk around the property and managed to snap a few great pics - including one that is rated PG16:

I then paid the R5 entrance fee to enter and bird the gardens and koppies around the Smuts House museum and it was well worth while. I was only there for about an hour as it was already 4pm and the light was fading fast with some cloud obstructing the sun. In that short time I got to see the Ovambo Sparrowhawk that nest around point 5 (I did not see the Little Sparrowhawk that nests around the Place of Rest at point 4); White-fronted Bee-eater, Dark-capped Bulbul, Crested Barbet, Black-chested Prinia, Southern Masked Weaver, Thick-billed Weaver, Cape Turtle Dove and Black-backed Puffback. Here are some of the pics that I took of the birds:

Here are some of the pics I took of the scenery:

This will go down as an great and unexpected bonus in the week - a lifer and some great time outdoors during my working time. This is fun!