On Monday the 4th July 2011 I spent an hour our two at Marievale hoping to see the Red-chested Flufftail that had been spotted at the Hadeda Hide and when it was a no-show, I decided to head off to explore the bird life around the Vaal Dam. My first stop was on the Vaal View road along the R54 (26°50'2.16"S and 28°12'41.87"E). There was a rocky hill on the left hand side of the road, newly burnt, where I saw White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Crowned Lapwing, Blacksmith Lapwing, Speckled Pigeon, Common Fiscal, Laughing Dove, Ant-eating Chat, Mountain Wheatear, African Pipit, Steppe Buzzard and Red-capped Lark. Here is a selection of pics:

It did not seem possible to get down to the waterline to view the bird life there, but I noticed that the gate to a resort called Shenanigan's Rest was open so I took the road and asked permission to spend some time on the property. The groundsman said I could stay as long as I liked so I braved the freezing cold wind to get down to the water's edge. On the property I saw Red-faced Mousebird, Speckled Mousebird, Southern Masked Weaver, Wattled Starling, Dark-capped Bulbul, Southern Red Bishop, Karoo Thrush, White-browed Sparrow-Weaver, Crested Barbet, Cape Sparrow, Pied Kingfisher, Laughing Dove and a Cisticola that was too quick to identify! Here are some scenery pics and bird pics that I took:

I then headed further along the R54 and stumbled across a turn off to Vaal Marina (26°50'58.44"S and 28°13'47.09"E) - this led down to the small town and allowed me to get close to the waters edge in a few places. Here I saw Long-tailed Widowbird, Red-knobbed Coot, Yellow-billed Duck, African Darter, Little Egret, Common Myna, Crowned Lapwing, Cape Wagtail, Cape Sparrow, Cape White-eye, Cape Longclaw, Northern Black Korhaan (I saw at least six birds on the day!), Blacksmith Lapwing, Cape Glossy Starling, Familiar Chat, Mountain Wheatear and Spotted Thick-Knee. Here are some scenery and bird pics that I took:

I stumbled across a resort on the water's edge that was accessible (26°53'12.24"S and 28°13'28.50"E) - it is a camping and picnic area. What was amazing about this spot was the trees that were growing in water at the edge of the dam - with a path that led me along the edge for a few hundred meters. There was not much bird life to speak about apart from Cape Wagtail and Egyptian Goose.

Here are some pics of my frequent sighting of Northern Black Korhaan around the grasslands of Vaal Marina:

Here are a few bird pics from around the town of Vaal Marina:

I then headed back along the R54 and took the R549 to Denysville - this led me to the dam wall and the Vaal River - the scenery of the dam wall and the river was awesome (26°52'29.91"S and 28° 6'55.53"E):

I also saw some birds in this area: Hadeda Ibis, Karoo Thrush, Red-throated Wryneck, African Red-eyed Bulbul, Familiar Chat, Little Swift, Brown-throated Martin, South African Cliff-Swallow, Reed Cormorant, White-breasted Cormorant, African Darter, Grey Heron, Black-headed Heron, Speckled Pigeon, Cattle Egret, Rock Dove, Red-billed Quelea and Fiscal Flycatcher.

I also spent some time at the marina in the town of Denysville and even found a nature reserve which did not look too exciting in the early afternoon.

I would like to return some time and explore the area around the town of Oranjeville on the R716 and other sections of the South Eastern side of the dam. A sign I saw at the dam wall summed up my day nicely - I had indeed spent the day doing a Vaal Dam meander! I saw 49 bird species on the day - and confirmed what I have heard that the actual Vaal Dam itself is not great for birds - but if you spend some time in the surrounding fields and residential complexes you are sure to find enough species to keep you entertained for hours!