On Saturday the 7th August 2010 my son, Little Birdman, and I left home at 4:30am to be in position to watch the arrival of the Yellow-throated Sandgrouse at their favourite drinking spot close to the entrance to Sun City (chapter 48 in Birding Gauteng). I had planned out a whole day around capturing pics of the Sandgrouse and had directions to 4 different locations that are available at Stuart Groom's blogsite - the four sites are linked at the top of the page.
1. The Sun City Site
One the drive down to the spot we saw African Grey Hornbill and Pied Crow. We arrived at the eastern side of the river (just south of Sun City) at 6:45 (don't even think about trying this route in a normal sedan - a high clearance vehicle is a must - not necessarily a 4x4! I have a Toyota Avanza which handled it just fine), just as the sun was rising and settled down in the chilly morning air to watch the arrival of these birds. We soon began to be entertained by the arrival of numerous birds and we enjoyed every minute snapping away and marvelling at all that we were seeing - nothing spectacular but great all the same. A Cape Turtle-Dove was the first to drink and then we saw Blue Waxbill, Red-faced Mousebird, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Marico Flycatcher, Hadeda Ibis, Black-chested Prinia, Malachite Sunbird, White-bellied Sunbird, Cape White-eye, Southern Masked Weaver, Lourie, Tawny-flanked Prinia, Dark-capped Bulbul and Fork-tailed Drongo.
Here are some pics of the spot and the some bird pics:
The Sandgrouse must have chosen another spot to do their morning drinking, because we eventually decided around 9 o'clock that we needed to leave and head off to the next spot. We got a bit side-tracked when we arrived back at the main road and were entertained by birds alongside the tar road on in the water-purification area presumably belonging to Sun City. We saw Crested Francolin, Red-billed Firefinch, Golden-breasted Bunting, Egyptian Goose, Groundscraper Thrush, Crowned Lapwing, Common Mynah, Southern Red Bishop, Red-faced Mousebird, Cape Robin-Chat and Cattle Egret. Here are a few pics:
2. The Sunflower Fields
We continued with our Sandgrouse hunt through the village of Chaneng (south of Sun City) and on the way saw Green Wood-Hoopoe, Crested Barbet, Red-winged Starling, Burchell's Starling, Lilac-breasted Roller, Pied Crow and Magpie Shrike. Most of these were around a bridge over the river that presumably runs through the Sun City Sandgrouse spot.
At the Sunflower fields we did not catch sight of Sandgrouse but we did see: Reed Cormorant, Crowned Lapwing, Black-shouldered Kite, Cape Glossy Starling, Red-billed Quelea, Sabota Lark, African Pipit, Long-billed Pipit, another two as yet un-identified pipits, Capped Wheatear, Black-headed Heron and Common Fiscal. A highlight was watching two Black-chested Snake-Eagles hunting in the fields.
Here is the first Pipit that is not yet identified:
Here is the second Pipit that is not yet identified:
3. The Mine Entrance
We made our way to the mine entrance but did not expect to see anything as Stuart had informed me that the water in the depressions had all dried up so there was little possibility that the Sandgrouse would be there. We were not disappointed as we did not expect to see them and decided to head on to the next spot.
4. Rockwall Dam
Stuart suggested that this dam would be the least likely spot to visit for the Birds as he had long since seen the birds there. But we got some directions on how to get directly from Chaneng to Rustenburg, saving ourselves from a long-detour back via Sun City. As we headed along the R565 towards Rustenburg, about 20 kilometers from the town itself we stumbled across a little dam (not Rockwall that was a bit further on - or to the east). Here we were delighted to see for the first time a Little Bee-eater. We also saw Southern Masked Weaver and Fork-tailed Drongo here - there were reeds all around the dam, but no signs of waterbirds.
After what turned out to be a bit of a detour (from where we had come from), i.e. heading south to the R104 and then heading north again to the dam but it gave Little Birdman a chance to catch 40 winks in the back of the car. We arrived at Rockwall Dam around 12:30 and quite honestly at that time of the day you don't expect to see much. So much for experience and logic - we were blown away at the bird life on the dam and around the dam!!! We first explored the southern side of the dam where we saw Little Swift (another lifer for me), Grey Heron, Black-headed Heron, Black-winged Stilt, Grey-headed Gull, Lesser Flamingo (a third lifer for the day), Greater Flamingo (there was actually just 1 Greater Flamingo with about 12 Lesser Flamingo), Little Egret, Little Grebe, Red-knobbed Coot, Three-banded Plover, Red-billed Teal, Red Cormorant, White-breasted Cormorant (there must have been around 75 to a 100), Egyptian Geese, African Black Duck, Blacksmith Lapwing, Levaillants Cisticola, Blue Waxbill, Black-faced Waxbill, Kalahari Scrub-Robin, Brown-throated Martin, Dark-capped Bulbul, Steppe Eagle, White-faced Duck, White-fronted Bee-eater, Cape Sparrow, Crimson-breasted Shrike and Cattle Egret. A highlight was following a path around the southern most corner of the dam and getting up close to the Flamingo and ducks. Here are some pics:
On the far side of the dam we spotted birds that were hard to identify - they turned out to be Pied Avocet:
We then headed to the northern side of the dam where we saw a dozen Grey Heron, Hottentot Teal, Cape Teal, White-faced Duck, dozens more White-breasted Cormorant, White-bellied Sunbird and African Pipit. We also found another entrance to a real far north section to the dam, where anglers were fishing and picnicking, and this also proved to be a fruitful section for birds including Cape Wagtail, Crimson-breasted Shrike, Three-banded Plover and other birds we had seen already.
We got directions from two fishermen about a short-cut back to Sun City via the village of Chaneng which took us on a road below the dam wall and then out north - here we saw Kalahari Scrub-Robin, Neddicky, Village Weaver and Malachite Sunbird:
We arrived back at Sun City around 3pm and this time chose to visit the west side of the river to stake out the Sandgrouse spot until sunset. The west route is a bit easier to navigate than the east side, but still gets rather challenging and again a high clearance car is needed. Another birder was at the spot also waiting to spot the Sandgrouse so we settled down to see what arrived. We saw Cape Turtle Dove, Southern Red Bishop, Red-billed Quelea and then suddenly I saw two Sandgrouse ran across the road (on the other side of river near the other vehicle) - you can imagine my embarrassment and disappointment when the other birder informed me that they had been Crested Francolin and not Sandgrouse after all. The sad part about the afternoon we spent there, apart from the no show of the Sandgrouse, was the off-road bikers and even 4x4 that chose to drive through the river - I mean, sacrilege, do they not know that we were there staking out the elusive Sandgrouse??? Here are a few pics:
So, no Sandgrouse on the day, but we did see 76 different bird species and photographed 3 Lifers (strangely enough they were all diminutive - Little Swift, Little Bee-eater and Lesser Flamingo! Strange but true - anyway, I was with Little Birdman after all. Thanks again to Stuart Groom for taking the time to make the directions to the 4 sites available online - they certainly helped us have an amazing day out together!
On Monday the 16th of August 2010 I decided to return to the spot just south of Sun City hoping to see and photograph the Yellow-throated Sandgrouse (you can get directions from Stuart Groom's blogsite - http://stuartgroom.blogspot.com). My son and I spent hours there two weeks back and believe we heard and saw they fly overhead (not enough for me to tick off my list which is photo-based) so I was desperate to try again.
I arrived as the sun was rising and carefully manoeuvred my car into position to the right hand side of the road (in long grass - and away from the road up to the water). I got some advice last time that the Sandgrouse circle the area and check to see if it is safe to land and drink. I wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and poured milk into a bowl of muesli (hey, this is the 21st century, who says birding stakeouts have to be done old school style???) - and I sprinkled some bird seeds close to the waterhole (hoping that in return the birds would so kind as to pose for my camera). About 4 minutes later I was starting to wonder whether I was going to miss out on seeing them for a second time. Suddenly I heard their call and saw 2 birds circle the area and land about 100 metres away from the water (to the east of the waterhole). I swear they purposely chose to position the sun behind them so I could not get decent pics. I snapped away desperate to have some proof that I had seen them. They slowly began to make their way towards the water - and to my horror, after edging forward about 20 metres, they let out a shriek and took off, circling the spot before flying off in a North-westerly direction. I was devastated. I was convinced that they were reporting back to their mates about the guy in the white Toyota Avanza trying to take photos.
I did not have to wait long - either the same 2 or another two (who had not got the memo about my presence) arrived and landed in the same spot - before starting to slowly make their way towards the water - a keeping their eye on my car the whole time. Once or twice they made as if to fly off but thankfully they did not! They walked run up and past my car - about 5 metres from me and the female began to drink. Suddenly a Hamerkop flew overhead and the two Sandgrouse flew off! Man, this was not going well!
Soon another 5 Sandgrouse circled but a Black-shouldered Kite chased them away. Everything was conspiring to limit my ability to get great pics. Then seven landed and made their way up to the spot and drank right in front of me! Finally I felt like I had gotten the shots that I wanted.
While I was totally captivated by the Sandgrouse, I suddenly noticed that other birds were coming to drink at the waterhole - and even a lifer - African Quailfinch. I also managed to get better pics than I have had before when a Violet-eared Waxbill came to drink and a resident Crimson-breasted Shrike also plucked up the courage to snack on my seeds as did a really good looking Kalahari Scrub-Robin.
At 9:10 two more Sandgrouse arrived to drink and finally I could just relax and enjoy watching them without worrying about getting the perfect shot!
Another lifer suddenly appeared right in front of my eyes - Green-winged Pytilia - but flew off a bit to a safer spot from where I was able to get this pic and then disappeared, never to return:
At 9:28 a lone male arrived to drink (and he even allowed me to observe his belly-wetting ritual - that was awesome!!!) and that was the last that I saw of the Sandgrouse.
At 10:30 some Namaqua Dove arrived to drink - a female, juvenile and a male - one happy family! I also saw Red-billed Firefinch (they enjoyed my seeds - the Sandgrouse did not seem to be interested in my offering!). A Crested Francolin arrived to drink, probably one of the two that had tricked me on my last stakeout into thinking that Sandgrouse had arrived to drink! There were many Louries around all morning and a good few Marico Flycatchers. Tawny-flanked Prinias called out loudly all morning and Red-billed Quelea dropped by as well together with a few Black-throated Canaries. An African Wattled Lapwing even arrived to join the party!
One mystery for the morning is a bird that I think could be either Yellow Bishop or White-winged Widowbird judging by the yellow on the wing feathers. I don't know enough about their relative size to be conclusive. You can see it's size in relation to the Red-billed Quelea in the second pic. I am thinking it is probably Yellow Bishop.
I had a tyre blow out on the way home - turns out that the brand new tires that were fitted to the car just 2 weeks ago were damaged when they were fitted and the dealer has since "kindly" agreed to replace the tyre at no cost to me (the least he can do!!!). Fortunately I was slowing down to take the turn off to the village of Maile when it took place so apart from delaying me for a while while I changed the wheel, it was not a major problem. I spent about 30 minutes checking out the village (which used to be one of the main sites to see the Sandgrouse). I saw a few birds there - of course a Pipit (I give up, you can't easily id them!!!). I had hoped to see Pink-billed Lark but that would be pushing it for the day! Maybe next time!
Pipit #1:
Pipit #2:
3 Lifers - that's a good day out! And I will never forget the experience of seeing Yellow-throated Sandgrouse for the first time.