Birding the Cape: the west coast
May 29, 2008

For my second trip to South Africa in just three weeks, this time to Cape Town (the first was to Johannesburg), I decided to hire a professional guide for the two (actually, one-and-a-half) days I would be there. Normally I’m happy just to hire a car and wander around, but sometimes - and this felt like it would be one of those times - I like to hire a guide. Guides obviously know the area well, they’ll usually do the driving, they know the birds of course - and they know the calls those birds give: all things that infrequent visitors either don’t know, or - in the case of driving - don’t particularly want to do. I only decided to try and book a guide a few days before I went, but - I think because it’s winter in the Cape and here are fewer overseas tourists around - I was fortunate enough to hook up with Brian Vanderwalt, whose company, Brian’s Birding, has the by-line “Birding with Passion” (which, I hasten to add, does indeed refer to his love for birds not to any strange extras he organises ‘after-hours’).

Brian proved to be an excellent bloke to go birding with. I gave him a target list before we set off (actually it would be more truthful to say that I told him I didn’t care what we saw as long as we saw plenty and could rub rival year-lister Graham’s nose in it afterwards) and he navigated his way round expertly, stopping at some really unlikely spots - including a tiny patch of native vegetation outside a new private housing development which was extraordinarily productive. One thing he couldn’t do though was control the weather - which isn’t a criticism of course. The day began under heavy clouds, cleared up, and then closed in again, and the second day never escaped them: however, despite the early rain we did see some really good birds…almost 50 new ones for the year over the two days (including three lifers)!

So, where did we go? The Cape region is incredibly varied (eg coastline, wetlands, mountains, grassland) and full of South African endemics or southern African near-endemics (ie birds found nowhere else on the planet), and Brian’s plan was to head to the west coast and look for seabirds (eg wintering Antarctic Tern, four species of cormorant, and African Black Oystercatcher), drive along the strandveld looking for Southern Black Korhaan, the endemic and gorgeous Black Harrier, larks and pipits and Sickle-winged Chat etc, and to pick up bits and pieces at specific sites (a quarry with nesting African Black/Verraux’s Eagle and African Black Swift for example, a field good for Cloud Cisticola (which is, incidentally, the only known site in the world for the bulb Geissorhiza darlingensis), a reliable site for the highly-restricted and recently split Cape Long-billed Lark). Pretty good eh? Oh, and Brian seems to know every farm-shop in the district - they’re full of goodies, and until you’ve tried locally-grown fynbos honey you’ve never tasted the sweet stuff before, I promise you…

Blogging about such a long day (we covered 500km in a very full 12 hours) and about so many sites is almost impossible unless you have nothing else whatsoever to do during your days off (and I do I’m afraid), so it’s probably best just to post some interesting photos from this first day and hope that proves enough. We’ll see…

Coastal birds:

 

African Black Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini and Crowned Cormorant Phalacrocorax coronatus: both are endemic to the southern half of Africa.

 

Antarctic Terns Sterna vittata: breeding exclusively in the Antarctic or sub-Antarctic, this evocative species winters in good numbers along the south and west coast of South Africa.

 

Swift Tern Sterna bergii: a common resident, this individual is heavily-moulting and is in non-breeding plumage

 

White-fronted Plover Charadrius marginatus: an African endemic found along the coast and inland on large rivers.

The Langebaan Area:

 

Southern Black Korhaan Eupodotis afra (male, above, female, below): endemic to the Cape this beautiful bustard is common along the West Coast.

 

Cape Long-billed Lark Certhilauda curvirostris: endemic, uncommon, and very hard to get close to…

 

Capped Wheatear Oenanthe pileata: one of 17 species of wheatear found in Africa, the Capped Wheatear is a large, striking species found from southern Kenya to the Cape (for a photo-gallery go to Capped Wheatear).

 

Sicklewing Chat Cercomela sinuata: another southern African endemic, this species - along with the Karoo Chat - is often seen along the West Coast.

 

(Southern) Grey Tit Parus afer: yet another southern African endemic, this species is found in Namibia and South Africa.

 

Southern Double-collared Sunbird Nectarinia chalybea: with a name almost as large as the bird itself, this gem is - again - endemic to South Africa.

Langebaan Quarry:

Well-known to local birders as site for a pair of nesting African Black/Verraux’s Eagles, the scrub in this area is also a great place to see Acacia Pied Barbet, Cape Spurfowl, Chestnut-vented Tit-babbler, and Grey Tit amongst others. The nest was not occupied when we visited, but we did find one of the eagles perched behind a nearby satellite dish being harried by one of the many local Pied Crows.

The ‘whitewash’ marks the spot…

 

African Black Eagle Aquila verreauxii and Pied Crow Corvus albus

And finally…:

We left the West Coast just as began to get dark and a stunning sunset began to appear. I casually asked Brian whether there were any owls in the area, and he thought about it for a few seconds and said that Spotted Eagle Owl was a possibility. No sooner had I mused that Spotted Eagle Owl would be a darn good bird to see and was trying to remember when I’d last seen one, Brian slammed on the brakes and reversed up to the stunningly wonderful owl in the photo below…moments later the sun dropped, the rain began, and we headed back to the hotel. Wonderful timing!

Spotted Eagle-owl Bubo africanus: the smallest of the three eagle-owls found in South Africa.

 

Untouched (except for cropping) this is just what the sky looked like as the day wound to an end…

Day Highlights (new for the Year underlined):

Common Ostrich Struthio camelus 30+; Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 4-5; White-chinned Petrel Procellaria aequinoctialis 3-4; Cape Cormorant Phalacrocorax capensis 3-4; Crowned Cormorant Phalacrocorax coronatus 20+; African Darter Anhinga melanogaster 1; Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala 4-5; Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 20+; Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus 100+; Hadada Ibis Bostrychia hagedash 4-5; Glossy Ibis Plegadis falcinellus 4-5; Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus roseus 1; Cape Shelduck Tadorna cana 1; Egyptian Goose Alopochen aegyptiacus 10+; Spur-winged Goose Plectropterus gambensis 40+; Cape Teal Anas capensis 2; Cape Shoveler Anas smithii 4; Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus 8-10; Black Harrier Circus maurus 4; Jackal Buzzard Buteo rufofuscus 5; African Black Eagle Aquila verreauxii 1; (Rock) Kestrel Falco tinnunculus 4; Cape Francolin Pternistis capensis 20+; Helmeted Guineafowl Numida meleagris 30+; Blue Crane Grus paradisea 6; African Purple Swamphen Porphyrio madagascariensis 1; Southern Black Korhaan Eupodotis afra c)20; African Black Oystercatcher Haematopus moquini 3; Spotted Dikkop Burhinus capensis 1; Kittlitz’s Plover Charadrius pecuarius 2; Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris 1; White-fronted Plover Charadrius marginatus 3-4; Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres 2; Kelp Gull Larus dominicanus c)20; Hartlaub’s Gull Larus hartlaubii 50+; Swift Tern Sterna bergii c)20; Antarctic Tern Sterna vittata 100+; Spotted Eagle-owl Bubo africanus 2; African Black Swift Apus barbatus 10-12; White-backed Mousebird Colius colius 8-10; Malachite Kingfisher Alcedo cristata 1; Acacia Pied Barbet Tricholaema leucomelas 2; Karoo Lark Certhilauda albescens 1; Cape Long-billed Lark Certhilauda curvirostris 2; Red-capped Lark Calandrella cinerea 4; Large-billed Lark Galerida magnirostris 4-5; Brown-throated Martin Riparia paludicola 20+; Orange-throated Longclaw Macronyx capensis 4; African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus 3-4; Grey-backed Cisticola Cisticola subruficapillus 3; Cloud Cisticola Cisticola textrix 2+; Karoo Prinia Prinia maculosa 20+; Bar-throated Apalis Apalis thoracica 1; Long-billed Crombec Sylvietta rufescens 1; Karoo Scrub Robin Cercotrichas coryphaeus 10+; African Stonechat Saxicola torquata 4-5; Sicklewing Chat Cercomela sinuata 2; Southern Grey Tit Parus afer 4-5; Cape Penduline Tit Anthoscopus minutus c)10; Malachite Sunbird Nectarinia famosa 1; Southern Double-collared Sunbird Nectarinia chalybea c)10; Cape White-eye Zosterops pallidus 2; Bokmakierie Telophorus zeylonus 3; Pied Crow Corvus albus 20+; Common Starling Sturnus vulgaris 100+; African Pied Starling Spreo bicolor c)20; Cape Sparrow Passer melanurus 50+; Cape Weaver Ploceus capensi 20+; Yellow Bishop Euplectes capensis 1; Yellow Canary Serinus flaviventris 20+; Brimstone Canary Serinus sulphuratus 4; White-throated Canary Serinus albogularis 2

All photos © Charlie Moores