On May 16th (after visiting both Marievale and Suikerbosrand on the 15th) I spent the morning driving up and back down the Zaagkiuldrift gravel road to Kgomo-kgomo - a lightly-used, exotically-named dirt road that cuts between privately-owned farms and game reserves in excellent thornveld to the north of Pretoria. The road more or less follows the Pienaars River, and an additional attraction here is the Kgomo-kgomo floodplain which at its most inundated covers about 2700ha, and holds huge numbers of waterbirds: unfortunately - from a birding point of view - most of it can’t be reached, but herons and ducks etc fly over throughout the day and some areas can be seen from the road (species like African Jacana (not normally thought of as a thornveld bird!) and Black Crake are easy enough to see at a marsh that lies to the right of a dip of the road).

I’ve only birded this hot-spot once before (back in October 2006) after reading about it in Southern African Birdfinder , the essential guide to birding in South Africa which provided a mouthwatering list that I couldn’t wait to get to grips with. On that October trip I spent the entire day from dawn to dusk in the area, driving the 20km to Kgomo-kgomo (a small village built on a floodplain) at first light, birding the acacia and open areas around the village during the day, and driving slowly back in the late afternoon. There were birds everywhere, and I saw a whole host of species I’d not seen for many years (principally because I’d usually stayed in the grasslands of the highveld which has a completely different avifauna). On this occasion I gave myself just half a day so that I could get back to the hotel and grab some rest before the flight home to the UK in the evening (a bit of a wimp-out, but I figured that as it’s winter down in South Africa there would be less activity and of course the Palearctic migrants I saw last time would be long gone).

I think I was right. If I had spent more time I may have seen a number of ‘tricky’ species eg Pearl-spotted Owlet and African Barred-warbler which I saw last time, plus perhaps Great Spotted Cuckoo which I learnt breeds here only after I got home (loud cheers drift in from Graham’s house in southern England as he attempts to close the gap in our Year List competition). Perhaps not though. Some birds are presumably seasonal, and I saw no raptors except Black-shouldered Kite (I saw six species in Oct 2006), no sunbirds, and no corvids - and I certainly looked for them. The large flocks of Scaly-feathered Weaver/Finch that I enthused about last visit were gone too: I saw scattered individuals, fortunately, but not around the village where they’d been before. There were far fewer pipits and larks around too, and there was less birdsong of course (this was winter versus spring): one bird that does seem to be a reliable songster, though, is the Rattling Cisticola, a thornveld special that is very common here (though thinking about it, calling it a ’songster’ is perhaps being a little kind, this is no Nightingale!)

Rattling Cisticola Cisticola chinianus

Having said all that it was of course an excellent and enjoyable morning. I quickly saw many of the thornveld specials I’d found before, and though they were perhaps less visible I did get good views of some of them (and good views of Crimson-breasted Shrikes are going to translate into “an enjoyable morning” whatever the time of year). Once again early morning proved a good time to see Francolins along the road, and a clear blue sky proved a beautiful backdrop for both the orange-eyed Cape Glossy Starling and the larger and long-tailed Burchell’s Starling - both of which (amongst others) seem to typically watch the world from atop the telegraph poles and wires that follow the road to Kgomo-kgomo.

Crested Francolin Francolinus sephaena

Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus

Crimson-breasted Shrike Laniarius atrococcineus

Southern Pied-babbler Turdoides bicolor

Burchell’s Starling Lamprotornis australis

Cape Glossy Starling Lamprotornis nitens

The section of Kgomo-kgomo village at the end of the road is little more than a collection of huts and small farmed fields, but from a birding point of view it provides yet another habitat. In front of the village, between the gravel road and the Pienaars River, is a broad open area that is heavily grazed and consequently excellent for birds I rarely see like the lovely Chestnut-backed Finch-lark (I love larks, and I don’t care who knows - there I said it!) and Kittlitz’s Plover which both typically prefer short-grass savanna (in the plover’s case on the fringes of wetlands).

Part of the cropped grassland in front of Kgomo-kgomo

Chestnut-backed Finch-lark Eremopterix leucotis (male, upper, female, lower)

This was also the area where I saw so many Scaly-feathered Finches/Weavers last time, as well as breeding Capped Wheatear and plenty of African Pipits, all of which were greatly reduced in number or missing altogether - though I did manage to find a single Namaqua Dove and a single Red-capped Lark.

Red-capped Lark Calandrella cinerea

A third site worth looking at is the acacias to the right of the main road shown in the photo labelled “Part of the cropped grassland in front of Kgomo-kgomo” above. I’m not sure what the protocol here is (who owns the land, how they feel about birders wandering around it etc), but I on my last visit I turned into a very narrow sandy track opposite the “Trinity Church” (which is on the left as you drive away from Kgomo-kgomo). I again found Sabota Lark Southern Grey-headed Sparrow, Greater Rufous Sparrow and Long-billed Crombec in the trees here (along with a bunch of non-breeding weavers and wydahs). Close by is an excavated pond, which in October was virtually dry, but on this occasion was deeper and more extensive and held good numbers of Three-banded Plover and had Pearl-breasted Swallow flying around its edges.

Interestingly two breeding-plumaged wydahs were here too: the Shaft-tailed Wydah waving its near-naked tail feathers into the breeze, and a chunky-looking Eastern Paradise Whydah, a smallish bird the size of a finch with, in the breeding season, a huge 24cm tail that billows out behind it like a inky dark sail. Both species are brood-parasites of waxbills and pytilias, so while I enjoyed looking at them I’m quite sure that they’re less welcome to the small birds they usurp. Still, I’m equally sure whydahs do less damage than cars and roads, so who am I to comment?

Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regia

Eastern Paradise Whydah Vidua paradisea

By the time I started back towards Johannesburg and the hotel (some 120km away) it was almost midday. I would have loved to have stayed longer, but I must admit the birding yesterday - in fact this year - had taken its toll and I needed to get my head down. If I’d take my time on the drive back I’m sure I’d have found a few more species, but I’m off to Cape Town soon and I’m quite likely to get another trip to Jo’burg later in the year: as ever year-listing is a matter of balancing the twin needs of more birds and more sleep, but in two days I’d seen some wonderful species and added about 90 birds for the year. At some point even I have to say that I’m satisfied, don’t you think…?

Day List (new for the year underlined):
African Darter Anhinga rufa 1; Little Grebe Tachybaptus ruficollis 3; Sacred Ibis Threskiornis aethiopicus 1; Black-headed Heron Ardea melanocephala 3-4; Great Egret Egretta alba 3; Cattle Egret Bubulcus ibis 2; White-faced Whistling-duck Dendrocygna viduata c)40; Black-shouldered Kite Elanus caeruleus 5-6; Crested Francolin Francolinus sephaena 6; Natal Francolin Francolinus natalensis c)4; Swainson’s Spurfowl Francolinus swainsonii 6-8; Black Crake Amaurornis flavirostra 2; African Jacana Actophilornis africanus 2; Blacksmith Plover Vanellus arnmatis 4-5; African Wattled Lapwing Vanellus senegallus 4; Crowned Plover Vanellus coronatus 8-10; Three-banded Plover Charadrius tricollaris 6; Kittlitz’s Plover Charadrius pecuarius 8; Ring-necked/African Collared Dove Streptopelia capicola 20+; Brown-hooded Kingfisher Halcyon albiventris 2; Laughing Dove Streptopelia senegalensis 20+; Namaqua Dove Oena capensis 1; Grey Lourie Corythaixoides concolor 8-10; Marsh Owl Asio capensis 1; Red-billed Hornbill Tockus erythrorhynchus 4-5; Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill Tockus leucomelas 3; Crested Barbet Trachyphonus vaillantii 2; Cardinal Woodpecker Dendropicos fuscescens 1; Sabota Lark Mirafra sabota 3; Red-capped Lark Calandrella cinerea 1; Chestnut-backed Finch-lark Eremopterix leucotis 3; Pearl-breasted Swallow Hirundo dimidiata 2; African Pipit Anthus cinnamomeus 3; Rattling Cisticola Cisticola chinianus 10+; Black-chested Prinia Prinia flavicans 3; Long-billed Crombec Sylvietta rufescens 4; Tit-babbler Parisoma subcaeruleum 2; Marico Flycatcher Bradornis mariquensis 5-6; White-browed Scrub Robin Cercotrichas leucophrys 1; Kalahari Scrub-robin Cercotrichas paena 3-4; Chinspot Batis Batis molitor 2; Southern Pied-babbler Turdoides bicolor 6-8; Long-tailed/Magpie Shrike Corvinella melanoleuca 4; Brown-crowned Tchagra Tchagra australis 2; Crimson-breasted Shrike Laniarius atrococcineus 4; Orange-breasted Bush Shrike Telophorus sulfureopectus 1; Fork-tailed Drongo Dicrurus adsimilis 4; Cape Glossy Starling Lamprotornis nitens 10-12; Burchell’s Starling Lamprotornis australis 6-8; Cape Sparrow Passer melanurus c)10; Greater Rufous Sparrow Passer motitensis 2; Southern Grey-headed Sparrow Passer diffusus 3; Red-billed Buffalo Weaver Bubalornis niger 1; Scaly-feathered Finch Sporopipes squamifrons 10+; White-browed Sparrow-weaver Plocepasser mahali 2; Southern Masked-weaver Ploceus velatus +; Melba Finch Pytilia melba 2; African Firefinch Lagonosticta rubricata 3; Blue Waxbill Uraeginthus angolensis 5-6; Shaft-tailed Whydah Vidua regia 2; Eastern Paradise Whydah Vidua paradisea 2;