Berg-en-Dal is the southernmost camp in the Kruger National Park. Both the region around the camp and the camp itself are excellent for birds, and I’ve seen several species here that I’ve only seen very infrequently in southern Africa as a whole. Of all the camps in Kruger, Berg-en-Dal was the one my family visited most regularly, because of the excellent game-watching opportunities and relative proximity to our home in Pretoria.
Casual strolling around the camp was particularly rewarding because of the good number of species present that are largely restricted to the subtropical eastern low-lying areas of South Africa. The highlight of these was probably an Eastern Nicator, which sang in some thickets next to the car park. This was the only time I had unobstructed views of this phantom, which in this case was not shy at all but hopped around in the thickets, to busy with singing to care about my presence.
The Purple-crested Turaco was also around, and afforded regular views (featured image). In fact, this species is quite common in many camps and parks in eastern South Africa, so much that it has become a rather normal species that I sometimes do not give a second look despite being truly spectacular in colouration, particularly in good light and during flight. Ironically, the comparatively bland Natal Spurfowl is probably the definition of a ubiquitous species in most Kruger camps, but somehow I always enjoyed watching their family groups calmy roamy the campsites, interspersed occasionally when some frantic pecking and scratching of the soil revealed that they had detected something edible underground.
Another great bird was the Bearded Scrub-Robin. I find all the scrub-robins to be very attractive birds, but this species ranks highest in my opinion. The birds were hopping along the ground and sorting meticulously through the leaf litter in the denser areas of the camp.
The habitats outside the camp also always produced great birds, with various goodies ranging from Common Buttonquail and Knob-billed Duck to Yellow-throated Longclaw and Grey Tit-Flycatcher.
Berg-en-dal is also the area where we saw most leopards in Kruger National Park (although I don’t think that this is the best area per se, as we’ve also seen them in many other areas and just happened to visit this part of the park most regularly). One individual had hauled the carcass of a young zebra into a tree just a few hundred metres from the camp entrance, affording unbeatable views as it moved around the recently burned and thus very open area around the tree.
Because we’ve spent so much time here, I’ve had the chance to thoroughly explore Berg-en-Dal’s birdlife. However, even for a one-time, brief visit this area has a lot on offer, both in terms of birds and other animal groups.
Indigobirds are also quite common around this camp.