INTRODUCTION

Prior to a field campain (on sunbirds and lizards), I took the chance of adding a short private birding trip. In 2002 we had a great full time birding trip on which we covered a good part of the country, but skipped the Northern Cape for time constraints. On this short road trip I aimed to find some of the remaining species.

Many thanks go out to Chris Lotz (Birding Ecotours) for some advise on my itinerary and details for finding my target species.

ITINERARY

Notes on the schedule: An extra 2 days would have made it possible to include the Kalahari NP. As I still need to go to Namibia, it wasn't a must to visit it during this trip.

Download kml file with all gps coordinates

PRACTICALITIES

Transport

I rented a normal 2WD car with Budget and was very happy with it: it was very cheap and included unlimited mileage. Paved roads were generally in very good condition. Driving on gravel roads was convenient and I never felt I needed a car with higher clearance or 4WD. In the rainy season these gravel roads might become muddy/slippery tough. Distances can be large, so make sure to fill up gas and take plenty of water and food before undertaking long trips along deserted gravel roads.

Accommodation & food

Accommodation was very easy to find, often in a good choice of standards. Both in the Springbok and Stellenbosch area a large part of the guest houses were fully booked, leaving only a few options left. In (SA) spring time it could be wise to book accommodation on beforehand. Restaurants are easily found in every place but can be rather meat orientated in the more isolated areas.


Hotels:

Money

ATM's are widespread and payments can very often be made using credit cards.

For the currency rate read more at the XE Currency Converter site.

Weather

On the Northern Cape trip weather was very enjoyable with clears sunny days, but cooling down to rather chilly nights. Read more at the Weather And Climate site.

Health and safety

No health problems were encountered. Security in the Northern Cape felt relatively fine, but walking around alone at night in the larger cities can be unsecure when outside the center...

Visa

The tourist visa for South Africa can be easily obtained upon arrival at the airport. Read more at the South African Home Affairs website.

Electricity

Most plugs encountered were type M, which require an adapter for the standard European plug. Read more at the Worldstandards website.

VISITED SITES

Below is a list of the sites I birded. The Southern African Birdfinder by Cohen et. al. (2006) is an extraordinary valuable guide for birding in South Africa (and the other countries covered). All information was still relevant and directions given in the book will help you find most of the species. Extra information came from various trip reports on www.cloudbirders.com and observation sites as Observado and eBird.

Goegap Nature Reserve

This reserve is located just about 15 km east of Springbok, the entrance being at (gps). At the time I was there, I was told the gates only open at 8 in the morning. On an afternoon visit I did a loop drive with some stops, especially targetting Cinnamon-breasted Warbler. It didn't produce too many birds, probably because of the very dry situation. A morning visit should be better as well...

Highlights: no real target species

Springbok area

As the Goegap NR only opened at 8, I decided to start my day early monring in the rocky area next to my guest house. At the end of the street, a short fenced off track starts at -29.668342371, 17.8867451694 and goes up to a water reservoir. Apparently, it is allowed to walk in this area. Good numbers of birds were observed and I even decided to skip another visit to Goegoap as my target (the warbler) was seen here.

Highlights: Cinnamon-breasted Warbler (a pair was seen as it recated to playback near a rocky outcrop at -29.66981, 17.88961)

Port Nolloth area

The coastal scrublands near Port Nolloth are for most part owned by diamond companies and therefore difficult to bird. Nevertheless I included this site to search for Barlow's Lark, one the rarer species of the Karoo Lark complex.

Near the town of Porth Nolloth Barlow's Larks do hybridize with Karoo Larks. Therfore I continued north about 40 km and did some roadside stopping and birding on the way back. I never encountered anty problems with the diamond workers, but it still took quite some time and stops to find a pure looking Barlow's amongst the Karoos and presumed hybrids. I had an apparent pure Karoo pair as far as 25 km north of Port Nolloth! Conditions often area windy (like on my visit) or foggy in this area...

Highlights: Barlow's Lark (2 single birds, at -29.045375, 16.816329 and at -29.139354, 16.852626), Karoo Lark (5+), Cape Long-billed Lark (1)

Koa Dunes (Agennys)

The Koa River Valley and the Namies Mountains are located just south of Agennys. Apart from the mountains, canyons, stony plains there are red dunes that is home to the endemic Red Lark.

I birded the well-known site at -29.336945, 18.97323 in a stretch of red dunes. Eventhough all the land is private and fenced off, it is still fairly easy to find the larks. Birds are close to the road and regularly sing atop from a bush or even on the fence itself. Later on I continued towards Pofadder by taking the gravel roads (see next site).

Highlights: Red Lark (5+ 'dune form' birds seen, all in the red dune area)

Agennys-Pofadder loop

When finished the birding at the Koa Dunes, I continued towards Pofadder by taking the gravel backroads. On this loop I mainly scanned for larks, but in the more rocky areas Cinnamon-breasted Warblers should occur. The road itself was in good driving condition for a normal car.

Highlights: Bradfield's Swift (1 flying overhead near the Namies mountains), Stark's Lark (only 1 bird seen after a lot of effort - encountered in/near a mixed species flock at -29.289856, 19.168408)

Pofadder area

Pofadder is a small town with a few options for accommodation and hence is a good base for finding some of the typical Bushmandland species nearby.

I mainly birded along the gravel road south-west towards Namies. Checking some of the water throughs was the most productive birding strategy. Especially the ones at about 4-5 km from Pofadder (-29.163847, 19.369878) are a known site for the range restricted Sclater's Lark.

Highlights: Sclater's Lark (2 birds visited the water throughs, gps see above), Bradfield's Swift (1 near the town)

Onseepkans

From Pofadder it is 50 km north towards the Namibian border. At the border post of Onseepkans (-28.7397761844, 19.3036674681) I birded the riparian vegetation along the Orange River. The officers were very friendly and let me linger around and even walk across the bridge. On the way back I made several road stops to scan for (sparrow)larks, but activity was very low compared to other reports...

Highlights: Black-eared Sparrow-Lark (2 birds in a larger group of Grey-backeds at -29.029578, 19.440724), Rosy-faced Lovebird (10+, easy to find), Orange River White-eye (10+, easy to find)

Kenhardt area

Most of my target species were seen, so I decided to make the full loop via Kenhardt/Brandvlei back to Cape Town. I basically added a stopover in Kenhardt to break the driving distance. Also I was told accommodation would be better than in Brandvlei. I was happy with the hotel but I can't compare. I only birded late evening and early morning.

The main birding areas for me were near the 2 water tanks some 28-29 km south of Kenhardt (-29.555136, 20.985674 en -29.56402, 20.978505). Another brief stop was made at the Knapzak tanks (-29.610692, 20.941047).

Highlights: Sclater's Lark (10+ birds came to drink at both water throughs),

Brandvlei area

One morning I birded the dirt road to Vanwyksvlei. After about 20 km there are water tanks (-30.379907, 20.618685). I was extremely lucky to find my main target species calling and flying overhead: Bourchell's Courser! I continued birding a bit further and soon found some Red Larks in the area.

As bird activity in all Northern areas was so low (due to the draught?), I decided to make use of the fact I cleaned up on my targets and drove all the way to Clanwilliam for an extra day general birding in the Western Cape. Bird activity was indeed much higher in the following areas...

Highlights: Red Lark (3 'plain form' birds near -30.379001, 20.630013), Burchell's Courser (1 flying overhead near the water holes)

Nieuwoudtville area

On the way from Brandvlei to Clanwilliam, I made I short stop along the road as I spotted a Bustard. It turned out to be a group of no less than 17 Ludwig's Bustards and 8 Blue Cranes that were foraging in the flowering fields that make part of the Nieuwoudtville Nature Reserve.

Highlights: Ludwig's Bustard (17 birds all feeding on the same field at -31.397335, 19.200994 )

Kransvleipoort (Clanwilliam)

As I had a stop over in Clanwilliam on the way back to Cape Town, I did a bit of birding at this site in the late afternoon. Just a few kilometers south of Clanwilliam there is a gravel road (-32.2253818839, 18.8513339006) going westwards and signposted 'Paleisheuwel'. After about 2km climbing, there area some outcrops with some scrubby vegetation where you can bird along the road.

Highlights: Protea Canary (2 birds at -32.242274, 18.83948)

Verlorenvlei (Elandsbaai)

On my way to Cape Town, I included the next birding sites. First I went to the Verlorenvlei for general birding and tryring to find a flufftail. Unfortunately water level in the entire West Coast as exteremely low. To have a good view on the central part (the only water at this time), I enetered the Vensterklip propierty (-32.317344,18.395281) and asked permission to visit their bird hide. The stafff was friendly and kindly let me walk on their premisses, but it utrned out thet the itself was burnt down...

Highlights: only regular bird species encountered

Velddrif area

Next quick stop en route were the saltpans near the town of Velddrif. Scanning from the roadside (-32.791486,18.169016) with a telescope quickly produced views of both Chestnut-banded and White-fronted Plovers and some more common wader species.

Highlights: Chestnut-banded Plover (2)

Grotto Bay Reserve

A small detour to the new (?) reserve near Grotto Bay was added in order to find and sound record Cape Clapper Lark of the apiata subspecies, sometimes regarded as a full species. Along the R27 take the gravel road inland just across the signposted entrance road to Grooto Bay village. After a few hundred meters, they should occur in the area on both sides of the road. I also walked into the resereve along a track that starts at -33.495643,18.344576. Unfortunately larks were not displaying...

Highlights: Cape Clapper Lark (1), Southern Black Korhaan (2)

West Coast NP

The last area visited en route to Cape Town was the well-known West Coast NP. I entered via the southern entrance road (-33.244098,18.202448) and birded mainly just along this road and the road towards Langebaan. Unfortunately the timing with the tide was bad for the famous Geelbek Bird Hide (-33.190084,18.123827).

Highlights: Black Harrier (5)