Trip Report: Hottentots Holland Day Trip - 6 April 2006

A 7am start ensured we were at Rooi Els nice and early, and we were rewarded with great views of a 5-strong family group of Cape Rock-jumpers, a single Ground Woodpecker, and interestingly a pair of Long-billed Pipits. The resident Verreauxs' (Black) Eagle pair were actively adding to their eyrie, and Southern double-collared, Orange-breasted and Malachite Sunbirds were particularly active. We also had fleeting glimpses of a male Cape Sugarbird.

Stony Point was particularly good with the usual regiment of African Penguins putting on a fine display, while both Bank and Crowned Cormorants were actively building nests. It was interesting watching the Bank Cormorants, with their white breeding rump patches, disappearing on regular sorties to the ocean floor in search of fresh seaweed, an integral nest component that is bound with guano. A surprise was a lone immature African Marsh Harrier (with distinctive breast band) that put in brief appearance.

Harold Porter Botanical Gardens produced the usual array of garden birds and the highlight was extended views of a bird party mobbing a Boomslang (Tree Snake) in Disa Kloof. Numerous Cape White-eyes, Orange-breasted and Southern Double-collared Sunbirds, Cape Batis, Swee Waxbill, Paradise Flycatcher and Cape Bulbul put in an appearance.

After a quick lunch at “De Nice Deli” in Betty’s Bay we made our way back towards Cape Town for an afternoon of waterbirds at Strandfontein Sewage Works. All the usual suspects were present as well as 6 Hottentot Teal, which was a nice surprise. Before heading home we made a quick stop at Blouvlei Nature Reserve and were very pleased to find a magnificent female Painted Snipe, an apt ending to an excellent days birding!

Trip report by Birding Africa tour leader David Winter.

Many of the birding sites on this trip are described in detail in the Southern African Birdfinder which is widely available in South African bookshops and on the internet. (e.g., www.netbooks.co.za or www.wildsounds.co.uk). However you're always welcome to contact us if you're interested in a guided trip in this area.

Practical tour information:
South Africa: Western Endemics

Please click this link for more detailed information about our upcoming Cape Tours.
Please also visit our tour calendar and description of other South African tours.

Focus	Western South Africa rivals any other place in Africa for the number of endemic bird species and accessibility: over 80% of South Africa's endemics occurs here. This varied scenery with dramatic mountain ranges, the unqiue Cape floral Kingdom and the semi-desert plains of the Karoo also offers mammals, chameleons, geckos, butterflies and interesting plants, to suit both keen birders and nature enthusiasts. We also offer pelagic trips out of Cape Town, to see albatross, shearwaters, petrels, whales and dolphins.
Photography	Many participants on our tours and day trips are amateur wildlife photographers. And when we get excellent views of a bird or mammal, some time is usually spent watching and photographing it. However, this is not a photographic tour and once the majority of the people have felt that they have absorbed the animal or bird to their satisfaction, then we move on in search of the next encounter. Thus, while the photographic opportunities are very good, the group will only occasionally wait for somebody who wants to spend even longer getting better photos.
Fitness	Only a low level of fitness is required.
Timing	Throughout the year.
Climate	Mediterranean climate, which can be warm in summer (October to March) and chilly in winter (June to September), the rainy season.
Comfort	A good standard of accommodation in guest houses, lodges and farm stays.
Transport	We travel by minibus or four wheel drive vehicle.
Group Size	This depends on the specific tour. Please enquire.
Top birds	• Darling area: Cape Clapper Lark, Blue Crane • West Coast National Park: Southern Black Korhaan, Black Harrier, Chestnut-banded Plover • Tanqua Karoo, a semi-desert: Karoo Eremomela, Namaqua Warbler, Fairy Flycatcher, Cinnamon-breasted Warbler, Ludwig’s Bustard, Burchell’s Courser, Black-headed Canary, Layard’s Tit-Babbler, Rufous-eared Warbler, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Karoo Korhaan, Black-eared Sparrowlark • De Hoop and Agulhas Plains: Cape Vulture, Blue Crane, Denham's Bustard, Damara Tern, Knysna Woodpecker, Agulhas Long-billed Lark, Agulhas Clapper Lark, Southern Tchagra • Cape coastal Fynbos and mountains: Cape Rock-jumper, Victorin's Scrub-Warbler, Cape Sugarbird, Orange-breasted Sunbird, Cape Siskin, Ground Woodpecker, Neddicky and Cape Rock-Thrush Click here for more practical tour information and a trip report. Optional extension: Afromontane forest at Grootvaderschbos or Wilderness in the Garden Route. • Grootvaderschbos: Narina Trogon, Forest Canary, African Crowned Eagle, Knysna Woodpecker, Knysna Warbler, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Olive Bush-Shrike • Wilderness National Park, Garden Route: Knysna Turaco, Narina Trogon, African Wood Owl, Green-backed Camaroptera, Green Woodhoopoe, Chorister Robin-Chat
Top mammals	Whales, Dolphins, Cape Grysbok, Chacma Baboon, Caracal, Striped Polecat, Grey Mongoose, Cape Fox, Bat-eared Fox, Porcupine, Cape Mountain Zebra, Bontebok, Eland
Booking	Please contact us if you wish to book a guided or a self-drive tour. You will receive the booking form and conditions and a tour information pack.

About Birding Africa

Birding Africa is a specialist birding tour company customising tours for both world listers and more relaxed holiday birders.  We combine interests in mammals, butterflies, dragonflies, botany and other natural history aspects and will guide you to Africa's and Madagascar's most diverse birding destinations. Our guides' knowledge of African birds and birding areas is our greatest strength and together we have rediscovered species, shared exciting observations with the birding community and had a fun time exploring our home continent.  We've even written two acclaimed guide books on where to find Southern Africa's and Madagascar's best birds. Birding is more than our passion, it's our lifestyle, and we are dedicated to making professional, best value trips filled with endemic species and unique wildlife experiences. Since 1997, we've run bird watching tours in South Africa and further into Africa for individual birders, small birding groups and top international tour companies. We've run Conservation Tours in association with the African Bird Club and work with and consult for a number of other top international tour companies and the BBC Natural History Unit.

For feedback from our guests, please see our Client Comments. Please also browse our Latest News and Trip Reports.