South Africa - August 2016 : Part 6

12th August - day 9

As this was our only morning to bird at Blyde River Canyon, we wanted to make the best out of it. This will also be our last morning of proper birding before heading back to Johannesburg. There are in fact quite a lot of good birding sites around Blyde River Canyon, however we didn't have enough time to explore them all, so places like Mount Sheeba and the lower parts of the canyon will have to wait till next time!

We woke up early again to bird around the gardens next to our lodge. One of the first birds we saw were a few confiding Striped Pipits, a very distinctive Pipit species and easily recognizable by their striped underparts and olive coloured primaries. Nearby, a male Mocking Cliff Chat foraged nearby, a species often associated with cliffs as it is with houses, this one however looks to have some kind of infection on it's feet, although it didn't seems to be affecting it too much.

Striped Pipit

Mocking Cliff Chat - male

Captain's foot hadn't improved much over night, he still found it painful to walk, so we didn't walk too far. We walked up a small footpath which led towards the staff quarters, a few Cape White-eyes went past us as we walked up the stone stairs. A fruiting tree at the top of the stairs provided good views of a Black-headed Oriole, having that classic black and yellow "Oriole look". A few Sombre Greenbuls were also present.

Cape White-eye

Black-headed Oriole

Sombre Greenbul

A pair of Black-collared Barbets perched on a flowering coral tree, their red heads really blended into it's surroundings nicely. We noticed a very small bird no bigger then a White-eye, a better look through my binoculars confirmed it to be a Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird. Tinkerbirds or Tinker Barbets as they were called are actually part of the Barbet family only much smaller.

Black-collared Barbet

Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird

We walked back down to our lodge where we found a smart looking bird foraging in the bush nearby in form of a White-throated Robin-Chat! Their greyish cap and back with white wing-bars makes them instantly recognisable. An endemic species to southern Africa, with a distribution range from north eastern South Africa, south east Botswana, south Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

White-throated Robin-Chat

We decided to head out with in the car to a few view points around the resort, Captain suggested that the other guys should come along too. We first visited the lower view point, the view looking towards the Three Rondavels was stunning. On our way back we went past the restaurant and saw a large coral tree outside, a few endemic Greater Double-collared Sunbirds were feeding in the tree, they look similar to the Southern Double-collared Sunbirds but larger and has a broader red breast band.

Lower View Point

Flowering Coral Tree

Greater Double-collared Sunbird

We then headed up towards the upper viewpoint, at the car park we encountered a few Familiar Chats, again very confiding and friendly. Our car arrived first and we noticed Yuen's car didn't follow us up to the car park, when we saw him he showed us a photo of a Trumpeter Hornbill! We have somehow missed the pair of huge hornbills down the road, so we all hurried back to the spot he last saw them, unfortunately we were too late, they had already gone. I played their wailing calls for a few minutes but got no reply. A pair of Cape Rock-Thrush made an appearance back at the view point's car park.

Familiar Chat

Cape Rock-Thrush - male

Cape Rock-Thrush - female

If the view at lower view point was stunning then the upper view point's view of the Three Rondavels was spectacular, easily one of the best views I've ever seen. You get to walk right to the canyon's edge, the sheer cliffs drops off into the deep canyon below really left me speechless and completely in awe. Everyone enjoyed the view immensely and what a perfect location for a proper group photo on our last day!

Upper View Point - over looking the Three Rondavels

Back at the lodge for breakfast, me and Yuen noticed a male Cape Batis nearby at eye-levels, good thing we had our cameras ready. Batises had became one of my trip's favourite, they are not only good looking but also very charismatic little birds. We stopped at the reception to drop off our keys, a Peregrine Falcon decided to drop by before we head out, a very familiar species, Peregrines are no doubt one of the most widespread species of birds in the world, there are 19 accepted subspecies of Peregrines, and those seen in Africa are minor.

Cape Batis - male with the black breast band

Peregrine Falcon - race minor

We headed south towards Lydenburg and stopped at the small town of Dullstroom for lunch. Dullstroom was a pretty little town and is a popular flyfishing destination in South Africa, and indeed the restaurant we went to served some very tasty fresh trouts!

The Rose Cottage at Dullstroom, serves very good food, Fresh Trout recommended!

The rest of our journey back to Johannesburg was pretty smooth, our last stop before heading into Johannesburg was the Alzu Petroport on the N4. This stop-over is famous for having a restroom that overlooks a large game enclosure, so you can enjoy a bit of "nature" when nature calls. The animals however wasn't that appealing to me, having seen all of them at Kruger, these kept in enclosures just wasn't the same. There were how ever a few birds around which did interested me, the commoner birds like Pied Crows and Speckled Pigeons were very conspicuous. A Grey-headed Gull perched on the water's edge at the artificial waterhole inside the enclosure. A few Southern Masked Weavers occasionally perched on the fence, including a transitional male. A single female Southern Red Bishop could've been easily overlooked, as it's presence was completely overwhelmed by the large flocks of Red-billed Queleas that congregated along the water and the feeding station within the enclosure. This species is known to be one of the most numerous birds on earth, with an estimated of over 10 billion individuals, making them one of the main staples for a lot of other birds.

Pied Crow

Speckled Pigeon

Grey-headed Gull

Southern Masked Weaver - a transitional male

Southern Masked Weaver - female

Southern Red Bishop - female

Red-billed Qualea

A few Ostriches got me very excited at first, but only to realised they were all captive individuals within the enclosure. It was quite unfortunate that we did not encounter any wild Ostriches on this trip, only Yuen encountered a female at Kruger (yes he got all the large target birds which got me very jealous), so I guess these are consolation for one of the many dips of our trip! We arrived at the hotel near the airport safely, the hotel room overlooking the hotel's car park gave me a feeling of being back in civilisation, and that was a little saddening.

As the other guys had booked through Ethiopian Air (much cheaper then our tickets), my parents and I departed earlier then they did, we said good-bye to them the next morning and headed to the airport where we took the mid-noon flight back to Hong Kong.

Ostriches...a big dip of the trip

Hotel room at the Peermont D'Oreale Grande

Summary:

More then a week after the trip and it still feels amazing thinking back all the incredible animals and birds we saw, there was always something new around the corner during our visit. South Africa had exceeded every expectations we had, there are all the right elements in South Africa which makes it a must go destination; the views, the people, the fauna, the flora and the food (best barbecued pork chops I've ever had!). We have only sampled some very small parts of what this vast country has to offer, and it's hard not to fall in love with such a beautiful country. We had a few unfortunate moments during our trip, but I think all of those made the experience all that memorable. A big thanks for Captain for initiating this trip and for making it happen, and to everyone else for the great company and making this trip all that more enjoyable despite the many hiccups we encountered. Being the scatterbrain that I am, I left my tripod at Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge...So, all the more reason to return as soon as possible to retrieve it!

Despite missing on a few key species at Kruger, we did quite alright overall, connecting with 33 regional endemics and 15 near endemics, with a total of 240 species combined! I personally have 235 for this trip and 209 lifers! You can find our complete trip list below.

	Species	Location	Area	Status	Remarks	Total	Lifer
1	African Penguin	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT	E	Breeding colony with chicks and juveniles	1	1
2	Shy Albatross	Rooi-Els / Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT		A few observed from shore	1	1
3	Sooty Shearwater	Rooi-Els	CPT		Dark Shearwater species with pale underwing seen from afar, likely to be this species.	1	1
4	Cape Gannet	Rooi-Els / Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT		Observed from afar	1	1
5	Great White Pelican	Rietvlei	CPT		A pair observed from afar	1	1
6	Greater Flamingo	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		Fairly common in larger water bodies	1	1
7	White-breasted Cormorant	Cape Town	CPT		Common	1	1
8	Bank Cormorant	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT	E	Common at breeding colony	1	1
9	Cape Cormorant	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT	NE	Most common of the 3 endemic Cormorants	1	1
10	Crowned Cormorant	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT	E	Least common of the 3 endemic Cormorants	1	1
11	Reed Cormorant	Kruger National Park	KNP		A few observed from afar	1	1
12	African Darter	Rietvlei	CPT		One drying wings	1	1
13	African Spoonbill	Kruger National Park	KNP		Fairly common along large rivers	1	1
14	African Sacred Ibis	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		Fairly common	1
15	Southern Bald Ibis	R532 near Moremela, Blyde River Canyon	BRC	E	One bird observed flying, landed on a small patch of grazing land	1	1
16	Hadeda Ibis	Cape Town / Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG / KNP		Abundant	1	1
17	Glossy Ibis	Lower Sabie	KNP		One observed from afar	1
18	Goliath Heron	Lower Sabie / Olifants	KNP		A few seen near larger rivers	1	1
19	Grey Heron	Cape Town / Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG / KNP		Common	1
20	Purle Heron	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge	KNP		One observed from afar	1
21	Black-headed Heron	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		Fairly common	1	1
22	Great Egret	Kruger National Park	KNP		A few observed at water bodies	1
23	Little Egret	Cape Town / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG		Fairly common	1
24	Western Cattle Egret	Cape Town / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG		Fairly common	1
25	Squacco Heron	Letaba	KNP		One observed from afar	1	1
26	Striated Heron	Lower Sabie	KNP		One observed by Captain
27	Black Stork	Engelharddam	KNP		A few observed	1
28	Woolly-necked Stork	Lower Sabie	KNP		A few observed	1	1
29	Yellow-billed Stork	Lower Sabie / Satara	KNP		Common near large rivers or water bodies	1	1
30	Saddle-billed Stork	Satara / Olifants / Letaba	KNP		A few observed near large rivers	1	1
31	Marabou Stork	Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP		Numerous near large rivers, especially Letaba	1	1
32	African Openbill	Lower Sabie	KNP		A few observed near large rivers	1	1
33	Hamerkop	Cape Town	CPT		One flying bird observed	1	1
34	Little Grebe	Rietvlei	CPT		A few observed in larger ponds	1
35	Spur-winged Goose	Cape Town	CPT		Few pairs seen flying	1	1
36	Egyptian Goose	Cape Town / Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG / KNP		Abundant	1
37	Yellow-billed Duck	Rietvlei	CPT		A few seen	1	1
38	Cape Shoveler	Rietvlei	CPT	NE	A few seen	1	1
39	Southern Pochard	Rietvlei	CPT		Small flock observed	1	1
40	Cape Vulture	J G Strijdomtunnel	BRC	E	One observed soaring	1	1
41	White-backed Vulture	Lower Sabie / Satara	KNP		Most numerous Vulture species	1	1
42	Hooded Vulture	Lower Sabie	KNP		A flock observed	1	1
43	Lappet-faced Vulture	Lower Sabie / Satara	KNP		Fairly common	1	1
44	African Fish Eagle	Lower Sabie / Olifants	KNP		Common near large rivers	1	1
45	Bateleur	Kruger National Park	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
46	Verreaux's Eagle	J G Strijdomtunnel	BRC		A pair observed soaring	1	1
47	Martial Eagle	Letaba	KNP		One being chased by a Lapwing and another spotted during night safari	1	1
48	Tawny Eagle	Crocodile Brideg / Lower Sabie / Letaba / Phalaborwa	KNP		Most common Eagle species	1	1
49	African Hawk Eagle	R532, Blyde River Canyon	BRC		Two individuals observed	1	1
50	Yellow-billed Kite	Wonder View, Blyde River Canyon	BRC		One observed (Yuen & TH)
51	Jackal Buzzard	Enroute	CPT / JBG / BRC		Fairly common roadside raptor	1	1
52	Black-shouldered Kite	Enroute	CPT / JBG		Fairly common roadside raptor	1	1
53	Black Goshawk	Cape Town	CPT		One observed	1	1
54	African Goshawk	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		One observed	1	1
55	African Harrier-Hawk	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		One observed	1	1
56	Peregrine Falcon	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		One observed	1
57	Rock Kestrel	Cape Town	CPT		A few observed on roadside	1	1
58	Common Ostrich	Lower Sabie	KNP		One female observed by Yuen
59	Helmeted Guineafowl	Cape Town / Kruger National Park / Blyde River Canyon	CPT / KNP / BRC		Very common	1	1
60	Cape Spurfowl	Cape Town	CPT	E	Very common	1	1
61	Natal Spurfowl	Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP	NE	Fairly common, especially near Letaba	1	1
62	Swainson's Spurfowl	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common throughout	1	1
63	Crested Francolin	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common throughout	1	1
64	Red-knobbed Coot	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		Fairly common near water bodies	1	1
65	Common Moorhen	Blaauwberg Nature Reserve	CPT		One observed	1
66	Black Crake	Olifants	KNP		One observed	1	1
67	Blue Crane	Cape Town	CPT	E	Total three observed in agricultural land north of Cape Town	1	1
68	Kori Bustard	Satara > Letaba	KNP		Three birds observed feeding together	1	1
69	Red-crested Korhaan	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP	NE	Three birds observed at various locations	1	1
70	Black-winged Stilt	Cape Town	CPT		Fairly common	1
71	African Jacana	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP		Common near water bodies	1	1
72	African Oystercatcher	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT	NE	A few observed	1	1
73	Water Thick-knee	Rietvlei / Lower Sabie / Letaba	CPT / KNP / BRC		Common near water bodies	1	1
74	Collared Pratincole	Letaba	KNP		A flock observed flying near Letaba	1	1
75	Blacksmith Lapwing	Cape Town / Kruger National Park	CPT / KNP		Very common	1	1
76	White-crowned Lapwing	Lower Sabie	KNP		A few observed	1	1
77	Crowned Lapwing	Satara / Letaba	KNP		A few observed	1	1
78	Senagal Lapwing	Satara	KNP		A flock observed on roadside	1	1
79	White-fronted Plover	Dolphin beach	CPT		A pair observed on a pebble beach	1	1
80	Three-banded Plover	Lagoon Beach / Lower Sabie / Letaba	CPT / KNP		Fairly common	1	1
81	Common Greenshank	Kruger National Park	KNP		Fairly common	1
82	Wood Sandpiper	Kruger National Park	KNP		Fairly common	1
83	Subantarctic Skua	Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT		A few observed	1	1
84	Kelp Gull	Cape Town	CPT		Common	1	1
85	Hartlaub's Gull	Cape Town	CPT		Very common	1	1
86	Grey-headed Gull	Johannesburg	JBG		Very common	1	1
87	Swift Tern (Lesser Crested Tern)	Lagoon Beach / Stony's Point Penguin Nature Reserve	CPT		Fairly common	1
88	Common Tern	Dolphin beach	CPT		One observed	1
89	Whiskered Tern	Lower Sabie	KNP		One observed on the Sabie	1
90	Speckled Pigeon	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / KNP		Very common	1	1
91	African Olive (Rameron) Pigeon	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden / Aero Guest Lodge Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		A few observed at Kirstenbosch, one at Aero Guest Lodge early morning	1	1
92	Rock Dove	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / JBG		Very common	1
93	Lemon (Cinnamon) Dove	Lower View Point, Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	BRC		Single bird observed in the undergrowth beside trail	1	1
94	African Mourning Dove	Tshokwane Picnic Site	KNP		Locally common	1	1
95	Red-eyed Dove	Cape Town	CPT		Very common	1	1
96	Cape Turtle Dove	Cape Town / Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG / KNP		Abundant	1	1
97	Laughing Dove	Cape Town / Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	CPT / JBG / KNP		Very common	1	1
98	African Green Pigeon	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba	KNP		Locally common	1	1
99	Emerald-spotted Wood Dove	Lower Sabite / Satara	KNP		A few observed	1	1
100	Brown-headed Parrot	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		One observed near Crocodile Bridge Gate	1	1
101	Grey Go-away-bird	Johannesburg / Kruger National Park	JBG / KNP		Very common	1	1
102	Burchell's Coucal	Letaba	KNP	NE	One observed	1	1
103	African Scops Owl	Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common within Satara Rest Camp, one seen well	1	1
104	Verreaux's (Giant) Eagle Owl	Satara	KNP		One observed roosting on roadside tree	1	1
105	Spotted Eagle Owl	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		Resident pair observed	1	1
106	Fiery-necked Nightjar	Letaba	KNP		Heard and later seen on night safari	1	1
107	Little Swift	Kruger National Park	KNP		Fairly common	1	1
108	African Palm Swift	Kruger National Park	KNP		Very common	1	1
109	Speckled Mousebird	Rooi-Els / Aero Guest Lodge / Letaba	CPT / JBG / KNP		Very common	1	1
110	White-backed Mousebird	Blaauwberg Nature Reserve	CPT	E	A flock observed	1	1
111	Red-faced Mousebird	Blaauwberg Nature Reserve	CPT		A flock observed	1	1
112	Pied Kingfisher	Lagoon Beach / Letaba / Olifants	CPT / KNP		A few observed	1
113	Brown-hooded Kingfisher	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba / Phalaborwa	KNP		Fairly common forest Kingfisher	1	1
114	White-fronted Bee-eater	Olifants	KNP		A few observed near large rivers	1	1
115	Little Bee-eater	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba	KNP		Singles observed	1	1
116	Lilac-breasted Roller	Kruger National Park	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
117	Purple Roller	Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common	1	1
118	Southern Ground Hornbill	Satara	KNP		Flock of 6 seen by Captain and Yuen
119	Trumpeter Hornbill	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		One seen by Yuen near upper viewpoint
120	African Grey Hornbill	Satara	KNP		A few observed at Satara early morning	1	1
121	Southern Yellow-billed Hornbill	Kruger National Park	KNP	NE	Common throughout Kruger	1	1
122	Southern Red-billed Hornbill	Kruger National Park	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
123	Green (Red-billed) Wood-Hoopoe	Satara	KNP		A flock at Satara	1	1
124	Common Scimitarbill	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		Single bird observed at Crocodile Bridge feeding on aloe flowers	1	1
125	African Hoopoe	Aero Guest Lodge / Satara / Letaba	JBG / KNP		Singles observed at various locations	1	1
126	Black-collared Barbet	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Lower Sabie / Forever Resort Blyde Canyon	KNP / BRC		Singles or pairs observed at various locations	1	1
127	Crested Barbet	Aero Guest Lodge / Satara / Letaba	JBG / KNP		Most common Barbet species	1	1
128	Yellow-fronted Tinkerbird	Forever Resort Blyde Canyon	BRC		Single bird observed	1	1
129	Golden-tailed Woodpecker	Satara	KNP		Pair observed at camp site early morning	1	1
130	Bearded Woodpecker	Satara	KNP		Pair observed at camp site early morning	1	1
131	Cardinal Woodpecker	Satara / Phalaborwa	KNP		Pair observed at camp site early morning, a single female observed near Phalaborwa	1	1
132	Red-capped Lark	Cape Town	CPT		Near Blue Crane site	1	1
133	Large-billed Lark	Cape Town	CPT	E	Near Blue Crane site	1	1
134	Sabota Lark	Satara / Letaba	KNP	NE	Fairly common within Kruger	1	1
135	Wire-tailed Swallow	Letaba	KNP		A few observed	1	1
136	Lesser Striped Swallow	Letaba	KNP		A few observed	1	1
137	Greater Striped Swallow	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		A few observed	1	1
138	Red-breasted Swallow	Lower Sabie	KNP		A pair observed on road side	1	1
139	Brown-throated Martin	Blaauwberg Nature Reserve	CPT		A few observed	1	1
140	Rock Martin	OR Tambo Airport / Satara / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	JBG / KNP / BRC		Fairly common	1	1
141	Fork-tailed Drongo	R44 / Crocodile Bridge Gate / Satara / Letaba	CPT / KNP		Very common	1	1
142	Black-headed Oriole	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	KNP / BRC		Singles observed at various locations	1	1
143	White-necked Raven	R44 / God's Window / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	CPT / BRC		Fairly common near rocky cliffs	1	1
144	Pied Crow	Cape Town / Johannesburg	CPT / BRC		Most common crow	1	1
145	Southern Black Tit	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common amongst mixed feeding flocks	1	1
146	Arrow-marked Babbler	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common throughout Kruger	1	1
147	Cape Bulbul	Cape Town	CPT	E	Common garden bird in Cape Town	1	1
148	Dark-capped Bulbul	Aero Guest Lodge / Kruger / Blyde River Canyon	JBG / KNP / BRC		Common garden bird	1	1
149	Sombre Greenbul	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Crocodile Bridge Gate / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	CPT / KNP / BRC		Fairly common in well wooded areas	1	1
150	Olive Thrush	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		A few observed	1	1
151	Karoo Thrush	Aero Guest Lodge	JBG	E	Very common at the lodge	1	1
152	Kurrichane Thrush	Letaba / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	KNP / BRC		Fairly common	1	1
153	Groundscraper Thrush	Letaba	KNP		Single bird observed singing late afternoon	1	1
154	Cape Rock Thrush	Rooi-Els / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	CPT / BRC	E	Fairly common	1	1
155	Cape Rockjumper	Rooi-Els	CPT	E	Three birds observed, nesting confirmed with a young male helping with rearing chicks	1	1
156	Mocking Cliff Chat	Forever Resort Blyde Canyon	BRC		A few observed around the resort	1	1
157	Familiar Chat	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Forever Resort Blyde River Canyon	CPT / BRC		Fairly common in suitable habitat	1	1
158	Capped Wheatear	Cape Town / Satara / Azlu Petroport	CPT / KNP / JBG		A few observed	1	1
159	African Stonechat	R532 / R36	BRC		Fairly common on roadside	1	1
160	Karoo Scrub Robin	Lagoon Beach / Blaauwberg Nature Reserve	CPT	E	A few observed at coastal fynbos	1	1
161	Red-capped Robin-Chat	Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP		Singles observed	1	1
162	Cape Robin-Chat	Blauuwberg Nature Reserve / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Aero Guest Lodge / God's Window	CPT / JBG / BRC		Fairly common	1	1
163	White-throated Robin-Chat	Lower Sabie / Olifants	KNP	E	Singles observed	1	1
164	White-browed Robin-Chat	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		A pair outside lodge garden	1	1
165	Cape Grassbird	Rooi-Els	CPT	E	Single bird observed	1	1
166	Victorin's Warbler	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden	CPT	E	A few heard and one seen well	1	1
167	Long-billed Crombec	Satara / Letaba / Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	KNP / BRC		Common in mixed feeding flocks	1	1
168	Green-capped Eremomela	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		A single bird observed	1
169	Chestnit-vented Tit-Babbler	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve	CPT	NE	A single bird observed	1	1
170	Rattling Cisticola	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common within Kruger	1	1
171	Levaillant's Cisticola	Rietvlei / Blauwwberg Nature Reserve	CPT		Fairly common at Cape	1	1
172	Grey-backed Cisticola	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve	CPT	NE	A single bird observed	1	1
173	Tawny-flanked Prinia	Lower Sabie / Letaba / Phalaborwa	KNP		Fairly common within Kurger	1	1
174	Karoo Prinia	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Common in gardens and fynbos	1	1
175	Bar-throated Apalis	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / God's Window	CPT / BRC		Pale morph at Harold Porter	1	1
176	Yellow-breasted Apalis	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba	KNP		A few observed	1	1
177	Fiscal Flycatcher	Rooi-Els / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Singles observed	1	1
178	Southern Black Flycatcher	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		A few observed	1	1
179	African Dusky Flycatcher	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden / Lower Sabie / Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	CPT / KNP / BRC		Most common Flycatcher speices	1	1
180	Ashy Flycatcher	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		Single bird observed outside lodge	1	1
181	Grey Tit-Flycatcher	Satara	KNP		A few in mixed feeding flocks	1	1
182	Cape Batis	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Kirtenbosch Botanical Garden / Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	CPT / BRC	E	Fairly common in wooded areas	1	1
183	Chinspot Batis	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common in mixed feeding flocks	1	1
184	Cape White-eye	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Aero Guest Lodge / Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	CPT / JBG / KNP / BRC	E	Cape subspecies capensis and virens for eastern form	1	1
185	Cape Wagtail	O R Tambo Airport / Cape Town / Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	JBG / CPT / BRC		Common throughout	1	1
186	African Pied Wagtail	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
187	Cape Longclaw	Rietvlei	CPT	E	A few observed	1	1
188	African Pipit	Cape Town / Kruger National Park	CPT / KNP		Most common Pipit species	1	1
189	Plain-backed Pipit	Cape Town International Airport	CPT		Single bird observed	1	1
190	Striped Pipit	Blyde River Canyon Forever Resort	BRC		A few observed near lodge	1	1
191	Magpie Shrike	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
192	Southern White-crowned Shirke	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Lower Sabie	KNP	NE	Fairly common to Lower Sabie	1	1
193	Common Fiscal	Cape Town / N12 / N4	CPT / JBG		Very common roadside bird	1	1
194	White-crested Helmetshrike	Letaba > Phalaborwa	KNP		A flock observed enroute to Phalaborwa	1	1
195	Black-backed Puffback	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Common in mixed feeding flocks	1	1
196	Southern Boubou	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden / Olifants / Blyde River Canyon	CPT / KNP / BRC	E	Fairly common in well wooded areas	1	1
197	Brown-crowned Tchagra	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Letaba	KNP		One observed at Crocodile Bridge and another at Letaba	1	1
198	Black-cronwed Tchagra	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		One observed near Crocodile Bridge Gate	1	1
199	Orange-breasted Bushshrike	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Lower Sabie / Satara	KNP		A few observed, mainly within mixed feeding flocks	1	1
200	Grey-headed Bushshrike	Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP		One at Lower Sabie and another at Letaba	1	1
201	Olive Bushshrike	Lower Sabie	KNP	NE	One female at Lower Sabie	1	1
202	Cape Glossy Starling	Satara / Tshokwane Picnic Site	KNP		Not as common as Greater Blue-eared Starling	1	1
203	Greater Blue-eared Starling	Lower Sabie / Letaba / Satara / Tshokwane Picnic Site	KNP		Very common throughout Kruger	1	1
204	Burchell's Starling	Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP	NE	Common throughout Kurger	1	1
205	Pied Starling	N12	JBG	E	A few seen at a petrol station on N12	1	1
206	Red-winged Starling	Betty's Bay / Olifants / Blyde River Canyon	CPT / KNP / BRC		Common in suitable habitat	1	1
207	Common Myna	Aero Guest Lodge / Phalaborwa	JBG / KNP		Common in more urban areas or settlements	1
208	Common Starling	Cape Town	CPT		Very common in Cape Town	1
209	Red-billed Oxpecker	Kruger National Park	KNP		Common throughout Kruger	1	1
210	Cape Sugarbird	Rooi-Els / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Common in gardens with proteas	1	1
211	Malachite Sunbid	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		A few observed at Kirstenbosch	1	1
212	Orange-breasted Sunbird	Rooi-Els / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Fairly common in coastal fynbos and gardens	1	1
213	Scarlet-chested Sunbird	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		Fairly common at flowering aloes	1	1
214	Amethyst (Black) Sunbird	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden / Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge	CPT / KNP		Singles observed at both locations	1	1
215	Greater Double-collared Sunbird	Forever Resort Blyde Canyon	BRC	E	Common in resort gardens, visiting flowering coral trees	1	1
216	Southern Doubel-collared Sunbird	Rooi-Els / Harold Porter National Botanical Garden / Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Very common in coastal fynbos and gardens	1	1
217	Collared Sunbird	Olifants	KNP		A few seen at flowering aloes	1	1
218	White-bellied Sunbird	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common throughout Kruger	1	1
219	Cape Sparrow	Lagoon Beach / Aero Guest Lodge	CPT / JBG	NE	Fairly common in gardens	1	1
220	House Sparrow	Urban areas	CPT / JBG / KNP / BRC		Very common in urban areas including gardens	1
221	Southern Grey-headed Sparrow	Crocodile Bridge Gate / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Common at rest camps	1	1
222	Red-billed Buffalo Weaver	Satara	KNP		A few observed at Satara	1	1
223	Thick-billed Weaver	Aero Guest Lodge	JBG		Single female observed at lodge garden	1	1
224	Cape Weaver	Cape Town / Crocodile Bridge Gate / Forever Resort Blyde Canyon	CPT / KNP / BRC	E	Fairly common	1	1
225	Southern Masked Weaver	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve / Aero Guest Lodge / Azlu Petroport / Satara	CPT / JBG / KNP		Very common	1	1
226	Spectacled Weaver	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Lower Sabie / Letaba	KNP		Fairly common	1	1
227	Red-billed Quelea	Azlu Petroport	JBG		A flock seen there	1	1
228	Southern Red Bishop	Cape Town / Azlu Petroport	CPT / JBG		Common at Cape Town and a single female seen at Azlu Petroport	1	1
229	Yellow Bishop	Cape Town	CPT		A few seen around Cape Town, a single male assuming breeding plumage	1	1
230	Bronze Mannikin	Phalaborwa	KNP		A flock seen outside of Kruger at Phalaborwa gate	1	1
231	Blue Waxbill	Crocodile Bridge Gate	KNP		A flock seen feeding next to roads near Crocodile Bridge Gate	1	1
232	Red-billed Firefinch	Letaba	KNP		A few seen at Letaba	1	1
233	Swee Waxbill	Harold Porter National Botanical Garden	CPT	E	A small flock outside the botanical garden	1	1
234	Brimstone Canary	Rooi-Els / Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		A few singles around Cape Town	1	1
235	Yellow-fronted Canary	Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge / Lower Sabie / Satara / Letaba	KNP		Common around rest camps	1
236	Cape Canary	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve / Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT	E	Pairs observed	1	1
237	Yellow Canary	Blauwwberg Nature Reserve	CPT	NE	A single bird flew over	1	1
238	Forest Canary	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT	E	heard only	1	1
239	Cape Siskin	Rooi-Els	CPT	E	A pair observed at Rooi-Els	1	1
240	Common Chaffinch	Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden	CPT		A few heard and one seen	1
						MK Total:	MK Lifers:	Endemics:	Near Endemics:
						235	209	33	15

Useful information:

Cape Town Accommodation -

- Icon Hotel Cape Town : https://www.homefromhome.co.za/apartments/icon/

Cape Town Birding -

- Brians Birding Tours : http://brians-birding.co.za/

Johannesburg Accommodation - 

- Aero Guest Lodge : http://www.aeroguestlodge.co.za/

- Peermont D'Oreale Grande At Emperors Palace : http://www.peermont.com/hotels/gauteng/peermont-doreale-grande-emperors-palace

Kruger National Park Accommodation -

- Crocodile Bridge Safari Lodge : http://crocbridge.co.za/

- For Rest Camps booking, please refer to the Kruger official website : http://www.krugerpark.co.za/

Blyde River Canyon Accommodation -

- Blyde Canyon, a Forever Resort : http://www.foreverblydecanyon.co.za/

Car Rental - Hertz South Africa (NOT RECOMMENDED, overbooking of vehicles is unacceptable in any circumstances!)

Field Guides -

- Sasol eBirds of South Africa : available on Appstore