The Kleinmond Coastal Path

We walked the Kleinmond Coastal path this morning. It was quite sad to see how it has degenerated from a well used and maintained path to something of an overgrown narrow track in parts. The masses of flowering Pelargoniums, however, were a joy to walk through.

There has been much discussion around the mysterious deaths of Cape Fur Seals along the coast in recent weeks. Despite this, or maybe because of it, there was quite a colony of seals lying around on the outlying rocks, along with many Cape and White-breasted Cormorants. In the waters off the small harbour were many boats actively lowering and raising their nets for crayfish, and the harbour itself was packed with the trailers that brought these fishing vessels.

More Migrants

A trip to De Mond this morning was incredibly rewarding. We were not looking for anything but migrant birds, but the birding is so good on the Agulhas Plain that we managed to get 89 species without even trying. Included in this list were 6 more migrant birds for our Challenge list. Fortunately the weather was near perfect for birding, and we were the only visitors at De Mond! Of course, we went there for migrant waders, but were pleasantly surprised to get a Booted Eagle flying over the lagoon whilst being attacked by a Rock Kestrel. We also saw our first Common Buzzards of the season, after having thought we might not see one before the close of the Challenge.

There was plenty of water in pans along the roads and at one we must have seen close to 60 Glossy Ibises, along with many Whiskered Terns. We also saw a Southern Pochard at one dam, so it was an excellent outing!

Chasing Migrants

Yesterday Renee and I went out to try to get a few migrant birds on our Challenge list. We found it was not all that easy! Firstly we went to Rooisand, hoping to pick up the Bar-tailed Godwit spotted recently by John and Sheelagh, but it was nowhere to be seen. We did, however, get a Common Greenshank, a few Common Ringed Plovers and some Barn Swallows. The Pectoral Sandpiper was present somewhere as others there had seen it, but we had no luck. Where the Common Buzzards are this year is anybody’s guess!

From there we traipsed over to Danger Point, where we immediately picked up a Sandwich Tern and some Common Whimbrels, along with more Common Greenshanks. After some considerable searching we also found a pair of Ruddy Turnstones. The rocks close to the road on the way to the lighthouse are always rewarding and we had a good time observing all the seabirds present.

Walking in Fernkloof

Yesterday was a Hurriers walk, but only Renee and I were present. We had a lovely walk up over Kanonkop and then along the Jeep Track until we could see the effects of the recent fire, before returning to the Visitors’ Centre via Adder’s Ladder, a total of 8,5 kms. The weather was perfect for walking and we could have carried on all day, especially as the fynbos was showing off in its usual spectacular fashion!

Back on the Mountain

Having been away for a while, it was good to get back and be able to do some walking. We kicked off with a 12,5 km hike westwards along the contour path and then back along the cliff path. Being November, we were on the look out for Orchids and were pleased to see a few Pterogodium catholicum flowering at the side of the path. We did not see any others, but the mountainside was beautiful, with so many plants flowering profusely, especially the bright, pale yellow Edmondia sesamoides.

The highlight of our walk, however, was seeing a Sentinel Rock Thrush close to the path above the Sports complex.

Addo Elephant Park

We visited Addo briefly many years ago and were somewhat disappointed by the way the dense vegetation impedes one’s view of anything beyond the immediate track or road one is driving on. This time we were happier with the opportunities for birding and game viewing, largely because we stayed at the delightful Nyathi Camp, which lies in the Nyathi Concession to the north of the main area of activity. Only the few Nyathi residents have access to this section of the park, and, whilst the only available road is the one to the camp, it does meander through some riparian forest which is excellent for birding.

Back in the open area to the south of Nyathi Concession we did get excellent viewing of the wonderful elephants for which the area is so well known. I am normally very wary of these large creatures, but they were all quite docile and allowed us to approach without any fear. Of course, one only gets to see them close up at the various water holes, of which Hapoor is undoubtedly the best. During one visit there must have been between 80 and 100 ellies mingling around and bathing in the muddy water! It was a wonderful sight and the highlight of our elephant experiences anywhere.

Back in the Nyathi Concession, we were privileged to identify 100 bird species, of which the Dark-backed Weaver was the highlight, especially since we were not expecting to see them. We also ran into a couple of Black Rhinos along the road, as well as some old bull Buffalo at the dry camp water hole. The camp itself was very well laid out and we had good views over the surrounding area, with occasional ellies, a few zebra and lots of warthogs. Our days were filled with bird song of which the plaintive cry of the Black Cuckoo was the most frequent. Lesser Striped Swallows were everywhere and were building their nests under the eaves of our rondavel. One inadvertently flew in the open door and spent about 18 hours inside before it eventually worked out that the door was wide open and could be used!

The scrub vegetation in the main section of the park was pretty uninteresting, but we were fascinated by the Portulacaria afra (Spekboom) which was very abundant. It was in flower and this brightened up the veld considerably as the flowers are a bright pink and these dominated the otherwise drab surroundings.