Yesterday only five Hurriers turned out for a 7 km hike along the beautiful Contour Path above Hermanus Heights. The weather was sublime, but, being winter, we walked in the shade for quite a while, causing us to appreciate the sunshine all the more when we moved from the shadow of the mountain. Autumnal Proteas were in flower and we were especially pleased to see many Protea longifolia.
We celebrated our fifty-sixth wedding anniversary on Wednesday by spending a couple of nights at the Dwars Berg Trout Hideaway, in one of their well-appointed Pod Houses. The one we stayed in is called Wallis Simpson, however, we never discovered why. On the way there we stopped at Stetteyn Winery for a snack lunch and some wine. The view from there is spectacular!
We wanted to relax and enjoy the scenery at Dwars Berg, but I also desperately wanted to find a Protea Canary. The terrain was ideal, and we were very impressed with the area, but we never saw a sign of the canary despite all our long searches. We drove up the valley to the Stetteynskloof dam, a very impressive structure, which provides water to Worcester and Rawsonville. The campsites along the river are really beautiful and all very private. What did not impress us was the rampant growth of the very invasive Hakia, which blanketed vast areas of the mountainside.
Our stay was marked by cold weather. On Wednesday morning the temperature was 4 degrees and it was 10 degrees in our bedroom! We visited the Slanghoek area and had a snack lunch and some wine at the beautiful Jason’s Hill winery. Needless to say that night we made a good fire in our indoor braai, where we also cooked our dinner!
On Thursday we returned home, but came via the Koppies road, north of Villiersdorp. We had wonderful birding along this road and managed to add a few species to our Western Cape Challenge, as well as getting our trip list to 90 species – not bad for a winter outing! We were also molested by a large Llama which, fortunately for us, was on the other side of a fence!
The evidence of our latest highwater mark at the lagoon edge and patterns in the weed left behind after the recent emptying are fascinating.
On Wednesday we repeated a walk we did last year, when we hiked the 7 km trail at Almenkerk in the Elgin Valley. We were greeted by the smiling and ever-happy Famous, who was on hand on our return with refreshments. Conditions were perfect and we enjoyed the ups and downs through forests, orchards and vineyards. Some chose to take a short cut to the finish – obviously the promise of a chilled glass of wine was to much for them – others took it easy and enjoyed some of the crisp red apples available along the way!
For the birdwatchers, we saw no less than 5 raptors on the outing, African Fish Eagle, Jackal Buzzard, African Harrier-Hawk, Lanner Falcon and even a Booted Eagle!
We finished off with a good lunch at Cheverell’s, a delightful spot with amazing views over the valley, before returning to Hermanus
Our cruise on the Lady Stanford yesterday can only be described as exceptional. Renee and I joined the regular afternoon outing laid on for guests at Grootbos, with the aim of seeing the recently spotted African Jacana, a rare visitor to the Western Cape.Â
The conditions were unusual as the recent breaching of the Klein river lagoon mouth had led to a sudden huge drop in the water level, with vast areas of previously flooded reeds suddenly exposed and available to the varied waterfowl.
As we set out, we were surprised by the huge numbers of African Darters, and despite our expectation that the numbers would soon diminish, this did not happen. There were hundreds of them and they were enjoying good feeding conditions, judging by the large numbers of catches that we saw.
Little Grebe were everywhere and we have never seen so many. The same could be said for Herons, with large numbers of Grey and Purple Herons in evidence. There were also more Marsh Harriers than we have ever seen, but the most surprising thing was the endless array of African Swamphens! We must have seen at least forty!
A large flock of White-faced Whistling Ducks accompanied us for most of the way and we were treated to them making many fly pasts and hearing them whistling loudly as they went by.Â
There were also African Fish Eagles and we even saw one try to make a catch as we cruised out. Of course there was also a Western Osprey and a Burchell’s Coucal, and on the return we did get to see the rare African Jacana, so we’ll done, Peter, our guide for getting that one as well!
Not seen from the boat, it was good to note that the Flamingos have returned to the lagoon. There will be much work for the next batch of CWAC volunteers.
It was a really good outing and we were very pleased that we made the effort to participate! A total of 49 species was identified, with some of them very useful additions to our Challenge list. What a pity there were not more Hermanus birders there to enjoy the show!
Yesterday we accompanied the Hermanus Bird Club to Somerset Strand in order to visit these two areas that have been set aside for wetland birding.
Sadly the first is very overgrown with reeds, but we still managed to identify a few good species, including Acacia Pied Barbet, Klaas’ Cuckoo, Black Crowned Night-heron. as well as most of the usual Warblers and water fowl.
At Paardevlei, a walk around the lagoon was not as productive as we had anticipated, but both Flamingoes were present as well as a good cross-section of winter waders and ducks. Both Peregrine and Lanner Falcons were seen.
Then came the highlight, when John took us to a street close to the Strand beach where Dusky Sunbird has been reported to be present in a pink Hibiscus over the past month. Lo and Behold; there it was, exactly as predicted! We were thrilled to see this rare Western Cape vagrant!
roncorylus 