We set out from Hermanus on Wednesday morning, driving all the way into a strong headwind. Things were no better when we arrived a the west coast and our first stop at Yzerfontein was something of a disaster. We had hoped to see waders on the beaches, but the dead plankton in the water rendered the entire beach a no-go zone and what with the wind and very rough water, we saw nothing. Our lunch at a local eatery did not have much to recommend it, so it was something of a wasted stop!
We were delighted with our cottage at Abrahamskraal in the West Coast National Park. It is isolated and has good access to the Abrahamskraal Bird Hide with it’s ponds and birds. We spent a great deal of time there – always on our own and had many interesting sightings. Our first night was livened up when we realised that we were sharing our cottage with two Barn Owls and their screeches soon had us locating them by torchlight!
The park itself was looking good with plenty of summer flowers, mainly “strandrose” and some vygies. There were many Black Harriers and Yellow-billed kites throughout the day, and we were pleased to see quite a few Grey-winged Francolins. We were a bit disappointed in the lack of upkeep at the two hides at Geelbek, but we did see a few interesting waders along the open boardwalks.
We visited the Seeberg Hide on Wednesday evening and were disappointed to see nothing, however, a visit on Thursday morning, which coincided with the incoming tide, was another matter altogether. There were very many waders and we were delighted to record some which we hadn’t seen for some time. These included, Eurasian Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Terek Sandpipers and many more.
A second visit before we left was not too good as the tide was at its lowest and the waders were very far away. Likewise, a visit to the beach section did not provide much. All in all, however, it was a good trip with a total bird count of 106 species, and I was able to add a number of birds to my challenge list.
roncorylus 