Day: June 2, 2018

May – A Month of Birding. Part 1 – Hermanus to Johannesburg

roncorylus

We set out from Hermanus on Friday 4 May and traveled to one of our favourite stop-overs – Abbotsbury Farm, north of Graaff Reinet, where we were greeted by our host, Graham.  As usual we were well looked after in great comfort.  Our bird watching commenced with a walk around the farm on arrival, and then again next morning before our departure to Bloemfontein.  We stopped at the Gariep Dam and I got a lifer, in the form of a Lesser Black-backed Gull, below the dam wall.

Bloemfontein was not a good stop, since I chose a venue from the internet – and made a mistake!  It did, however, allow us an opportunity to explore the beautiful Bloemfontein Botanical Gardens next morning before our short run to Johannesburg.  The gardens offer some good birding habitats and we spent a couple of hours there.

The trip to Johannesburg was marred by…

View original post 90 more words

May – A month of Birding. Part 7 – Johannesburg to Hermanus

roncorylus

It was strange getting back into our car and driving again, but we hit the road from Jhb on Sunday morning, so were able to travel out with little traffic.  Our destination was Kuilfontein near Colesburg, and we had a comfortable night there.  In the morning we were greeted by the calls of the Blue Korhaan and were delighted to see a pair close by.

We traveled on to Cradock and the Mountain Zebra National Park.  This a beautiful area and the park is well stocked with a good variety of game.  We saw lions, many antelope and buck as well as some good birds.  Regretably, we never saw the elusive Melodious Lark, so that will have to wait for another time!

We drove down the N10 from Cradock to Port Elizabeth and then on to Knysna.  It is a good road and not having been that way previously …

View original post 39 more words