Outing to Kirstenhof Wetlands Walk.

07 May 2026– Led by Daryl de Beer.

28 CBC members and visitors joined the bird walk on the Kirstenhof Wetland along the Westlake River. For some it was their first visit to this wetland and many were impressed and surprised to find this easy, safe place to walk in the middle of suburbia.

The duck pond produced a Common Moorhen, Red-knobbed Coot and a pair of Yellow-billed Ducks. A Spur-winged Goose and African Darter were amongst different species that gave us a fly-over.

The blooming Bottlebrush trees hosted several Cape White-eyes and Southern Double-collared Sunbirds. Cape and Masked Weavers, Cape Bulbuls and Levaillant’s Cisticolas were seen in the reeds along the river bank.

A White-backed Mousebird was seen “sunning his tummy” and Red-faced Mousebirds was seen and heard at teatime. A Black Sparrowhawk was the only raptor seen.

Photographs by Allen Leslie, Terri Lombard and Lynette de Beer.

Report by Daryl and Lynette de Beer.

 

See below a message from Louise Kinrade and Barry Tranter, representatives from KERA (Kirstenhof and Environs Residents Association) and FKW (Friends of Kirstenhof Wetland).

What a pleasure to again host the CBC for your May 2026 excursion, and on what transpired to be a wonderfully sunny winter morning between the invasion of cold fronts. You timed it well, as the greenbelt has recently been mowed and the annual river clearing program is underway. Sadly, only 31 birds participated in the outing – the others must have taken the day off to organise their lives between the showers!

On behalf of the Friends of Kirstenhof Wetland, we invite you to pop by any time for a walk in nature while keeping an eye on our birds and fauna. We are blessed to have this special space in our ‘backyard’ and love to share it with others.

If we schedule a community bird walk in spring, we will pass the date on to Daryl and Lynette so that interested CBC members can join us.