Strandfontein WWTW.

On Tuesday, 4 February 2025, a group of 17 birdwatchers, led by our fearless leader Dennis Laidler, visited Strandfontein Sewage Works (SSW) for a morning of birdwatching. We had two visitors from the UK and two visitors from KZN!

We arrived at 08:30, with mild weather conditions. The temperature was moderate, and the skies were partly clear with minimal winds, creating favourable conditions for our morning of birdwatching.

Armed with binoculars and cameras, our group set off to observe and identify as many bird species as possible whilst appreciating the eco-system of this unique RAMSAR site.

At our first stop, we immediately began spotting a range of birds. Off the bat, we added a number of species to our list. Most of these are common sightings of SSW site, but they were still exciting to observe. Some of the notable species included: Hartlaub’s Gull, Cape Wagtail, Cape Shoveler, Greater & Lesser Flamingos, African Swamphen, Glossy & Sacred Ibis, Pied Avocet, Little Grebe and Cape Teal. Barn Swallows were out in large numbers, flying all around us, feeding on the abundant flying insects in the air.

Our second stop also proved eventful with my first sighting of a Cape Longclaw at SSW! A single Spur-winged Goose was seen waddling through the long grass and a Pin-tailed Whydah was seen fluttering in the wind, trying to impress some females with his elegant dance moves!

Several more birds were spotted, such as the Black-winged Stilt, Kelp Gull, Western Cattle Egret and our first raptor of the day, a Rock Kestrel, who was seen hovering in the open grassland in search of a meal. However, it eventually perched itself on a branch. A single Caspian Tern was seen flying over and it then landed amongst all the gulls; on further inspection a couple of Greater Crested Terns were also sitting amongst them. A Yellow-billed Kite and Jackal Buzzard were added to the tally.

No trip to SSW is complete without the sighting of an Egyptian Goose, Hadeda Ibis and Pied Crow, which we ticked off one after the other!

We set off again and added Grey & Black-headed Herons, Red-capped Lark, Common Ringed Plover and Levaillant’s Cisticola to the list before heading back to the centre of the pans for a bite to eat and something to drink. Whilst sitting and chatting about the day’s events, we added our fourth raptor for the day when we spotted the Black-winged Kite. Also added to the list was a single White-throated Swallow sitting on the wall sunning itself.

This being only my third visit to SSW, it was a very successful outing for me as I added five new birds to my Strandfontein list. A total of 51 birds were seen that morning. Thank you to Dennis and all the other Cape Bird Club participants for making this a productive and enjoyable birdwatching outing!

Photographs by Phillip Green, Penny Dichmont and Taryn Wood.
Report by Taryn Wood.

 

Combined list, compiled by Dennis Laidler and Taryn Wood.
Birds seen on the day:
1 African Sacred Ibis
2 African Swamphen
3 Barn Swallow
4 Bar-throated Apalis
5 Black-headed Heron
6 Blacksmith Lapwing
7 Black-winged Kite
8 Black-winged Stilt
9 Brown-throated Martin
10 Cape Bulbul
11 Cape Longclaw
12 Cape Shoveler
13 Cape Spurfowl
14 Cape Teal
15 Cape Wagtail
16 Caspian Tern
17 Common Moorhen
18 Common Ringed Plover
19 Common Starling
20 Egyptian Goose
21 Fulvous Whistling Duck
22 Glossy Ibis
23 Greater Crested Tern
24 Greater Flamingo
25 Grey Heron
26 Hadada Ibis
27 Hartlaub’s Gull
28 Jackal Buzzard
29 Kelp Gull
30 Lesser Flamingo
31 Lesser Swamp Warbler
32 Levaillant’s Cisticola
33 Little Grebe
34 Little Rush Warbler
35 Pied Avocet
36 Pied Crow
37 Pin-tailed Whydah
38 Red-billed Teal
39 Red-capped Lark
40 Red-eyed Dove
41 Red-knobbed Coot
42 Reed Cormorant
43 Rock Dove
44 Rock Kestrel
45 Spur-winged Goose
46 Three-banded Plover
47 Western Cattle Egret
48 White-breasted Cormorant
49 White-throated Swallow
50 Yellow-billed Duck
51 Yellow-billed Kite