Outing to Zandvlei Nature Reserve, Park Island.

 

Our annual “Family Walk” on the public holiday took place at a new venue – Marina da Gama. It was well-attended by approximately 35 people. The group did a circular walk around Park Island, which included a path close to the water’s edge and a boardwalk leading to the hide. At the end, members gathered for a picnic in a shady area at the bottom of Park Island Way.

Thank you to Siv for this very enjoyable walk, to Phillip Green who contributed the bird photographs and to Iver Nel for this excellent report.

Report by Penny Dichmont.

 

One thing that I enjoy about the CBC is that the people are very kind and helpful. On today’s outing it was just the same. My first lifer for today’s walk was an African Black Swift. The next was a Little Swift. We started our walk and admired the large flock of aerial feeders. Most of them were Barn Swallows and White-rumped Swifts, but there was a single Alpine Swift amongst them.

Before we started our walk, I also spotted an African Harrier-Hawk flying very high up in the sky, which people enjoyed.

Three Pied Kingfishers were flying and diving into the water.

Suddenly Daniel spotted a RED-BACKED SHRIKE!!! Another lifer ticked off for me and it was a rare one! No-one was expecting that bird to pop up here! Red-backed Shrikes are absent in most of the Western Cape. But things were getting even better: Uncle Siv spotted four Water Thick-knees and, a few minutes later, we also found a juvenile Malachite Kingfisher. Both birds were lifers for me!
Red-backed Shrike

We continued to walk around the island, spotting a Sandwich Tern, Kelp and Hartlaub’s Gulls, Yellow-billed Duck and a Common Moorhen. I met some other junior birders and chatted to them basically for the rest of the outing. We went into the hide where we saw hundreds of Red-knobbed Coots, a Grey Heron, Great Cormorants (they used to be called White-breasted Cormorants), more Pied Kingfishers and a Reed Cormorant.

We went out of the hide and I spotted Cape Sparrows, an African Darter and another Grey Heron. Suddenly one of the junior birders spotted a Zitting Cisticola, which was another lifer for me!

A male Southern Masked Weaver flying over our heads, Southern Red Bishops clambering around the reeds and a Helmeted Guinea fowl foraging under the bushes were the last birds of the outing. In total I found six lifers! This was a very exciting outing.

Photographs by Pennjulyy Dichmont and Phillip Green.

Report by Iver Nel (9 years).