I was recently in the Eastern Cape near the small village of Haga Haga. This is about an hour north-east of East London. The area comprises mostly cattle and game farms, characterized by grassland with occasional areas of thicket. Haga Haga itself is situated on the coast and there is a small-section of coastal forest.
In the evenings I took the opportunity to do some gravel-road birding. There are a number of birds absent from the Overberg that were commonly seen. On the first evening I spent some time observing a Croaking Cisticola as it called from the top of a small shrub. In terms of calling tenacity it was competing with abundant Neddicky. The latter was commonly seen over the two days. Others that called continuously, but generally evaded being observed, were the Black-crowned Tchagra and Green-backed Camaroptera.
During previous visits in the area I’ve often encountered Crowned Cranes. This time I saw a pair with a young chick.
Other highlights included seeing both Cape and Black-bellied Starlings, Crowned Hornbills, Dusky Indigobird and Black-winged Lapwings.
There are many birds that are common to both the Overberg and the Eastern Cape. But a number of grassland and bushveld birds make a trip always worthwhile.