This trip report was provided by Graeme Hatley.
I regularly try to get some birding in when travelling to East London. Unfortunately I am usually rained out. However, for this trip I made time at the beginning and end of my stay in the hope of getting good weather on at least one day.
My plan was to arrive on Saturday to go birding on Sunday. However, the rain was falling on my arrival and things were not looking good for Sunday. Nonetheless, with the rains came the eruption of termite alates. Birds were lining up in the trees to feast. Trumpeter Hornbills and Black-bellied Starlings were in the tree just outside my accommodation and put on a display chasing down the alates.
The rain continued on Sunday, but I headed out anyway. Close by is a small nature reserve, the Nahoon Estuary Reserve. This is a wonderful forested reserve within the suburbia of Beacon Bay. Ashy Flycatchers were plentiful, as well as a few of the more familiar Dusky Flycatchers. The highlight of the afternoon was a good sighting of a juvenile Crowned Eagle.
At the end of my trip the weather was much improved and I got in a few more hours at the nature reserve. I heard some of the regulars for the area calling from the dense undergrowth: Terrestrial Brownbuls and Green-backed Camaropteras. On my way out I was treated to Grey Sunbirds and Sombre Greenbuls calling from the tree tops. Despite the bleak start, I had a good (albeit brief) period of birding while on the road!