This report was provided by Graeme Hatley.
At short notice I had the opportunity to join a short visit into Kruger National Park. We spent only three nights there, staying at Berg-en-Dal Rest Camp. This camp is one I’ve wanted to visit for a long time. The camp itself looks a great spot for birding.
On the first day we headed out for a short driven the Matjulu Loop followed by the Timfenheni Loop. Early out the gates we were fortunate to have a good sighting of a leopard – a great find even if you’re searching for birds! In the dark, drizzly conditions we picked up a number of good birds including Dark Chanting Goshawk, Bearded and White-browed Scrub Robins and Temmink’s Courser. Many other locally common species were seen. At the time of the visit there was also a Capped Wheatear in the area. This common bird for our region is a special find in Kruger.
During the afternoon I started walking through the camp. I only covered a small portion because of the rain, but still got good views of Green-backed Camaroptera, Terrestrial Brownbul, Spectacled Weavers and Violet-backed Starlings to name a few.
On the second day we made our way towards Crocodile Bridge. In my opinion this is a bit of a long drive for birding since it is a bit long and you have to move a bit faster to cover ground. Despite this we saw Gabar Goshawk, Southern White-crowned and Magpie Shrikes. The highlight of the day was encountering the calling African Barred Owlets in evening. At least two were calling on either side of our chalets.
Our last day was a day for raptor viewing as the rain had disappeared and the warmer weather was returning. The highlights included a somewhat startled juvenile African Fish Eagle being mobbed by two angry Blacksmith Lapwings. The eagle finally got the message and moved off from their turf. On the road out we encountered a regal Martial Eagle – a fine way to finish off a brief trip!