Trip report: Zoetendal Winery Trail

This report was provided by Steve Peck.

Tucked away in the wetlands between Elim and the Black Oystercatcher restaurant is a delightful winery called Zoetendal. Not only do they have a beautiful stoep overlooking the vines, but the food is delicious and the wine is award winning – reason enough to visit I would say!

They also have a purpose-built hiking trail called the African Marsh Harrier Trail, that meanders from the winery alongside the river and pans. It is an out-and-back trail with the turn around point approximately 2km from the start. It also boasts two dedicated bird hides and a purpose-built viewing platform that looks over the river.

Lee and I walked the trail mid August with a view to check out the type and numbers of birds that could be found there. We were not disappointed as we had close-up encounters with African Swamphen, Spoonbills, Sacred Ibis, Cape Teal, various ducks and geese and, best of all, a great sighting of a Purple Heron.

We were serenaded the whole way by Little Rush Warblers, that seemed to be in every reedbed. Red and Yellow Bishops made an appearance, and we encountered some unknown calls from the reedbeds that despite looking hard we couldn’t find the culprit. Brown-throated Martins and White-throated Swallows hawked the beds looking for insects and on two occasions we spooked African Snipe from the low water  lined grasses.

Nearer the winery we spotted Cape Canary, Fiscal Flycatcher, African Stonechat, Little Egret and Malachite Sunbirds.

All in all, we hiked for about 2hrs and recorded over 40 species, so we were really happy and finished on the winery stoep for a light lunch.  Oh, and a glass or two!