This report was provided by Steve and Lee Peck.
Lee and I decided to have a mini break before the ‘Christmas rush’ engulfed us, so we booked into one of the riverside chalets at Bontebok National Park for a few days. We are no strangers to this local beautiful reserve, and always find the trails and walks relaxing and well maintained.
Our time there coincided with one of the hottest weeks so far, reaching temperatures just shy of 40℃, so birding was really restricted to early morning and late evenings, and the rest done from our chalet deck with a cold beer in hand. Nevertheless, we managed to record over 70 species in the four days we were there and the majority were, in fact, from the chalet.
Birds like Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk, Spotted Eagle Owl, Burchell’s Coucal and Fiery necked Nightjar were seen, the skies were full of Alpine, White-rumped African Black Swifts along with a good smattering of Brown-throated Martins.
In the bushes next to us we picked up Cape Spurfowl, Speckled and Red-faced Mousebirds, Bar-throated Apalis, Acacia Pied Barbet, various sunbirds and I have never encountered as many Neddicky in one area – they were everywhere.
In the skies, both juvenile and adult fish eagles were seen and on all three days we were graced with the presence of a magnificent Osprey.
The long eastern loop road thew up Black Harrier, Cape Longclaw, Cisticola, Karoo Prinia, Common Buzzard, Yellow-billed and Black winged Kites along with Familiar Chat and both Bishops.
But, undoubtedly, the highlight of the trip was a fly by (slowly) by a Jacobin Cuckoo. Unfortunately, my camera was in the chalet but I had my binoculars at the ready.
Birds aside, our chalet was right next door to a mature large yellowwood tree, which not only provided the resident Bontebok shade from the intense heat, but was also home to both male and female Boomslang! Both would venture down the tree and slither across the grass into the bushes, often accompanied by Southern Boubou and Cape Robin-chat just to make sure they got there safely!
Then, just to wrap it all up, we were having a meal outside next to the tree one night and very quietly a Large Spotted Gennet crawled down and said hello…
However, despite the visitors, we had a lovely relaxing time and this park still firmly remains one of our favourites.