This report was provided by Johan van der Westhuizen.
Thirteen birders left the Onrus OK parking area just before 7 am, in perfect weather conditions, with only a light breeze blowing, destination Rooiels. By the time we reached Betty’s Bay, the wind had picked up significantly. At Rooiels we met four more birders. The were also numerous enthusiastic participants in the Worldwide Bioblitz on the route, photographing every living thing they could find. One of the locals we met on the route predicted that the strong wind would keep the birds grounded and hidden from sight. True to his words, very few birds were seen. Orange-breasted Sunbirds, Familiar Chats, Red-winged Starlings and Cape Bunting showed themselves now and again and the familiar songs of Cape Grassbirds could be heard all around. This at least kept the interest going. Two Verreaux’s Eagles and a Rufous- breasted Sparrowhawk used the wind to glide past. These unexpected sightings are what makes birders come back for more, despite the conditions. A Female Cape Rock Thrush was also seen and photographed by one of the members. We spent three hours in total at the Rooiels site but disappointingly the Rockjumpers and Ground Woodpeckers were not seen or heard by anyone in our group. Coffee and breakfast were on the menu as we arrived back at the vehicles.
The situation was much the same at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens. The group strolled up the path to the waterfall, but very few birds could be seen. Sombre Greenbull were heard, Amethyst Sunbirds, Southern Double-collared Sunbirds and Cape Batis amongst others were added to the sightings list. There were more people than birds in the Gardens and everyone was enjoying the beautiful scenery and just being out in Nature.
A quick visit to Stony Point by a few of the birders produced the ever precent African Penguins with Cape-, White-breasted-, Crowned- and Bank Cormorants thrown into the mix.
The final bird count was very disappointing, with only 48 species logged. This, however did not detract from the enjoyment of birding in these amazing and beautiful locations.The next Birdlife Overberg outing is to the Stanford area on the 23rd of May 2026.