Wolvenkop

I had the wondeful privilege to once again go on an outing with the members of the Free State Bird Club.  It was a lovely trip to the south of Bloemfontein which produced six wonderful lifers (especially) after the three month drought.

The morning started off being very productive and I finally saw my first ever Lesser Kestrels not even a kilometre from home.

All the members met up at the Tierpoort dam about half an hour's drive from Bloemfontein.  The conditions where a bit chilly as the sun rose over the water to the east.  This caused a bit of problems with trying to identify the backlit waders but none the less we had a great time.

The grasslands soon made up for the "bad" light and produced wonderful sightings of African Pipit, Eastern Clapper, Rufous-naped and Melodious Larks.  At the little koppie to our left we spotted a Steppe Buzzard soaking up the early morning rays and a family of three Blue Korhaan's searching for their breakfast at the base of the hill.

Tierpoort produced a fair number of both Egyptian as well as Spur-winged Geese.  There was a magnitude of Kittlitz and Three-banded plovers with the odd one or two larger waders.  A few surprises we had at the dam came in the form of an African Spoonbill and an African Fish-Eagle!

After a productive stretch of atlasing we headed for the farm on a nice and gentle pace to pick up a couple more birds.  The major highlight of this stretch of road was when we encountered two Ludwig's Bustards!  They flew over the road quite a way in front of us and when they finally landed we got out the scopes and watched these special birds strolling through the veld.

Just before our arrival on the farm we witnessed a very unusual sight.  An Ant-eating Chat was devouring a baby mouse.  After a tremendous struggle it finally managed to swallow it whole!  What makes this so unusual is that in none of my resources does it mention any other food source other than "Ants, Termites and other Insects with the occasional fruit".

At Wolvenkop we enjoyed a spectacular breakfast which was followed up by a visit to the neighbours dam. Here we had hundreds of Egyptian Geese and Yellow-billed Ducks.  The odd one or two Cape Shoveler's and Red-billed Teal put in an appearance.

Waders was also quite numerous with bucket loads of Little Stints, Curlew Sandpipers, Kittlitz and Three-banded Plovers.  A Yellow-billed Egret was joined by a Wood Sandpiper and on the opposite bank a few White-breasted Cormorants and South African Shelduck sat lazing in the sun.

To end of the excitement of the dam, two Alpine Swifts came gliding past and with that we made our way back to Wolvenkop.

Now it was time for special project "find the Grass-Owl"!  Unfortunately we did not succeed and decided to try our luck with the Greater Honeyguide they often find along the river.  Once again we where disappointed, but a leisurely cruise up the river in a small boat made up for it when we came across two African Black Duck!

After the boat trip it was time to head back home after yet another wonderful day out birding!