SA Rare Bird News Report - 29 May 2025
Trevor Hardaker
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
S O U T H E R N A F R I C A N R A R E B I R D N E W S R E P O R T | |||||||||
|
|
| |||||||
This is the Southern African Rare Bird News Report issued at 18h00 on Thursday, 29 May 2025.
Information has been gleaned from various websites, email groups as well as from individual observers who have passed on their sightings. This report cannot be taken as being totally comprehensive as it is based only on information made available at the time of writing. All bird sightings reported here are reported in good faith based on information as provided by the observers. Any inaccuracies are totally unintentional and the writer cannot be held liable for these.
None of the records included in this report have undergone any adjudication process with any of the subregion’s Rarities Committees, so inclusion in this report does not constitute any official confirmation of the particular record. Observers are still encouraged to make the necessary submissions accordingly.
For those who may have only joined the group recently and are interested in finding out what has been seen in the past, previous reports can be viewed at https://groups.google.com/g/sa-rarebirdnews |
| SARBN is proud to be associated with the following brands: | |||||||
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
|
|
| |||||||
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
PLEASE CONSIDER FOLLOWING ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKED ICONS BELOW: | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
|
|
| ||||||
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Starting in the Western Cape, an exhausted BLUE PETREL was found at Bayview Beach in Mossel Bay yesterday and taken into care, but sadly subsequently died. Elsewhere, there were still at least 5 ROSEATE TERNS at the Klein Brak River estuary yesterday while at least another 5 individuals were seen at the mouth of the Goukamma River on Tuesday. The locally popular AFRICAN CRAKE remained on in Nature’s Valley at -33.977, 23.563 on Tuesday morning, but there was a rather surprizing twist in the tale slightly later in the day when it was taken out by a Sparrowhawk right in front of the gathered twitchers! | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Blue Petrel found at Bayview Beach © Frans de Graaff | Roseate Tern at the Klein Brak River estuary © Estelle Smalberger | ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Into the Northern Cape where a female BLACK CUCKOOSHRIKE was found at Khoisan Karoo Conservancy near Hanover on Tuesday.
In Kwazulu Natal, AFRICAN CRAKES were reported along the L79 road south-east of Mtubatuba this morning and at mFulaWozi Wilderness Biyela Lodge on Tuesday while a VERREAUX’S EAGLE OWL was seen in a private garden in Everton, near Kloof, on Monday evening. | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Black Cuckooshrike at Khoisan Karoo Conservancy © Estelle Joubert | Verreaux’s Eagle Owl in Everton © Wendy Lewis | ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Over in Mpumalanga, a male YELLOW-THROATED SANDGROUSE was seen again at Nsemani Dam in the Kruger National Park on Tuesday, surely the same individual that was seen there on 16 April which has just remained in the area undetected since then.
Up in Limpopo, the RUFOUS-BELLIED HERON was still at Vogelfontein at -24.618, 28.691 yesterday while the Kruger National Park delivered 5 GREAT WHITE PELICANS flying over Punda Maria on Tuesday afternoon and a LESSER FLAMINGO at Rooibosrand Dam close to Bateleur Bushveld Camp on Monday.
And finally, in Mozambique, 3 EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHERS were found at Costa do Sol in Maputo at -25.918, 32.653 yesterday and were still there earlier today. | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Yellow-throated Sandgrouse at Nsemani Dam © Nicolette Coetzer | Rufous-bellied Heron at Vogelfontein © Tobie Oosthuizen | ||||||||
|
| ||||||||
| |||||||||
Eurasian Oystercatchers at Costa do Sol © John Mendelsohn | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
Eurasian Oystercatcher at Costa do Sol © Tom Moore | |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
Thank you to all observers who have contributed their records. Please continue to send through any reports of odd birds as well as continued updates on the presence of rarities already previously reported, no matter how mundane you think they may be. Even if you think someone else has probably sent in a report, rather send the report yourself as well. The only way to improve this service and to make it as useful as possible to everyone is if it can be as comprehensive as possible.
Kind regards Trevor | |||||||||
| |||||||||
TREVOR HARDAKER Cape Town, South Africa |
|
|
|
| |||||
| |||||||||
|
| ||||||||
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
