SA Rare Bird News Report - 22 April 2021
Trevor Hardaker
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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 | |||||||||
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This is the Southern African Rare Bird News Report issued at 14h00 on Thursday, 22 April 2021.
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 http://groups.google.co.za/group/sa-rarebirdnews |
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I’m sending out the report quite a bit earlier today as I have other commitments later on and won’t be able to send it out then…
Starting in the Western Cape, a small group of 4 RED-BILLED QUELEAS were seen along the coast at Scarborough on Tuesday and a CINNAMON-BREASTED BUNTING was reported near Nantes Dam on Paarl Mountain yesterday while a WESTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL was also noted at the Klein River Lagoon in Hermanus at -34.408, 19.330 late yesterday afternoon. After a long period of no reports, a female AFRICAN FINFOOT was seen again along the Breede River in Robertson near Silverstrand Estate on Sunday (not seen since then despite several birders looking for it) and, over on the Garden Route, there were also some reports of local interest with a CINNAMON-BREASTED BUNTING seen near Hartbeeskuil Dam, inland of Mossel Bay, at -34.097, 21.99 on Tuesday, a GOLIATH HERON seen in front of Placid Waters in Sedgefield on Tuesday and a GOLDEN-BREASTED BUNTING seen at the Garden Route Botanical Gardens in George at -33.943, 22.461 on Tuesday while another GOLDEN-BREASTED BUNTING was still along the Uplands Road near Plettenberg Bay on Tuesday as well. | |||||||||
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African Finfoot in Robertson © Vivienne Newell | Golden-breasted Bunting in Garden Route Botanical Gardens © Etienne de Beer | ||||||||
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In the Northern Cape, an out of range CINNAMON-BREASTED BUNTING was seen about 25km north of Twee Rivieren in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on Monday.
Into the Eastern Cape where the mega SOOTY GULL continues to play with the minds of twitchers. After having not been seen at the Swartkops River mouth since late on Thursday, it was then found at the mouth of the Kabeljous River in Jeffrey’s Bay on Tuesday morning and remained in place for most of the day. Yesterday morning, however, it was nowhere to be found and was missing for the entire day before it was found just before sunset at Paradise Beach at -34.112, 24.877. As yet, there have been no reports of it so far today.
Moving up the coast into Kwazulu Natal, the popular BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER was still at Mpempe Pan yesterday with the added attraction of a juvenile LESSER MOORHEN there as well while a WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD was reported about 1km offshore, and 28km south of Sodwana Bay, flying in a northerly direction on Tuesday morning. Elsewhere, it was all about BRONZE-WINGED COURSERS with a singletone reported near Dalton at -29.332, 30.605 yesterday morning and another 3 individualsseen along the Rhino Ridge Lodge access road in Hluhluwe yesterday afternoon.
And finally, in Namibia, the YELLOW-THROATED LEAFLOVES were back in the gardens of Caprivi Houseboat Safari Lodge in Katima Mulilo yesterday for another visit. | |||||||||
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Cinnamon-breasted Bunting north of Twee Rivieren © Cassie de Bruin | Sooty Gull at the Kabeljous River mouth © Eddie Rudman | ||||||||
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Sooty Gull at the Kabeljous River mouth © Hugh Retief | Sooty Gull at the Kabeljous River mouth © Nik Vounnou | ||||||||
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Sooty Gull at Paradise Beach © Peter de Wet | |||||||||
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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 | |||||||||
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TREVOR HARDAKER Cape Town, South Africa |
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