SA Rare Bird News Report - 12 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 18h00 on Monday, 12 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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The scarcity records are certainly starting to dry up a little now that many birds have already left to head north on their migration…
EUROPEAN HONEY BUZZARD:
· 2 birds near Macia at -25.06743, 32.96739 (Mozambique) yesterday.
On to the rest of the news and, starting in the Western Cape, there is no doubt that front and centre has been the NODDY that has been present in the Tern roost at Greenways in The Strand and which was still attracting quite a crowd today as it showed off. It also put in a brief appearance at Macassar Sewage Works on Saturday afternoon. For the time being, this bird remains a complete mystery and, the more research that gets done on it, the more we realise just how little we actually know about Noddy identification. The fact that this bird appears to be slightly worn and moulting too doesn’t help matters either. So, while I stated in my post on Saturday that we felt confident that it was not a Lesser Noddy, we have gone backwards now and are no longer confident of that either. Right now, we are confident of absolutely nothing other than that it is definitely a Noddy of some sort…;) We are engaging with several of the world’s foremost seabird identification experts at the moment to try and pin this ID down but there is not even agreement among them at the moment as to what exactly this bird is. We will continue working on it but, for now, we are still no closer to reaching any sort of definitive resolution on this bird. It’s hard to believe, given how many people have seen and photographed this bird, but it just goes to show how tough these things can be! I will keep everyone updated once there is more news to share…
The same Tern roost also provided some other local entertainment with up to 2 LESSER CRESTED TERNS present in the roost over the weekend while another (or one of the same) LESSER CRESTED TERN was also seen at Macassar Sewage Works on Saturday afternoon. Close by, both the AFRICAN PIED WAGTAIL and the SQUACCO HERON were also still at Paardevlei today. There also seems to be a mini-irruption of RED-BILLED QUELEAS happening at the moment with groups reported in a garden in Betty’s Bay on Friday, a garden in Monte Vista yesterday and a garden in Gordon’s Bay today, the latter report concerning around 40 birds! Up on the west coast, the RED-NECKED PHALAROPE and GOLIATH HERON were still at Kliphoek Salt Works in Velddrif on Saturday while the BROWN SNAKE EAGLE was also still on the van der Stel Pass near Bot River yesterday. Over on the Garden Route, 2 CINNAMON-BREASTED BUNTINGS were found in a small graveyard near Wilderness at -33.989, 22.654 on Saturday and were still there yesterday while the popular GREY WAGTAIL continued to entertain twitchers along the Seven Passes Road near Hoekwil until at least Saturday and the 4 AFRICAN PIED WAGTAILS were still around the jetty at the yacht club on the Keurbooms River in Plettenberg Bay on Saturday as well. | |||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Wynand Sauerman | Noddy at The Strand © Nic Proust | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Tristan Silver | Noddy at The Strand © Hernus Langeveldt | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Rob Bowie | Noddy at The Strand © Peter Rosewarne | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Alex Aitkenhead | Noddy at The Strand © Basil Boer | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © David Hall | Noddy at The Strand © David Swanepoel | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Gilbert Reinhardt | Noddy at The Strand © Kevin Shields | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Robert Cooper | Noddy at The Strand © Pamela Cooper | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Cliff Dorse | Noddy at The Strand © Leon Strydom | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © John Graham | |||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Garret Skead | Noddy at The Strand © Michael Mason | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Matthew Prophet | Noddy at The Strand © Decklan Jordaan | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Charles Britz | Noddy at The Strand © Daryl de Beer | ||||||||
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Noddy at The Strand © Wilna Steenkamp | Noddy at Macassar Sewage Works © Richard Crawshaw | ||||||||
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Noddy twitchers at The Strand © Rob Bowie | |||||||||
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Lesser Crested Tern at The Strand © Hernus Langeveldt | Brown Snake Eagle on the van der Stel Pass © Dean Boshoff | ||||||||
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African Pied Wagtail at Paardevlei © Kevin Shields | African Pied Wagtail at Paardevlei © Pamela Cooper | ||||||||
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African Pied Wagtail at Paardevlei © Lester van Groeningen | African Pied Wagtail at Paardevlei © Daryl de Beer | ||||||||
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Red-necked Phalarope at Kliphoek Salt Pans © Otto Scribante | Cinnamon-breasted Bunting near Wilderness © Regard van Dyk | ||||||||
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Grey Wagtail on the Seven Passes Road © Elmarie Brits | Grey Wagtail on the Seven Passes Road © Ian Pletzer | ||||||||
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Grey Wagtail on the Seven Passes Road © Albert McLean | Grey Wagtail on the Seven Passes Road © Garret Skead | ||||||||
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In the Eastern Cape, there was some surprize (and relief for some twitchers) when the SOOTY GULL was found at the Swartkops River mouth yesterday having not being seen at the Sundays River mouth since Wednesday. Elsewhere, other lingerers included at least 4 BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS still in Colchester yesterday, the DWARF BITTERN still at the local dam in Barkly East on Saturday, the BRONZE WINGED COURSER still at Lawrence de Lange Game Reserve, near Queenstown, on Friday night and 3 BRONZE-WINGED COURSERS still at Roode Bloem farm near Graaff-Reinet on Friday night as well.
Moving up the coast into Kwazulu Natal, the popular BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER was still at Mpempe Pan until at least Saturday, a STRIPED CRAKE was still present at Kumahlala hide in Mkuze Game Reserve on Saturday and there were several DWARF BITTERN reports as well with 2 adults and a juvenile seen along the R22 from Hluhluwe to Sodwana Bay at -28.010, 32.301 on Friday and another adult seen at the bird hide at Nibela on Wednesday. | |||||||||
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Sooty Gull at the Swartkops River mouth © Gerrie Horn | Sooty Gull at the Swartkops River mouth © Theunis Botha | ||||||||
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Bronze-winged Courser at Lawrence de Lange Game Reserve © Sabrina Elliott | Bronze-winged Courser at Lawrence de Lange Game Reserve © Barry Kurten | ||||||||
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Bronze-winged Courser on Roode Bloem farm © Leonie Fouche | Bronze-winged Coursers on Roode Bloem farm © Alan Collett | ||||||||
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Dwarf Bittern in Barkly East © Barry Kurten | Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Mpempe Pan © Maans Booysen | ||||||||
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Dwarf Bittern at Nibela © Martin Vleggar | Dwarf Bittern at Nibela © Ethan Vleggar | ||||||||
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Gauteng chimed in with a moulting juvenile STEPPE EAGLE seen at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve yesterday while 2 SWALLOW-TAILED BEE-EATERS were also reported at Rietvlei Nature Reserve on Friday afternoon. | |||||||||
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Steppe Eagle at Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve © Gareth Hazell | Swallow-tailed Bee-eaters at Rietvlei Nature Reserve © Billy Terre Blanche | ||||||||
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Across in Mpumalanga, the LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was still at Leeupan near Leandra yesterday, one GREAT WHITE PELICAN remained on at the farm dam south of Leandra at -26.526, 28.856 yesterday and a STRIPED CRAKE was also reported at Londolozi Game Reserve yesterday.
And finally, in Namibia, a YELLOW-THROATED LEAFLOVE was seen close to Caprivi Houseboat Safari Lodge in Katima Mulilo on Saturday while there were a couple of records of out of range AFRICAN CRAKES as well on Friday with one seen at Keerweder in NamibRand Nature Reserve and another seen at Sandwich Harbour. | |||||||||
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Lesser Black-backed Gull at Leeupan © Niall Perrins | Great White Pelican south of Leandra © Niall Perrins | ||||||||
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Striped Crake at Londolozi Game Reserve © James Tyrell | Yellow-throated Leaflove near Caprivi Houseboat Safari Lodge © Etienne Marais | ||||||||
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African Crake at NamibRand Nature Reserve © Murray Tindall | African Crake at Sandwich Harbour © Africa’s Edge Safaris | ||||||||
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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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