SA Rare Bird Report - 18 December 2014

[Allan Ridley]

Hi All

It's been a slightly quiet few days after the birding chaos of the last weekend, but we've still had some nice reports coming through. 

The best sighting of the last little while was a Pied Wheatear which was seen on 1 December in Chobe National Park, and reported through today. It was seen about 1.2km west of Chobe Game Lodge on the track that heads south into the Kalwezi Valley. This is not a commonly recorded bird in our region, so definitely worth looking out for if you're heading into the Chobe region over the Christmas break.

Pied Wheatear © Richard du Toit
​

On the regional rarity front, in Gauteng:

The Slaty Egret was still on show at Walkhaven this morning. The owners of Walkhaven have placed a request on the Wider Gauteng Challenge Facebook group, asking that birders respect the 7:00 to 18:30 operating hours of Walkhaven, because it is their residence and early arrivals cause unnecessary disturbance. Also, take note that there is a R30pp entry fee which is an honesty box system.

​Slaty Egret © Hennie Peters

The only European Honey-Buzzard for this report was seen from the hide at Walter Sisulu Botanical Gardens yesterday.

​European Honey-Buzzard © Shane Wilken

In KZN:

The Abdim's Stork was still on view at Darville Sewerage Works near Pietermaritzburg this morning, near the Duziturf fields. It moves around due to the movement of people through there, but has been quite reliable over the last few days.

Abdim's Stork © Michael Wright
​

In Mpumulanga:

A Black-rumped Buttonquail was heard and seen just near Verena in Mpumulanga on Tuesday. This is known from other areas of Mpumulanga, but it certainly far west of its previously known distribution and follows hot on the heels of the first record found for the Gauteng 100km radius just a few weeks ago.

In the Northern Cape:

Some nice records for the Northern Cape, and specifically the Kgalagadi National Park were found during a trip there in early December. The first of these, a Little Bittern seen at Kieliekrankie, and a Greater Painted-Snipe was found at Craig Lockhart waterhole.

    
​Little Bittern © Jenny Andersen                                                        Greater Painted-Snipe © Jenny Andersen

Please continue to send through any reports of national or regional rarities to my email address (allan....@gmail.com) or my cell number (0828428814).

Cheers

Allan