SA Rare Bird News Report - 17 March 2025
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, 17 March 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 |
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Starting in the Western Cape, a SAND MARTIN was seen around the wetland opposite Ou Meul along the R27 at -33.734, 18.455 yesterday while other lingerers included the LESSER YELLOWLEGS still at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park yesterday, 3 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES still at Kliphoek Salt Pans in Velddrif on Saturday and the BLACK TERN still at the Bot River Lagoon on Saturday as well. |
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Lesser Yellowlegs at Geelbek © Ian Farr |
Lesser Yellowlegs at Geelbek © Garret Skead |
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Red-necked Phalarope at Kliphoek Salt Pans © Garret Skead |
Red-necked Phalaropes at Kliphoek Salt Pans © Luke Allen |
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Black Tern at the Bot River Lagoon © Sarel Snyman |
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Into Kwazulu Natal where the locally popular LESSER JACANA was still at the Wattled Crane hide in Karkloof today. Elsewhere, a DWARF BITTERN was seen in Tala Game Reserve at -29.813, 30.537 this morning, a LESSER MOORHEN was reported at Darvill Bird Sanctuary in Pietermaritzburg on Friday, a TIBETAN (LESSER) SAND PLOVER was still at the St Lucia estuary on Friday and a GREY-HEADED KINGFISHER was seen around Sungulwane Dam at Sungulwane Lodge on Friday. |
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Lesser Jacana at the Wattled Crane hide © Paul Bartho |
Grey-headed Kingfisher at Sungulwane Dam © Carl Walker |
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In the Free State, a LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER was reported this afternoon along the R702 south of Bloemfontein at -29.257, 26.315.
Mpumalanga held on to 2 AFRICAN SKIMMERS which were still around the low level bridge at Lower Sabie in the Kruger National Park yesterday while an adult PALM-NUT VULTURE was seen over the Coopersdal road near Komatipoort at -25.506, 31.867 this afternoon.
Up in Limpopo, the big news came with the discovery of Southern Africa’s 33rd GOLDEN PIPIT in Pridelands, just north of Hoedspruit, at -24.318, 30.956 on Friday. This is a private reserve and, as such, no free roaming access is possible, but one can apparently book guided safari trips to go and look for the bird. News only filtered through yesterday about this and several people searched for it today without success though. Elsewhere in the province, a male RED-FOOTED FALCON was seen south of Boyela waterhole in the Kruger National Park at -22.951, 31.288 yesterday and an AFRICAN OPENBILL was found along the Zaagkuildrift road at -25.158, 28.188 on Saturday. |
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Golden Pipit at Pridelands © Simon Westerlund |
Red-footed Falcon south of Boyela waterhole © Don English |
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African Openbill along the Zaagkuildrift road © Trevor Hardaker |
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And finally, in Namibia, the ELEGANT TERN was still in Walvis Bay at - 22.994, 14.408 yesterday while a number of RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were also still present on the southern side of Walvis Bay Salt Pans yesterday as well. |
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Elegant Tern in Walvis Bay © Roger Hogg |
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Red-necked Phalaropes at Walvis Bay Salt Pans © Roger Hogg |
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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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