SA Rare Bird News Report - 27 February 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 Thursday, 27 February 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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PLEASE CONSIDER FOLLOWING ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA BY CLICKING ON THE LINKED ICONS BELOW: |
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Starting in the Western Cape, the biggest, and also most frustrating, news was that of a MACARONI PENGUIN that turned up at Blouberg beach. It was initially reported late on Monday afternoon, but a group of twitchers that rushed down there and tried to co-ordinate a search in the fading light were not able to find it again. The trail then went cold until late on Tuesday afternoon when it was reported again on the rocks right in front of the Blue Peter Restaurant, not very far from Monday’s sighting. Unfortunately, it was felt that the area that the bird was in was unsafe because of the number of people and dogs there, so the bird was then removed much to the disappointment of many twitchers still stuck in rush hour traffic trying to get there. The bird was subsequently released at an undisclosed site a little further away. Elsewhere, the RED-NECKED PHALAROPE was still on Pan P2 at Strandfontein Sewage Works this afternoon, 2 EURASIAN GOLDEN ORIOLES were reported again in a private garden in Parel Vallei Road in Somerset West yesterday, the LESSER YELLOWLEGS was still at Geelbek in the West Coast National Park on Tuesday while the park also held on to the EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER still at Seeberg this afternoon, at least 2 AUSTRALASIAN GANNETS were still at Bird Island in Lambert’s Bay on Tuesday, the AFRICAN WATTLED LAPWING was seen again at Paardevlei on Tuesday and the WESTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL was also still at Bot River Lagoon yesterday. |
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Macaroni Penguin at Blouberg © Trevor Hardaker |
Macaroni Penguin at Blouberg © Michael Mason |
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Lesser Yellowlegs at Geelbek © Geoff Moller |
Lesser Yellowlegs at Geelbek © Hamman Prinsloo |
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Eurasian Oystercatcher at Seeberg © Amanda Hayes |
Australasian Gannet at Bird Island © Makhudu Masotla |
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African Wattled Lapwing at Paardevlei © Conrad Strauss |
Western Yellow Wagtail at Bot River Lagoon © Conrad Strauss |
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Into Kwazulu Natal where the mega WHITE-THROATED BEE-EATER showed itself again along the D162 on the north bank of the Umgeni River at -29.473, 30.479 this morning while other records of interest included an AFRICAN CRAKE at Dublin Vlei in Himeville yesterday and the 3 AFRICAN SKIMMERS still at the St Lucia estuary yesterday as well.
Over in Mpumalanga, it was all happening in the Kruger National Park with an AFRICAN SKIMMER seen at Sunset Dam near Lower Sabie on Tuesday and a SOOTY FALCON seen about 1km north of Malelane gate at -25.460, 31.520 on Tuesday as well.
Into Gauteng where a CORN CRAKE was reported on Waterbok Hoek Loop in Rietvlei Nature Reserve at -25.910, 28.306 yesterday afternoon. |
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Sooty Falcon near Malelane gate © Madeleen van Schalkwyk |
Corn Crake at Rietvlei Nature Reserve © Duncan Oosthuizen |
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And finally, in Namibia, there was some surprize when a single RED PHALAROPE was found swimming around in the pool at &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge on Tuesday while other lingerers included the GREATER SAND PLOVER still at Lovers Hill at Walvis Bay Lagoon at -22.982, 14.475 this morning and the THRUSH NIGHTINGALE still at Monteiro Camp, 10 km south of Windhoek, until at least Tuesday. |
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Thrush Nightingale at Monteiro Camp © Wessel Swanepoel |
Red Phalarope at &Beyond Sossusvlei Desert Lodge © Toni Hart |
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Greater Sand Plover at Walvis Bay Lagoon © Dean Boshoff |
Greater Sand Plover at Walvis Bay Lagoon © 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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