SA Rare Bird News Report - 08 May 2025

[Trevor Hardaker]

 

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
This is the Southern African Rare Bird News Report issued at 18h00 on Thursday, 08 May 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									SARBN is proud to be associated with the following brands:
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Starting in the Western Cape, the GOLIATH HERON was seen again at Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area yesterday while both AFRICAN CRAKES were still along Bass Road in Betty’s Bay at -34.355, 18.906 earlier today. A single WHITE-FRONTED BEE-EATER was found at Porcupine Hills Guest Farm along the van der Stel Pass at -34.114, 19.238 on Tuesday and 2 individuals were present there yesterday. Elsewhere, the GREATER SAND PLOVER remained on at De Mond Nature Reserve near Arniston at -34.711, 20.113 on Tuesday and a BROWN SNAKE EAGLE was seen north-west of Mossel Bay at -34.087, 21.957 on Tuesday.
Goliath Heron at Kenilworth Racecourse Conservation Area © Lifa Nkosi					African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Carin Malan
African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Conrad Strauss					African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Dean Boshoff
African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Renier Meyer					African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Stephen Mills
African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Riel Tredoux					African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Pete Walker
African Crake in Betty’s Bay © Charles Britz					Brown Snake Eagle near Mossel Bay © Amanda Walden
White-fronted Bee-eater at Porcupine Hills Guest Farm © Kate Brink					White-fronted Bee-eater at Porcupine Hills Guest Farm © Sarel Snyman
In Kwazulu Natal, it was all about RUFOUS-BELLIED HERONS with one seen near False Bay camp site at -27.967, 32.38 on Tuesday and another reported on the Eastern Shores of iSimangaliso Wetland Park about 5km from the gate along the road to Cape Vidal yesterday.   Mpumalanga held on to the locally mega SQUARE-TAILED DRONGO which was still at Satara in the Kruger National Park this afternoon.   Up in Limpopo, a RUFOUS-BELLIED HERON was seen at Vogelfontein at -24.617, 28.696 yesterday.
Rufous-bellied Heron at False Bay © Rainer Ruess					Rufous-bellied Heron at Vogelfontein © Jean-Marc Strydom
Square-tailed Drongo at Satara © Nicky Firer					Square-tailed Drongo at Satara © Simon Vegter
Square-tailed Drongo at Satara © Marc Cronje
Into Namibia where a very delayed record of a young RED-NECKED BUZZARD has filtered through (via eBird) from Frans Indongo Lodge, north-east of Otjiwarongo, on 9 March 2024. While it is certainly not twitchable, this remains a mega bird in a Southern African context, hence sharing the news anyway to keep a complete list of records. To the best of my knowledge, this represents only the 17th record for Southern Africa of this species. It was first confirmed for the subregion when a juvenile bird was photographed in July 2014 in the Buffalo Reserve in Namibia. Once people became aware of it, a few other records surfaced from the archives that predated it with the first record for the subregion dating back to August 2001 in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park followed by singletons seen in March 2009 at Ngepi Camp and in August 2012 in Mahango Game Reserve. Subsequently, we’ve had a few more records with another in July 2014 in Chobe National Park, one in January 2015 at Kasane Forest Reserve, the massively popular bird in December 2016 in Stilbaai in the Western Cape (which stayed around until February 2017), then one in February 2018 at Rundu Sewage Works, one in March 2018 from Mbwabwata National Park, one near the Krantzkop Toll Plaza in March 2020, one near Santawani, south of Moremi South Gate, in January 2021, one in Mahango Game Reserve in December 2022, one east of Divundu in February 2023, one in October 2023 near Ermelo and, most recently, one near Ruacana in August 2024.   And finally, in Mozambique, there were still at least 4 EURASIAN CURLEWS and 21 CRAB PLOVERS at The Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula near Vilanculous this week.
Red-necked Buzzard at Frans Indongo Lodge © Stephen Taylor					Crab Plovers at The Sanctuary © Christine Read
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
TREVOR HARDAKER Cape Town, South Africa