SARBN report Thursday 18 December 2025

[Garret Skead]

Dear SARBN subscribers

Herewith a summary of the rarities over the past few days:

Western Cape:

GREY WAGTAIL - still present at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens this afternoon after a no-show all morning.

LESSER YELLOWLEGS - after a period of not being reported, the bird was seen again from Geelbek hide on Tuesday morning.

EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER - still present at Seeberg hide, WCNP this afternoon.

BAIRD'S SANDPIPER - still present at Macassar WTP on Tuesday.

GULL-BILLED TERN - still present at Fisherhaven / Bot River lagoon today.

CASPIAN PLOVER - still present at Kliphoek salt pans today at -32.825, 18.203.

BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATER - a group of birds flew over the site where the Gull-billed Tern is hanging out, reported today at midday.

RED-NECKED PHALAROPE - three birds present at Kliphoek saltworks on Wednesday morning.

AUSTRALASIAN GANNET - still present at Lambert's Bay, Bird Island on Wednesday morning.

RED-BACKED SHRIKE - a smart-looking male bird was found on Tuesday at Park Island, Zandvlei, accessed from Marina da Gama, and still there on Wednesday morning.

WESTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL - still in the same area at Platboom, Cape Point NR today at -34.336, 18.444.

SQUACCO HERON - still in the same area this afternoon, at Keurbooms river, Plettenberg Bay.

AFRICAN GREEN PIGEON - at least one bird was still present at Kwendalo in Plett on Tuesday.

GREAT EGRET - one bird seen today at Swartvlei on the Garden Route, at -34.009, 22.763.

YELLOW-BILLED STORK - found today at Swartvlei, at -34.014, 22.764.

EUROPEAN ROLLER - one bird present today above Rondevlei near Sedgefield, at -33.962, 22.698.

AFRICAN JACANA - one bird seen yesterday at Island Lake, Wilderness.

GOLIATH HERON - at least one individual present today at Kliphoek salt works, Velddrif.

Eastern Cape: 

LESSER MOORHEN: A bird was seen today at Cape St Francis sewage works at -34.185, 24.826.

GREY-HEADED KINGFISHER: found today on Winston farm near Port Alfred at -33.559, 26.811.

BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATERS: present in the same area as the kingfisher, as well as a male EURASIAN GOLDEN ORIOLE.

Limpopo:

By far the biggest news of the last few days was the discovery of a NORTHERN WHEATEAR on Tuesday morning, at the Tihongonyeni waterhole at -23.438, 31.440. At the time of writing, the bird unfortunately hasn't been seen again, despite a few people attempting the twitch on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning. 

Mpumalanga:

BLUE SWALLOW - the birds were still present on Tuesday morning near God's window.

Northern Cape:

GREATER PAINTED-SNIPE - seen at Dalkeith waterhole near Mata Mata, Kgalagadi on Tuesday, and another seen at 14^th waterhole in Kgalagadi yesterday.

RED-KNOBBED COOT - seen at Mata Mata, Kgalagadi on Monday.

BENNETT'S WOODPECKER - an interesting record of an out-of-range bird seen at -30.030, 23.375 near Prieska yesterday.

Kwazulu-Natal:

CAPPED WHEATEAR - an immature bird was found along the Loteni Rd south of the Umkomaas River at -29.602, 29.565 on Tuesday.

BRONZE-WINGED COURSER - a bird was seen on a private farm near Howick on Friday.

DUSKY LARK - still present at Pongola GR yesterday, at site as previously reported.

Zimbabwe:

SCALY-THROATED HONEYGUIDE - seen at a private lodge east of Muyu Camp in northern Zimbabwe on 10 December, which is a good local record, and out of known range at this site.

Mozambique:

BÖHM'S BEE-EATER - a single bird seen in Coutada 11 last Thursday, which is out of range in terms their known  distribution based on a quick review of eBird and SABAP2 data, but I imagine there's a huge amount of unexplored habitat in this area.

Kind regards

Garret