SARBN: more on Temminck's Stint
Trevor Hardaker
Good morning all SARBN subscribers,
Just some further information on the TEMMINCK’S STINT in Port Elizabeth…
I have battled to find all the details for past records, and have no further info to back any of these older records up, but the first record for Southern Africa appears to date back to December 1964 at Swakopmund. This was followed by records in December 1972 at Ngweshia Pan in Hwange National Park, May 1974 at Leeupan in Benoni, February 1986 in Chobe National Park, February 1987 in Richard’s Bay and November 1988 at the mouth of the Swakop River. More recently, since the advent of SARBN, we have had a bird in November 2016 at Strandfontein Sewage Works (which stayed around for a few months and was twitched by over 1000 people during the course of its stay) and then the most recent one which I actually forgot about in February 2023 near Pafuri in the Kruger National Park (a photographed bird which ended up being untwitchable as it disappeared). That would mean that there are at least 8 previous records and the current bird in Port Elizabeth is actually the 9th record for Southern Africa.
Further to this, there has also been some confusion as to where exactly the bird was. Here is a dropped pin that I was sent - http://maps.apple.com/?address=-33.874,25.606
I don’t know the area at all, but locals are telling me that this is actually Pan 7, and not Pan 6. Further info as provided by the observer: “It was on the entrance road just before the pan. Feeding together with Three-B Plovers. On the main gravel entrance road you will go through 3 places where the water is over the road. It’s the one nearest to the pan just before the Guard House. I would check all 3 places where water is over the road as you come in for it."
Hopefully, that makes sense to those of you that know the area.
As a reminder, there have been a number of security incidents in this area in the past, so please be extra vigilant if you are planning on going there, and rather try and go in a group than on your own. Please don’t ignore this information as a number of locals have now stressed this point to me already since the original alert, so it is clearly something to take heed of.
Good luck to all potential twitchers going to look for the bird today. Further news will be shared as and when I receive it.
Kind regards
Trevor