SA Rare Bird News Report - 08 January 2026
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, 08 January 2026.
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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Well, here we are, my first formal report for 2026…! Just back from a fantastic trip to Australia which also reminded me how blasé we can get about birding here in Southern Africa. Over the course of 3 weeks, Mags and I covered over 5000km of driving in Australia (which still was only a miniscule part of the country!) and, with pretty hardcore birding, only managed to pull together a total trip list of around 290 species. Granted, we spent time targeting specific species and didn’t necessarily visit every area and habitat just to boost our trip list but, with similar time and effort in Southern Africa, one should easily have reached 450 - 500 species! It’s all relative though as, if you put in similar time and effort in the Neotropics, your trip list would probably be in the 650 - 700 species range! Nevertheless, it was still a great trip with some amazing species seen along the way.
On a related note, I would like to, once again, extend a big word of thanks to Garret Skead who held the fort at SARBN so well while we were away. I know that he had a number of tricky records to deal with and a few massive rarities to report on as well, all of which were handled with relative ease by Garret and I’m sure that all SARBN subscribers appreciated his input and the sharing of the news. Thanks Garret, your willingness to assist with SARBN is always greatly appreciated!
Alright, on to some news and, starting in the Western Cape, what is presumed to be the same BLACK-HEADED GULL in full breeding plumage that was previously seen at Strandfontein Sewage Works, and then Olifantsbos, was found this afternoon at Camps Bay beach at -33.949, 18.378 while the locally popular BAILLON’S CRAKE was still showing at the Patrick Wheeler Hide at Rondevlei Nature Reserve this morning and the 2 EUROPEAN ROLLERS were also still along the R27 south of Atlantic Beach Estate at -33.757, 18.456 earlier today. Further up the west coast, the EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER was still at Seeberg in the West Coast National Park yesterday and the CASPIAN PLOVER and 3 RED-NECKED PHALAROPES were still at Kliphoek Salt Pans in Velddrif on Tuesday. As far as I have heard, the Geelbek hide in the West Coast National Park has been temporarily closed due to a swarm of bees that need to be removed from the hide (apparently, it will be opened up again next week sometime) so there has been no recent news on Southern Africa’s 25th WILSON’S PHALAROPE which was present there due to no access to the hide to actually look for it. Other lingerers included the BAIRD’S SANDPIPER still at Macassar Sewage Works yesterday, the LONG-CRESTED EAGLE seen again along the R44 near Klapmuts at -33.817, 18.879 this morning and the GREY WAGTAIL still at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens in Betty’s Bay today while birders at the latter site were also surprized to find a KNYSNA WOODPECKER there on Tuesday which was still present there this afternoon. The GULL-BILLED TERN continued to entertain twitchers at the Bot River Lagoon on Tuesday while there was also some surprize when a SPECTACLED PETREL was seen on a pelagic trip out of Hermanus on Monday.
Further east, at least one LONG-CRESTED EAGLE was still present between Swellendam and Ashton at -33.919, 20.192 on Tuesday, both a EUROPEAN ROLLER and a BLUE-CHEEKED BEE-EATER were seen along the coastal road between Stilbaai and Gouritsmond, approximately 3km east of the turnoff to the Gourikwa Nature Reserve, yesterday afternoon and a SQUACCO HERON was present at the Piesang River estuary in Plettenberg Bay yesterday. Another interesting record was a possible Ficedula FLYCATCHER seen at George Botanical Gardens on Monday. Only a single photo of the bird is available and it seems unlikely that a conclusive ID can be reached from this photo unfortunately. A number of birders have searched for it subsequently, but without any success.
Heading inland, a RED-BACKED SHRIKE was reported earlier today along the De Jagers Pass road, north-east of Beaufort West, at -32.146, 22.732 while a LILAC-BREASTED ROLLER was also found this afternoon a little further along the same road at the turn-off to Badshoek at -32.114, 22.747. | |||||||||
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Baillon’s Crake at Rondevlei Nature Reserve © Daryl de Beer | Baillon’s Crake at Rondevlei Nature Reserve © Philip Hoekstra | ||||||||
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Black-headed Gull at Camps Bay © Marten Miske | |||||||||
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Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Wessel Uys | Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Corne Rautenbach | ||||||||
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Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Pieter Bester | Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Paul Verwey | ||||||||
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Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Hannes Visagie | |||||||||
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Grey Wagtail at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Edith Oosthuizen | Knysna Woodpecker at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Edith Oosthuizen | ||||||||
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Knysna Woodpecker at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Wessel Uys | Knysna Woodpecker at Harold Porter Botanical Gardens © Corne Rautenbach | ||||||||
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European Roller near Atlantic Beach Estate © Trevor Hardaker | Spectacled Petrel on Hermanus pelagic trip © Matthew Schurch | ||||||||
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Possible Ficedula Flycatcher at George Botanical Gardens © Vincent Pienaar | Squacco Heron at the Piesang River estuary © Ian Rijsdijk | ||||||||
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Up in the Northern Cape, a CASPIAN PLOVER was present at the Khoisan Karoo Conservancy near Hanover yesterday while a single BURNT-NECKED EREMOMELA was reported between Leeuwdril and Kij Kij waterholes in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park on Tuesday.
In the Eastern Cape, both the AMERICAN GOLDEN PLOVER and the LESSER MOORHEN were still present at St Francis Bay Sewage Works today while a LESSER GREY SHRIKE was also found near the Gamtoos River at -33.937, 24.983 this morning and a PALM-NUT VULTURE was seen along the Kariega River close to Kenton-on-Sea earlier today as well. | |||||||||
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Caspian Plover at Khoisan Karoo Conservancy © Mohammed Jinnah | Palm-nut Vulture along the Kariega River © Karl-Heinz Koch | ||||||||
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American Golden Plover at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Mike Buckham | American Golden Plover at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Wessel Rossouw | ||||||||
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American Golden Plover at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Estelle Smalberger | American Golden Plover at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Steve Stevenson | ||||||||
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Lesser Moorhen at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Estelle Smalberger | Lesser Moorhen at St Francis Bay Sewage Works © Wessel Rossouw | ||||||||
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Moving up the coast into Kwazulu Natal, the EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER was still at Umdloti Lagoon earlier today, the GREEN SANDPIPER was still at Luleka Dam on Manyoni Private Game Reserve this morning and the GREATER SAND PLOVER was still at the St Lucia estuary until at least Tuesday. | |||||||||
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Eurasian Oystercatcher at Umdloti Lagoon © Nick Evans | Eurasian Oystercatcher at Umdloti Lagoon © Mike Cross | ||||||||
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Mpumalanga continued to remain in the spotlight with Southern Africa’s 33rd WHINCHAT still showing well just north of Wakkerstroom at -27.321, 30.136 earlier today while other lingerers included the BLUE SWALLOWS still near God’s Window at -24.854, 30.886 yesterday and two LESSER JACANAS still at Otter Pan at -25.917, 29.931 this afternoon as well. | |||||||||
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Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Caroline Fox | Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Etienne Hinrichsen | ||||||||
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Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Simon Vegter | Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Mark Wadley | ||||||||
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Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Danie Snyders | Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Kasper Brits | ||||||||
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Whinchat near Wakkerstroom © Jaap le Grange | Lesser Jacana at Otter Pan © Werner Fourie | ||||||||
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And finally, in Mozambique, both a EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER and an AFRICAN OYSTERCATCHER were present at The Sanctuary on the San Sebastian Peninsula near Vilanculous on Tuesday. | |||||||||
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Eurasian Oystercatcher at The Sanctuary © Harry Nel | African Oystercatcher at The Sanctuary © Harry Nel | ||||||||
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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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