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| Vaalbos
National Park:
The park, 40 km northwest of Kimberley, incorporates a productive
area of grassland and savanna, and is reached by a signposted
left turn 19 km west of Barkley West. It also includes a stretch
of Vaal River frontage, rich in alluvial diamond deposits.
Indeed, mining and other pressures have reduced the park to
the point where it may be facing deproclamation within the
next few years. It remains well stocked with big game though,
including Buffalo (Syncerus cafer) and Black (Diceros
bicornis) and White (Ceratotherium simum) Rhinos.
Vaalbos’s
main attraction for birders lies in a largely isolated population
of Short-clawed Lark, more typically a bird of overgrazed
countryside in southeastern Botswana. At Vaalbos, it is uncommon:
search for it where the open grassy plains are punctuated
by small acacia trees, such as those near Block Dam (a map
is obtainable at the gate). The open savanna areas around
Block Dam are worth searching for Buffy Pipit and Rufous-naped
Lark, while the nearby patch of trees holds such typical
arid savanna species as Brubru, Shaft-tailed Whydah,
Crimson-breasted Shrike, Pririt Batis (p.85*)
and Golden-breasted Bunting. Wooded habitats throughout
the park hold Red-crested Korhaan and, scarcely, Little
Banded Goshawk. Grassland, such as that below the southern
powerlines, offers Northern Black Korhaan, Anteating
Chat, and Clapper
(p.116*) and Spike-heeled Larks. The Vaal River banks,
accessed from the Riverside picnic site, offer African
Black Duck, Giant Kingfisher and White-fronted
Bee-eater.
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27/09/09: Dalton
Gibbs reports back from Gough
Island! Read the blog!
26/09/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip report from trips of 12 and 19 September
2009.
30/08/09: British
Birdwatching Fair at Rutland Water proved very successful,
with sunny weather and over 20,000 visitors. Callan's "Birding
Namibia and the Okavango" was the most highly-attended
lecture on the Saturday, with over 240 people. Congratulations
to the winners of the Birding Africa competition and the
African Bird Club raffle that we helped sponsor!
12/08/09: New Cape
Town Pelagics trip reports from August and July 2009.
Highlights: Little
Shearwater and more!
07/08/09: The
sub-adult Black Sarrowhawk visits our garden again! Read
on about Raptor Research in the Western Cape.
27/07/09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has grown! And its sibling
never had a chance to hatch. See the pictures of the chick,
its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more about the Western
Cape Raptor Research Programme.
27/07/09: To follow modern nomenclature and systematics, we've
adopted the IOC
World Bird List, Version 2.1.
13/07/09: The 8th
African Bird ID Challenge has launched! Win a 50% discount
on a Cape Town Pelagics
trip, a copy of Southern
African Birdfinder, or African
Bird Club membership for 1 year.
6 July 09: Cape
White-eye research in our garden.
2 July 09: Cape
Town's Verreauxs' Eagle Chick has hatched! See the pictures
of the chick, its nest and the breeding pair. Find out more
about the Western Cape Raptor Research Programme.
2 July 09: Campbell
Fleming, a Cape Town scholar, avid birder and photographer,
joined Birding Africa last month as an intern. Click here,
to see what he got up to.
2 July 09: New pelagic
trip reports from the Cape Town Pelagics trips in June
2009. Highlights: Slenderbilled
Prion and Leach's Storm Petrel
30 july 09: Our latest Cape Fynbos and Karoo trip
reports feature Hottentot
Buttonquail, Cinnamon-breasted
Warbler and other fynbos and Karoo endemics...
26 June 09: Tungsten
mining threatens RAMSAR site, South Africa's Verlorenvlei.
Read the Media Release.
22 June 09: Claire
Spottiswoode, one of the Cape Birding Route founders,
was part of the exploratory team at Mount Mabu. The mountain
is part of the newly discovered largest
rainforest in Southern Africa.
11 June 09: A colour-ringed
Black Sparrowhawk visits the Birding Africa office garden.
Read why it's a 10 months old male!
14 June 09:
Wildlife
at the office of The Cape Birding Route, Birding Africa
and Cape Town Pelagics.
31 May 09:
Michel Watelet wins the 7th African Bird Club & Birding Africa
ID Challenge. Test your African birding skills and WIN
a Birding
Africa Cape town day trip or a copy of the Birdfinder!
30 May 09:
A tragedy unfolds at Kommetjie south of Cape town as 44 beached
False
Killer Whales were shot. Click here for more details and
pictures.
14 March 09: Raptor
Watch in Cape Town on 14 March 09
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