Between the Legs

I have just returned from almost five weeks as Guest Lecturer on Fred.Olsen Cruise Liner Bolette as part of the Ocean Wildlife Encounters Team, sailing from Port Louis in Mauritius back to Liverpool. These journeys are split into "legs" for the purposes of the Entertainers; Port Louis to Liverpool comprised several legs - Port Louis to Cape Town, Cape Town to Dakar and Dakar back to the UK. With a two night stopover in Cape Town, it provided us with three days to explore the various National Parks, Nature Reserves and Botanical Gardens. Guided by Birding Africa, we were able to connect with many of the endemic birds and enjoy some excellent birding.

Day One

On our first day we visited the famous Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in the shadow of Table Mountain. The mature gardens immediately started to produced sunbirds and flycatchers, plus other passerines that thrive in the well watered gardens, long with several ground dwelling birds and the occasional overhead raptor.

Kirstenbosch Gardens

Cape Bulbul; Orange-bellied Sunbird; Malachite Sunbird; Southern Double-banded Sunbird; Swee Waxbill; Forest Canary

After lunch we headed towards Strandfontein Wetland Reserve, a 306 hectare complex of wetlands that actually form part of the Strandfontein sewage works. Birding from the car, we saw a multitude of wildfowl and wading birds, plus numerous herons, egrets and pelicans. Some species, such as Mocca Duck, Blue-billed Teal and Southern Pochard were too distant for photographs, others were more obliging. We finished day having seen around 80 species.

Cape Shoveler; Yellow-billed Duck and Cape Teal; Great White Pelican; African Spoonbill, African Sacred Ibis; Three-banded Plover.

Day Two

Our guide met us just after breakfast and we headed for Kogelberg and more Cape Town Endemics. We started our day along the coast, scouring the boulders and scrub for the Cape Rockjumper. Although me managed to see the Rockjumper, it was amongst the boulder at the base of the scree slopes and coastal mountains. Other endemics seen included Orange-breasted Sunbird and Cape Rock Thrush.

Coastal Cliffs at Kogelberg.

Orange-breasted Sunbird; Cape Rock Thrush, Cape Bunting; Karoo Prinia; Familiar Chat

After the coastal cliffs we headed towards Betty's Bay - a coastal reserve with African Penguin and four species of Cormorant. Not as popular as Boulder's Beach, Betty's Bay was relatively quiet and allowed close encounters with African Penguin and Rock Hyrax.

Betty's Bay

African Penguin and Rock Hyrax

White-breasted, Crowned, Bank and Cape Cormorants all nest of the shore at Betty's Bay along with African Oystercatcher. Reptiles basking on the rocks were represented by Southern Rock Agama and Girdled Lizard

Southern Rock Agama; Girdled Lizard, Bank Cormorant; Bank Cormorants; Great (White-breasted) Cormorant; African Oystercatcher.

Our next stop was at the Botanical Gardens at Betty's Bay, where we encountered several Chacma Baboon - these primates have a habit of raiding the local houses for food (and just for fun) so teams of "Baboon Wardens" follow them and deter the baboons from breaking into residences.

As with Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the mature, well watered gardens support several bird species. The ponds though also held several species of dragonfly and damselfly along with amphibians.

Cape River Frog; Epaulet Skimmer; "Water Lily"; Chacma Baboon; Red-veined Droplet; Emperor.

Birds seen included Fiscal Flycatcher; Orange-breasted Sunbird and Malachite Sunbird.

Orange-breasted Sunbird; Malachite Sunbird: Fiscal Flycatcher

At the end of the day we returned to the Bolette, where we watched Cape Fur Seal, Great Crested Tern and Hartlaub's Gull in the port.

Cape Fur Seal; Great Crested Tern.

Day Three

Our third and final day in Cape Tern was spent at the West Coast National Park - an area of coastal scrub, grassland and wetlands. Due to an afternoon departure from the port, we couldn't really spend the time here we would have liked, but our guide made sure we made the best of the day.

Karoo Scrub Robin; Spotted Knick-knee; Southern Black Korhaan; Common Ostrich; White-fronted Plover, African Oystercatcher

The three days we spent in Cape Town were bird-filled and very enjoyable, and would not have been achieved without the guidance of Vincent Ward from Birding Africa. We saw a total of 123 species of bird (listed below), five species of dragonfly and several mammal species.

ENGLISH NAME	SCIENTIFIC NAME
Common Ostrich	Struthio camelus
White-faced Whistling-Duck	Dendrocygna viduata
Fulvous Whistling-Duck	Dendrocygna bicolor
Egyptian Goose	Alopochen aegyptiaca
Spur-winged Goose	Plectropterus gambensis
Blue-billed Teal	Spatula hottentota
Cape Shoveler	Spatula smithii
Yellow-billed Duck	Anas undulata
Cape Teal	Anas capensis
Red-billed Duck	Anas erythrorhyncha
Southern Pochard	Netta erythrophthalma
Maccoa Duck	Oxyura maccoa
Helmeted Guineafowl	Numida meleagris
Gray-winged Francolin	Scleroptila afra
Cape Spurfowl	Pternistis capensis
Speckled Pigeon	Columba guinea
Red-eyed Dove	Streptopelia semitorquata
Ring-necked Dove	Streptopelia capicola
Laughing Dove	Spilopelia senegalensis
Black Bustard	Afrotis afra
Eurasian Moorhen	Gallinula chloropus
Red-knobbed Coot	Fulica cristata
African Swamphen	Porphyrio madagascariensis
Black Crake	Zapornia flavirostra
Spotted Thick-knee	Burhinus capensis
Water Thick-knee	Burhinus vermiculatus
Black-winged Stilt	Himantopus himantopus
Pied Avocet	Recurvirostra avosetta
African Oystercatcher	Haematopus moquini
Three-banded Plover	Thinornis tricollaris
Blacksmith Lapwing	Vanellus armatus
White-fronted Plover	Anarhynchus marginatus
Sanderling	Calidris alba
Parasitic Jaeger	Stercorarius parasiticus
Gray-hooded Gull	Chroicocephalus cirrocephalus
Hartlaub's Gull	Chroicocephalus hartlaubii
Kelp Gull	Larus dominicanus
Caspian Tern	Hydroprogne caspia
Arctic Tern	Sterna paradisaea
Common Tern	Sterna hirundo
Sandwich Tern	Thalasseus sandvicensis
Great Crested Tern	Thalasseus bergii
Little Grebe	Tachybaptus ruficollis
African Penguin	Spheniscus demersus
White-chinned Petrel	Procellaria aequinoctialis
Sooty Shearwater	Ardenna grisea
Cape Gannet	Morus capensis
African Darter	Anhinga rufa
Reed Cormorant	Microcarbo africanus
Crowned Cormorant	Microcarbo coronatus
Bank Cormorant	Phalacrocorax neglectus
Cape Cormorant	Phalacrocorax capensis
Great Cormorant	Phalacrocorax carbo
Glossy Ibis	Plegadis falcinellus
African Sacred Ibis	Threskiornis aethiopicus
Hadada Ibis	Bostrychia hagedash
African Spoonbill	Platalea alba
Little Egret	Egretta garzetta
Western Cattle-Egret	Ardea ibis
Black-headed Heron	Ardea melanocephala
Great White Pelican	Pelecanus onocrotalus
Black-winged Kite	Elanus caeruleus
Rufous-breasted Sparrowhawk	Accipiter rufiventris
Black Goshawk	Astur melanoleucus
African Marsh Harrier	Circus ranivorus
Jackal Buzzard	Buteo rufofuscus
Speckled Mousebird	Colius striatus
White-backed Mousebird	Colius colius
Eurasian Hoopoe	Upupa epops
Olive Woodpecker	Dendropicos griseocephalus
Rock Kestrel	Falco rupicolus
Lanner Falcon	Falco biarmicus
Peregrine Falcon	Falco peregrinus
Cape Batis	Batis capensis
Bokmakierie	Telophorus zeylonus
Southern Fiscal	Lanius collaris
Pied Crow	Corvus albus
White-necked Raven	Corvus albicollis
Drakensberg Rockjumper	Chaetops aurantius
Long-billed Crombec	Sylvietta rufescens
Bar-throated Apalis	Apalis thoracica
Karoo Prinia	Prinia maculosa
Gray-backed Cisticola	Cisticola subruficapilla
Levaillant's Cisticola	Cisticola tinniens
Lesser Swamp Warbler	Acrocephalus gracilirostris
Black Sawwing	Psalidoprocne pristoptera
Banded Martin	Neophedina cincta
Plain Martin	Riparia paludicola
Bank Swallow	Riparia riparia
Southern Crag-Martin	Ptyonoprogne fuligula
Barn Swallow	Hirundo rustica
White-throated Swallow	Hirundo albigularis
Sombre Greenbul	Andropadus importunus
Cape Bulbul	Pycnonotus capensis
Chestnut-vented Warbler	Curruca subcoerulea
Cape White-eye	Zosterops virens
European Starling	Sturnus vulgaris
Red-winged Starling	Onychognathus morio
African Pied Starling	Lamprotornis bicolor
Olive Thrush	Turdus olivaceus
African Dusky Flycatcher	Muscicapa adusta
Fiscal Flycatcher	Sigelus silens
Karoo Scrub-Robin	Tychaedon coryphoeus
Cape Robin-Chat	Dessonornis caffer
Cape Rock-Thrush	Monticola rupestris
Familiar Chat	Oenanthe familiaris
Cape Sugarbird	Promerops cafer
Orange-breasted Sunbird	Anthobaphes violacea
Amethyst Sunbird	Chalcomitra amethystina
Malachite Sunbird	Nectarinia famosa
Southern Double-collared Sunbird	Cinnyris chalybeus
Cape Weaver	Ploceus capensis
Bronze Mannikin	Spermestes cucullata
Swee Waxbill	Coccopygia melanotis
Common Waxbill	Estrilda astrild
House Sparrow	Passer domesticus
Cape Sparrow	Passer melanurus
Cape Wagtail	Motacilla capensis
Forest Canary	Crithagra scotops
Yellow Canary	Crithagra flaviventris
Streaky-headed Seedeater	Crithagra gularis
Cape Canary	Serinus canicollis
Cape Bunting	Emberiza capensis