Big Birding Day

27 November 2021; Various Locations

Originally I was to join my friend Lex Hes in Nelspruit for a BBD weekend, but unfortunately it didnt come to pass, so I decided to do a solo day north of Pretoria. It has been many years since I last took part, so I looked forward to re-exploring some old sites that I haven't visited for quite some time. I woke early on Saturday morning to dismal weather, but this wasn't going to deter me. I headed just past Pretoria and toward Cullinan and onward to De Tweedespruit Conservancy. I was after one particular species and was in place as it started getting light - although it never brightened much on the day. I was rewarded and had a short, but distant sighting of Tinkling Cisticola which is not easy to connect with

Tinkling Cisticola (Cisticola rufilatus)

There were other good birds in the area, so my count started climbing early on. I then drove from De Tweedespruit toward Seringveld Conservancy adding birds on the way, amongst them a family of Pearl-breasted Swallow's

Pearl-breasted Swallow (Hirundo dimidiata)

And Diederik Cuckoo

Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius)

In Seringveld, I caught up with John and Celia Human and together we added European Honey Buzzard, but no Fawn-coloured Larks

European Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus)

The focus of today was seeing and counting birds rather than photography and the weather was not conducive to photography either. From Seringveld, onto the N1 north stopping for a Illy Coffee before continuing to Pienaar's River and the famous Zaagkuilsdrift Road. After the rains, the road was interesting to say the least and I continued to add birds to my count. I stopped for a flock of Southern Pied Babbler's, a bird I have not seen for quite some time

Southern Pied Babbler (Turdoides bicolor)

And later an African Grey Hornbill

African Grey Hornbill (Lophoceros nasutus)

I continued to Kgomo Kgomo where I had my best sighting ever of male Great Sparrow

Great Sparrow (Passer motitensis)

The flood levels were still low at the bridge, so not as many birds added here as I expected. On the other side of the bridge, I watched a pair of Crimson-breasted Shrikes looking for nesting material - they really do stand out in the bush, even on a dull overcast day

Crimson-breasted Shrike (Laniarius atrococcineus)

Whilst near the side of the road, a male Green-winged Pytilia was feeding

Green-winged Pytilia (Pytilia melba)

along with another pair of Great Sparrow - here the female

Great Sparrow (Passer motitensis)

Late in the afternoon, the weather started to turn again with more rain coming. I stopped for another Diederick Cuckoo on the telephone line

Diederik Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx caprius)

Before heading back to Pienaar's River. At a small pan, there was a Pied Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher (Ceryle rudis)

and a pair of Red-breasted Swallow.

Red-breasted Swallow (Cecropis semirufa)

The thunder shower hit when I got to the main road and it rained all the way back to Midrand where my last stop was Glen Austin pan for more waterbirds. Only a Glossy Ibis 

Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)

and African Swamphen were close enough for an image

African Swamphen (Porphyrio madagascariensis)

The weather closed in and it got darker, so called it a day and headed home with 150 species recorded for the day. This was decidedly average, as I was aiming to get closer to 200 species. Our top Gauteng team managed an amazing 303 species for the day. Despite the poor weather, it was still a great day out.