13 October 2025 - Strandfontein; Site 1
A Franklin's Gull had been present at Strandfontein for a few weeks and I was really hoping to connect with it on a business trip to Cape Town. Of course, a week before my visit today, it suddenly went awol. Nevertheless, I had a day to bird different sites in and around Cape Town and after picking up my rental car, headed straight to Strandfontein from the airport with fingers crossed that the Franklin's might have returned.
I last visited Strandfontein probably 30-years ago, so it was like visiting a new site and I had forgotten how extensive it was. I had a flock of Cattle Egret on the fringes of one of the pans and reminisced about my Dad as I continued driving
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| Western Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) |
The pans were had big flocks of mixed waterfowl - predominantly Cape Shoveler and Cape Teal
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| Cape Shoveler (Spatula smithii) and Cape Teal (Anas capensis) |
There were fair numbers of Black-necked Grebe's but they kept their distance.
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| Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) |
Along with a few scattered flocks of Greater Flamingo
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| Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) walking on water |
There were big flocks of Hartlaub's Gull and I went through them all with a fine tooth comb - that Franklin's had not returned and this was confirmed by other birders I stopped and talked to - it had not returned. Sods Law that it did return the following weekend, but that was of no use to me
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| Hartlaub's Gull (Chroicocephalus hartlaubii) |
A couple of Kelp Gull's passed by overhead
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| Kelp Gull (Larus dominicanus) |
A White-throated Swallow on one of the bridges
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| White-throated Swallow (Hirundo albigularis) |
Terns were well represented with Greater Crested
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| Greater Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) |
Sandwich
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| Sandwich Tern (Thalasseus sandvicensis) |
and Whiskered
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| Whiskered Tern (Chlidonias hybrida) |
On the way out, I came across the Fulvous Duck on one of the smaller bodies of water
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| Fulvous Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna bicolor) |
Along with more Cape Teal
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| Cape Teal (Anas capensis) |
While here, I missed the White Pelican that flew over my head, so only got onto it flying away
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| Great White Pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) |
I had a distant Yellow-billed Kite
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| Yellow-billed Kite (Milvus aegyptius) |
and was entertained by some Pied Crow's harassing a pair of Red-winged Starling that were nesting in one of the buildings
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| Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) |
On the way out, I stopped for a pair of distant Shelduck
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| South African Shelduck (Tadorna cana) |
With a pair of Spur-winged passing by above
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| Spur-winged Goose (Plectropterus gambensis) |
and at the exit an agitated Karoo Prinia
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| Karoo Prinia (Prinia maculosa) |
Before getting back on the road and heading to Boulders Beach
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