36 Birders joined in for this year's annual Eshowe Birding Weekend from 2nd Nov till the 5th Nov 2000. Once again thanks to all involved in organising the weekend it turned out a big success. Visiting the main sites along the Zululand birding route , over 200 species were seen ranging from Terek Sandpipers in Richards bay Harbour to Green Barbets in Ongoye forest. (Species list at end)
Thursday 2/11/2000
A very informative talk and slide show by Hugh Chittenden on forest birding along with the thoughts of potential Green Barbets had us all rearing for the first part of the weekend's birding - Ongoye Forest.
Our convoy of four-wheeled drive's left Eshowe at 06h00, by the time we arrived in the Ongoye area, the wind had picked up and it was fairly cloudy, not ideal birding conditions. The road through the Ongoye Reserve winds through some incredible Forest patches and the grassy Zululand hills. The grassland on the edge of the forest produced good sightings of Yellowthroated Longclaws, Croaking and Fantailed Cisticolas, Black Sparrowhawk and Jackal Buzzard - not a bad start to a damp windy day. Once in the forest everyone was treated fairly soon to Green Barbets calling from their usual obscure perches in the canopy, real stiff neck stuff. More obliging were a pair of Emerald Cuckoos flitting about in plain view showing off their stuff. Chorister Robins were common, as were White-Eared Barbets, Greenbacked Camaropteras, Blackheaded Orioles, Blackbellied Starling and Squaretailed Drongos. Other sightings in the forest included Grey Cuckooshrike, Bluemantled Flycatcher and Olive Woodpecker.
Ongoye with it's selection of top notch birds, endemic plants and abundance of life in general, must rate as one of south Africa's most incredible spots.
Next was the Mtunzini "Palmnut Vulture one stop". Mtunzini has a good population of Raffia palms and finding a Palmnut Vulture on a nest within 200m of a residential area was no trouble at all. Next stop was Theunissen's dam, just 30km's east of Eshowe and in amongst the sugarcane fields is a birders treat. In the shorter damp sugarcane fields everyone got amazing views of Redwinged Pratincoles along with sightings of Grey and Kittlitz's Plover, Woollynecked Storks, Blackbacked Cisticolas, Common Quail and Redshouldered Widows. At Theunissen's dam itself, amongst others we had views of Squacco Herons, Hottentot Teals, Whitefaced Ducks, Wood Sandpipers and Fish Eagles. Some lucky birders even had a glimpse of a female Redchested Flufftail as she darted out of the rank vegetation along the edge of the dam.Saturday 4/11/2000
Saturday morning was a birders delight - warm, sunny and windless Our first birding spot for the day was the sand spit in the Richards bay harbour, Entumeni farmers transported us out to the sandspit in ski boats where we were greeted by a nice selection of waders. With the help of local Richards bay birders we managed to sift through the birds- turning up some goodies, Terek Sandpiper, Sand Plover, Whimbrel, Sanderling, Caspian and Little Terns eventually a total of 18+ waders - not without some healthy debate!
Next was Thulasihleka dam, slap in the middle of Richards Bay's industrial area - what a surprise. Thulasihleka must have been one of the weekend's highlights with some magical sightings. An Osprey was seen flying over our heads a few times and some were even lucky enough to get a look at the Osprey successfully haul a fish out of the dam and later getting mobbed by a Black Shouldered Kite. Obviously a day for top-notch raptors - an European Marsh Harrier gave us unmistakable views of her while she was hunting over the wetland. The phragmites reedbeds at Thulasihleka yielded Little Bittern, Purple Gallinule, Yellow and Brownthroated Weavers. The open water and marshy areas were alive with Pinkbacked Pelicans, Fulvous and Whitefaced Ducks, Southern Pochards, Redbilled and Hottentot Teal , Glossy Ibis , the full range of Egrets and scores of Jacana's constructing their nests. This area is also renowned for producing lesser Jacana and other more unusual railoids, but not today though.
Sunday 5/11/2000
The last morning's birding was spent at Entumeni forest, just outside of Eshowe - A good chance for everyone to "clean up " on the missed forest specials - Delegorgue's Pigeon, Spotted Thrush, Brown Robin, Green Coucal , and Yellowstreaked Bulbuls were seen.
After brunch a trip up to the Krantz saw breeding Bald Ibis, Mocking chat, and Rock Martin. On the way there a part of the group had a good view of an African finfoot sitting on a rock in the stream. Finally, as everyone was preparing to leave a Crowned eagle flew over as if to wish all goodbye.
Thanks to the following guides who donated their time to the Conservancy: Barry Emberton, Duncan McKenzie, Duncan Pritchard, Hamish McLaggan, Kevin McDonald, Derek and Vernon Coley, Pete Outhwaite, Ben Baxter.Transport and accomodation were donated by members and friends of the Eshowe Entumeni Conservancy and Eshowe Bird Club. The bushpig was supplied by the Conservancy as were the "brunch - chefs". The costs of the weekend was R950 per person all inclusive (except cash bar in the evenings). The funds raised go towards running costs of the Conservancy and Eshowe Bird Club, and sponsorship of prizes to local school children participating in BirdlifeSA's Birding Big Day competition.
The Eshowe Entumeni Conservancy Weekend is held during the first weekend of November each year. This year for the first time a Botanical weekend was held to compliment the Birding weekend. The people attending the Botanical weekend agreed it was well conceived and the event will be held again next year. If anyone wants information on next year's weekend or information on general birding information for these areas you can contact the Zululand Birding Route via Telephone or Fax on +27(0)35-4741234. (Drop the zero of dialling from overseas).e-mail us at zulubird@birding.co.za Postal address: Box 1234, Eshowe, 3815, South Africa.