Ken Borland

A mid-winter afternoon drive in the Pilanesberg National Park might not be the time hardened twitchers are expecting to see loads of exciting birds, but it was still a very rewarding jaunt on a sunny day that quickly dropped to just 13 degrees once the sun started setting.

My route took me from the Bakgatla gate at the top of the park, a Familiar Chat giving me the familiar greeting to the Pilanesberg as it flew into a tree and began flicking its tail, and was focused on the Dithabeneng Drive and the Acacia shrubs and thickets that characterise that route and prove very attractive to birds.

As is often the case in winter, the best birding happens when you chance upon a bird party – a flock of foraging birds comprised of mixed species. I had just turned on to the Dithabaneng Drive from the Moruleng link road when I hit one of these bird parties.

A pair of Marico Flycatchers on either side of the road were the initial birds spotted, but some non-breeding Southern Masked Weavers were also hopping about, there was a Forktailed Drongo aloofly surveying proceedings higher up on the trees and the obligatory Blackeyed Bulbuls were noisily jerking around the leaves.

And then two long-tailed birds went darting into the undergrowth. Closer inspection revealed the superb colours of the beautiful Violeteared Waxbill – the blue, chestnut, violet and red contrasting spectacularly with the general drab colours of thornveld in winter.

The Dithabaneng Dam was the next stop, but it was rather dry with just a couple of muddy pools left. A pair of Blacksmith Plover and a Forktailed Drongo playing sentinel was all that was left in terms of birdlife.

Still, the Dithabaneng Drive was providing enough to keep one interested: Chestnutvented Tit Babbler, Rattling Cisticola and Sabota Lark on the bushes, while a Kalahari Scrub Robin was perched in the open and singing away cheerfully.

The Malatse Dam is also off the Dithabaneng Drive, and here at least there was more activity with African Spoonbill, Whitebreasted Cormorant, Yellowbilled Duck, Threebanded Plover and Egyptian Goose on or next to the water. The hide at Malatse is east-facing so it is an ideal spot in the afternoon, as peaceful and tranquil as can be. The dead trees rising out of the shallows complete the scenic picture and also provide useful perches for birds, with a few Rock Pigeon using them as a stopover on this occasion.

Pearlbreasted Swallows and Grey Hornbill were also hanging around in the vicinity of the dam on the way back to the Dithabaneng Drive, where a Cape Bunting was being unusually secretive lurking in the thickets and not scratching around on the open ground as it normally does.

The Salty Springs are patches of water that run between Dithabaneng Drive, the eastern border of the park and Manyane camp, and they often throw up interesting sightings; today there were Blackwinged Stilt foraging and Blue Wildebeest had come to drink.

With a bit of time in hand, I veered off back west along the Potokwane Road, where another bird was hiding in a tree instead of being in its typical place on the ground – a Groundscraper Thrush. Perhaps something had scared it up there.

Map

Sightings list

Familiar Chat

Cinnamonbreasted Rock Bunting

Grey Lourie

Natal Francolin

Blackeyed Bulbul

Southern Yellowbilled Hornbill

African Elephant

Lilacbreasted Roller

Giraffe

Redbilled Oxpecker

Blacksmith Plover

Forktailed Drongo

Marico Flycatcher

Southern Masked Weaver

Violeteared Waxbill

Chestnutvented Titbabbler

Rattling Cisticola

Sabota Lark

Impala

Kalahari Scrub Robin

Plains Zebra

Cape Turtle Dove

Greater Kudu

Crested Francolin

African Spoonbill

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Rock Pigeon

Yellowbilled Duck

Threebanded Plover

Egyptian Goose

Pearlbreasted Swallow

Grey Hornbill

Crowned Plover

Crested Barbet

Cape Bunting

Blackwinged Stilt

Blue Wildebeest

Laughing Dove

Longtailed Shrike

Groundscraper Thrush

Being one of the largest specimens of humanity in Pretoria, Trevor Nyakane is not exactly hard to spot. But I was nevertheless very excited to see him at Loftus Versfeld the other day, mostly because of what he was doing.

Friday was a great day for the Proteas in Australia, neatly silencing all the negativity that was flying about just a day earlier, but it proved yet again just how quickly fortunes can change in top-level cricket.

It was four years ago in Perth that South Africa clinched their most recent series win over Australia, in a match that started in similar fashion with the Proteas bowled out cheaply on the first day, but by the end of an astonishing second day, they led by 292 runs with eight second-innings wickets intact.

Hashim Amla (he was dismissed for just a single on Friday following a duck on the first day) scored a magnificent 196 in 2012/13 and AB de Villiers scored a great 169 as South Africa went on to win by 309 runs.

Our cricket was in good shape back then as we were ranked number one in the world, and we’re not looking bad now either, but it got me thinking about how South Africa’s Test team would look in another four years time, in November 2020 through to January 2021 when a four-Test series is scheduled in Australia.

The fifth round of the Sunfoil Series was also entering its second day on Friday and the four-day domestic competition is obviously where one looks for an idea of what our Test side could look like when we next play the premier form of the game in Australia.

The naysayers and prophets of doom, who are mostly just anti-transformation, will try and con you into thinking the well of talent is being siphoned off overseas, but the first half of the Sunfoil Series has been full of memorable individual performances that are very exciting for the future.

It’s always fun during sleepy moments in play to pick fantasy XIs and this week I chose my Proteas Test squad for that 2020/21 trip to Australia.

Aiden Markram has steadily progressed from playing for a smaller cricketing school (Cornwall Hill College) to Pretoria Boys’ High, SA U19 captain, Northerns and is now plundering runs for the Titans in the Sunfoil Series, and I expect his progression will continue through into the Proteas team.

Opening the batting with him will either be the senior pro Dean Elgar, who will be 33, or Reeza Hendricks, who has come from Kimberley through the Knights to the big city of Joburg and the Highveld Lions.

Theunis de Bruyn was a University of Pretoria team-mate of Markram’s but is now playing for the Knights and accumulating runs with the sort of unflustered calm that makes it look like he’s playing village cricket; I would bet on him being the Proteas number three by 2020.

Temba Bavuma has just added more lustre to his reputation with his dogged half-century on the first day in Perth and, by the next Test series Down Under, I expect him to have even more responsibility as South Africa’s number four and the fulcrum of their batting.

Quinton de Kock was similarly brilliant and whether he goes all the way up the order to open in Tests will depend on whether another wicketkeeper/batsman comes through (Heinrich Klaasen/Clyde Fortuin?), but I’m sure he’s going to be batting in the top six by 2020 and scoring mountains of runs.

It’s going to be interesting to see whether Rilee Rossouw builds on his start in international cricket and becomes a Test regular, while David Miller is potentially going to push him hard judging by his form in this season’s Sunfoil Series.

Jacques Kallis was a massive part of the Proteas being number one in the world with his all-round ability and a position that was a problem once he retired should be well-stocked by 2020.

Was there ever a better start to a first-class career by someone so young as Wiaan Mulder made for the Lions? At just 18 years old he has already scored a century and taken seven wickets in an innings in A Section cricket. Clive Rice was a great Transvaal and Nottinghamshire all-rounder but he had to wait six years for his maiden first-class century and seven before he first took seven in an innings.

Andile Phehlukwayo was a revelation in the ODI series against Australia and will surely be waving for attention as well; Jason Smith has caught the eye for the Cape Cobras as their season goes down the tubes, while the likes of Chris Morris and Dwaine Pretorius might not be ready to say goodbye to international cricket just yet either.

Kagiso Rabada will surely be the spearhead of the South African attack, while Keshav Maharaj fronted up well enough on Test debut to suggest he will certainly be in the picture in 2020, along with fellow spinners Tabraiz Shamsi, Dane Piedt and Eddie Leie.

Who of Marchant de Lange, Hardus Viljoen, Duanne Olivier or Wayne Parnell will share the new ball with Rabada, while Lungi Ngidi has impressed with his bounce and accuracy in his first campaign with the Titans.