Ken Borland

Pilanesberg National Park has open grasslands and plenty of soothing aquatic habitats, but, driving around the fourth largest conserved area in South Africa, one cannot help but notice the violent, almost cataclysmic events that shaped the spectacular scenery.

Pilanesberg is centred on the crater of an extinct volcano with its mountains being a series of concentric rings of igneous rock i.e. solidified lava. The forces of erosion, operating on cracks and faults, have then created a broad valley running from the south-west of the park to the north-east.

The fascinating geology of Pilanesberg gives rise to diverse vegetation, which in turn produces great birding.

Although much of the park comprises broadleaved woodland and open grassland, which contains fewer birds, there are areas of thornveld and its rich insect life, as well as some of the special birds that call Acacias home.

These thornveld endemics can be tricky to spot, but the Manyane campsite is set in a stand of typical Kalahari Thornveld, dominated by stately Acacias.

So walking around the campsite always provides plenty of birds at close quarters and on this occasion, the highlight was a Burntnecked Eremomela which hung around for a long time in a thorn tree close to our site.

Crested and Swainson’s Francolin, Redbilled Hornbill, Yellowfronted Canary, Goldenbreasted Bunting, Redwinged Starling and Whitebrowed Scrub Robin were also friendly neighbours, along with a Blackbacked Puffback and a Brubru amongst a host of species in a bird party in the tree above our camp.

Arrowmarked Babblers would move determinedly through the camp, grabbing breakfast tidbits, while a business of Banded Mongoose would also come foraging through camp, making their delightful purring noises. Longtailed Shrike was a visitor to the Acacia trees as well, which often also held colourful Southern Tree Agama. Chacma Baboons were less welcome intruders.

The Tlou Drive, pretty much in the centre of the park, goes through classic Acacia thickets in areas of open grassland, both short and long. In other words great bushveld country and ideal habitat for the beautiful Violeteared Waxbill.

Being August, the bush was dry and brown, so a Violeteared Waxbill with its dazzling mixture of blue, violet and red offset against chestnut, really stands out when the bird is strolling around on the ground on an exposed culvert.

In the same area, a Crimsonbreasted Shrike and a Pied Barbet were also hanging around, so there was a sudden, startling burst of colour amongst the otherwise drab winter tones of the Tlou Drive.

A Steenbok was hiding in a little grove of trees and African Elephant were also around.

The Mankwe Dam is the largest water body in Pilanesberg and an ideal place to spot the mammals and birds that are attracted to the water. There were lots of Blue Wildebeest and Giraffe (including, unfortunately, a deceased one) on this occasion, as well as Nile Crocodile.

The Hippo Loop is one of the better roads from which to explore Mankwe Dam, allowing one to get very close to the north-western shore.

There, where the last of the previous summer’s water was draining away, leaving soft mud perfect for waders in its retreat, were some strange long-billed birds.

Heavily marked with brown, black and buff, there were four of them probing deeply and rhythmically into the mud. It took a while to identify them because the only African Snipe I had seen previously were single birds either flying over a wetland, doing their characteristic drumming display, or crouching in thick vegetation.

But apparently they are known for coming out and foraging in the open when water levels recede, exposing the soft mud that contains the worms that are their favourite prey.

A Tawny Eagle and a few Greater Striped Swallow were flying about, while a Chinspot Batis was investigating the bushes.

The other water birds present were Great White Egret, Yellowbilled Duck, Reed Cormorant, Egyptian Goose and African Fish Eagle.

Tlodi Dam is a much smaller water body close to Manyane Camp and Pearlbreasted Swallow is often seen here collecting mud from the water’s edge for its nest.

There are usually Hippopotamus in the dam as well and plenty of Southern Masked Weaver starting to get into breeding plumage.

Heading north from Manyane will bring you to the Malatse Dam, which has an excellent hide that allows you to get close to the action. With the hide facing east, it’s a good place to spend the late afternoon, only about 9km from camp, and the sort of place to spot exciting stuff.

African Spoonbill, African Darter and Dabchick were out on the water, while a Threebanded Plover was dashing about and a Natal Francolin was right below the hide window.

The Tshwene Drive links Manyane camp with the centre of the park and Mankwe Dam, and goes through often tall grassland with thorny and bushy thickets.

This is ideal country for the Browncrowned Tchagra and sure enough one landed on top of a bush, vigorously wagged its tail and then dived into a thicket as we possibly disturbed an imminent flight display.

The area also produced Blackchested Prinia, Marico Flycatcher and Lilacbreasted Roller.

Ntshwe Drive is one of the gateways to the western portion of the park and is rather scenic with trees and koppies.

White Rhinoceros, accompanied by Redbilled Oxpecker, were present as was a solitary Redeyed Bulbul, which was much more secretive than its common cousin, the Blackeyed. Kalahari Robin was also present but inconspicuous.

The Tshepe Drive also heads towards Mankwe Dam, approaching from the south-east of the park and is well-vegetated and full of game. Having spotted Tsessebe and Springbok, we came across a beautiful Lioness and then, shortly after she sauntered towards the road, a nine-strong pride of youthful, virile-looking males followed her.

Sightings list

Helmeted Guineafowl

Crested Francolin

Redbilled Hornbill

Arrowmarked Babbler

Forktailed Drongo

Common Myna

Longtailed Shrike

Longbilled Crombec

Swainson’s Francolin

Whitebrowed Scrub Robin

Burntnecked Eremomela

Impala

Pied Crow

Vervet Monkey

Cape Turtle Dove

Redfaced Mousebird

Warthog

Southern Yellowbilled Hornbill

Southern Masked Weaver

Blackshouldered Kite

Greater Kudu

Marico Flycatcher

Browncrowned Tchagra

Grey Lourie

Blue Wildebeest

Blackeyed Bulbul

Giraffe

Chinspot Batis

White Rhinoceros

Redbilled Oxpecker

Redeyed Bulbul

Kalahari Robin

Crimsonbreasted Shrike

Sabota Lark

Southern Boubou

Slender Mongoose

Pied Barbet

Chestnutvented Tit Babbler

Fiscal Flycatcher

Violeteared Waxbill

African Elephant

Speckled Mousebird

Steenbok

Groundscraper Thrush

Glossy Starling

Blackchested Prinia

Rock Pigeon

Blackbacked Puffback

Brubru

Pearlbreasted Swallow

Hippopotamus

Blacksmith Plover

Blue Waxbill

Tsessebe

Lion

Springbok

Crested Barbet

Whitebreasted Cormorant

Grey Heron

Greater Striped Swallow

Tawny Eagle

Laughing Dove

Banded Mongoose

Yellowfronted Canary

Chacma Baboon

African Spoonbill

African Darter

Dabchick

Natal Francolin

Threebanded Plover

Familiar Chat

Kurrichane Thrush

Neddicky

Grey Hornbill

Lilacbreasted Roller

Nile Crocodile

Great White Egret

Yellowbilled Duck

Reed Cormorant

Serrated Hinged Terrapin

Egyptian Goose

African Snipe

African Fish Eagle

Goldenbreasted Bunting

Southern Tree Agama

Redwinged Starling

Mapungubwe National Park is renowned for its hostile rocky terrain and hardy baobabs, but at 6.25pm on January 25, the sun is setting and casting its rays over a tropical wetland, reflecting off the water and illuminating the drowned Fever Trees in a magical light.

Through this idyllic setting, two small waterfowl come cruising towards the Maloutswa Pan Hide, easing their way through the vegetation on the water’s surface.

Soon the distinctive small white faces, chestnut breasts and dark green upperparts of the Pygmy Goose became clear – a Lifer and just as I had imagined seeing the most beautiful and exotic of our ducks, and a rather scarce tropical visitor at that.

The illustrations of them in the bird guides have always enthralled me with their beautiful colours, and in real life the Pygmy Goose is even cuter with their bright yellow beaks, drifting serenely through the water lilies.

Maloutswa Pan is a superb spot for birding and typical birds seen are Giant and Pied kingfishers, Threebanded Plover, African Pied Wagtail, Blackwinged Stilt, Diederik Cuckoo, Swainson’s Francolin, Whitefaced Duck, Redbilled Buffalo Weaver, Greenbacked Heron, Egyptian Goose, Wood Sandpiper, African Jacana, Sacred Ibis and Blacksmith Plover.

Numerous other species come and go and on this occasion, a Lanner Falcon was flying along the pan and Abdim’s Stork also flew past, while African Mourning Dove were in one of the dead trees. A male was approaching a female all bowing and cooing and currowling … only for the female to simply fly off! Ah, the perils of courtship.

A large herd of Elephant were making their daily late-afternoon trek from Maloutswa towards the Limpopo River, while a Greybacked Camaroptera was chirping away in an Umbrella Thorn at the hide. The Hadeda Ibis which had loudly announced my arrival had begun to settle down.

Mapungubwe NP is divided into eastern and western sections and Maloutswa is in the western portion, on the Limpopo River floodplain. There is another interesting body of water in the eastern section, a little dam close to the park’s main entrance, and there, along with a Common Sandpiper, was a Common Moorhen.

At first I thought it was a family of Common Moorhen because there were smaller ones with it … Closer inspection, however, revealed a mostly yellow bill, rather than red, and I had a second Lifer, the Lesser Moorhen! Again, it was a fantastic sighting, with the Common Moorhen alongside for comparison.

The brilliant waterbirding in this otherwise dry, hostile environment doesn’t stop there. Between the western and eastern portions of the park lie the Den Staat Wetlands, situated on a private farm but apparently now open to people staying in the park.

The large retention dams with varying levels of water are packed with birds and my late afternoon visit provided African Spoonbill, Ruff, Marsh Sandpiper, African Darter and Fulvous Duck on the water, while the rank vegetation around the dams had Yellowcrowned Bishop just chizzling away, Bluecheeked Bee-Eater, a prowling Burchell’s Coucal, Blackshouldered Kite and Steppe Buzzard.

My visit to Mapungubwe coincided with the place going to seed. But in a good way as the grass had grown to over a metre high in some places, higher than the 4×4’s bonnet and laden with seed.

It soon became apparent that there were quails in there but, as they would fly out for one or two seconds and then disappear into the grass again, identifying them was a near-impossible task. Even in short grass, I would mark the spot where one landed, walk there and find nothing! My best guess, based on the white spots on dark brown I saw when I had a brief glance, was Harlequin Quail.

The frustration of the quails notwithstanding, driving through the Acacia woodland with its lush understorey was extremely rewarding. Wattled Starling were busy and conspicuous, as a Kori Bustard marched sternly through the veld. Less obvious were the Lesser Masked Weaver unobtrusively working its way through the canopy of trees and a Eurasian Golden Oriole silently moving through the same area.

A Booted Eagle came flying out of the woodland, with its distinctive chevron on a dark rump, while Redbilled Helmetshrike, European Cuckoo, Melba Finch, Southern Pied Babbler and Purple Roller were also delightful sightings. A Rattling Cisticola was high up on top of one of the Acacias.

The more open country also held some large flocks of Redbilled Quelea, such a common bird but the breeding males are still so beautiful with their bright pink facial wash and black mask. White Stork and Tawny Eagle were soaring overhead and Whitecrowned Shrike, Common Scimitarbill, Namaqua Dove and Longtailed Starling were also present.

As the sun was setting, a pair of African Hawk Eagle were sitting on a fence (used to keep Elephant out of a regenerating area of woodland), with one descending into the grass next to a big herd of Impala. Ground Hornbill were nearby too.

The Mapungubwe campsite is in the western section and one of the best I have ever had the pleasure of staying in. Mazhou is situated in the dense riverine forest of the Limpopo floodplain and birding is excellent, while various animals also pass through at close quarters.

A pair of Woodland Kingfisher were nesting in a tree at my particular site, with a pair of Crested Barbet in the same tree, in a hole higher up. But they were flying to and from an adjacent tree, so perhaps they had two nests in close proximity, or maybe their trips to the other tree were to divert attention away from their nest?

The delightful White Helmetshrike were visitors to my campsite, one of them struggling to swallow a large caterpillar, while a female Whitebellied Sunbird easily dispatched a spider it caught high in the canopy. A Bearded Woodpecker was also chattering away and easily seen from my chair as was a European Marsh Warbler on my final morning.

When night had just fallen, a Barred Owl flew into a tree above my ‘lounge’; then I heard a ‘chit chit chit’ and the adorable Lesser Bushbaby passed through, leaping acrobatically from tree-to-tree.

From camp it is a short drive to the Limpopo River banks and its huge riverine trees, with Grey Hornbill, Yellowbellied Bulbul and Speckled Mousebird all enjoying the fruiting figs. A Yellowbilled Stork and Bateleur were soaring overhead, while a Nile Monitor pretended to be a log on the side of the road.

Soon the distinctive calls of the African Fish Eagle were heard from overhead, the archetypal riverine raptor also soaring as the temperature reached 36°, the sort of heat that encouraged a Steenbok to go lie under a bush.

For real heat, however, exploring the eastern section, hot, dry and rugged Baobab country with jagged sandstone buttresses, will get you sweating.

Klipspringer, standing motionless like statues, adorn the weathered rocks, while it was so hot (39°) that a Giraffe was lying down under a Baobab chewing on his lunch with his buddy the Blue Wildebeest. It was a very peaceful scene until a biting fly seemingly jabbed the Wildebeest, leading to a typically comical reaction as the Gnu went tearing off in the direction of Zimbabwe.

The Giraffe and the Wildebeest were a slightly odd couple, but there were more regular pairs around like the Black Eagles soaring over a koppie and, at a pan deep in the Mopane in the Kanniedood area, Redheaded Finch amongst a host of queleas. Redbilled Teal were on the water and the surrounding area also held Longtailed Paradise Whydah, Cut-Throat Finch, European Roller and Pale Chanting Goshawk.

Other interesting birds on the “dry” side of Mapungubwe are Monotonous, Sabota and Flappet Larks and Black Kite.

The eastern portion of Mapungubwe also has frontage on to the Limpopo River, with a brilliant treetop boardwalk providing Meyer’s Parrot, given away by its screeching calls before it flew into a tree cavity, meaning it was probably nesting given the time of day. A Marabou Stork was also circling overhead, while beautiful bushveld birds such as the Broadbilled Roller, Brubru, Plumcoloured Starling and Goliath Heron are also present.

Other birds seen in the rich gallery forest were Jacobin Cuckoo, Tropical Boubou and Steelblue Widowfinch.

Even the farm roads around Mapungubwe are great for birding with Chestnutbacked Sparrowlark, Whitebrowed Sparrow Weaver, Amur Falcon and African Cuckoo on the dirt road through the agricultural lands and Pearlbreasted Swallow in amongst the European Swallows and Carmine Bee-Eaters all over the telephone wires. Blackchested Snake Eagle also often uses these perches.

 

Sightings list

Laughing Dove

Whitecrowned Shrike

Natal Francolin

Longtailed Starling

Woodland Kingfisher

Redbilled Hornbill

Vervet Monkey

Crested Barbet

Redeyed Dove

Tree Squirrel

Whitebacked Vulture

Spotted Flycatcher

Forktailed Drongo

Tawny Eagle

Redbilled Quelea

Whitefronted Bee-Eater

Blue Waxbill

Redbacked Shrike

Southern Greyheaded Sparrow

Common Scimitarbill

Namaqua Dove

Blue Wildebeest

Impala

Waterbuck

Plains Zebra

Redbilled Oxpecker

Warthog

Lilacbreasted Roller

Emeraldspotted Wood Dove

White Helmetshrike

Bushbuck

Whitebellied Sunbird

Cape Turtle Dove

Bearded Woodpecker

European Swallow

Carmine Bee-Eater

Boulenger’s Garter Snake

Chacma Baboon

Southern Masked Weaver

Redbilled Helmetshrike

Crowned Plover

Elephant

Cattle Egret

Rattling Cisticola

Greybacked Camaroptera

Hadeda Ibis

Whitefaced Duck

African Mourning Dove

Redbilled Buffalo Weaver

Greenbacked Heron

Egyptian Goose

Wood Sandpiper

African Jacana

Nile Crocodile

Abdim’s Stork

Sacred Ibis

Blacksmith Plover

African Hawk Eagle

Ground Hornbill

Barred Owl

Jameson’s Firefinch

Whitebrowed Scrub Robin

Jacobin Cuckoo

Grey Hornbill

Yellowbellied Bulbul

Speckled Mousebird

Tropical Boubou

Blackeyed Bulbul

Cardinal Woodpecker

Steelblue Widowfinch

Blackbacked Puffback

Whitewinged Widow

Southern Yellowbilled Hornbill

Yellowbilled Stork

Nile Monitor

Bateleur

Grey Heron

Redbilled Woodhoopoe

Dabchick

Hamerkop

African Fish Eagle

Wattled Starling

Steenbok

Kori Bustard

Slender Mongoose

Longbilled Crombec

Lesser Masked Weaver

Eurasian Golden Oriole

Banded Mongoose

Harlequin Quail

White Stork

Booted Eagle

European Cuckoo

Melba Finch

Purple Roller

Fantailed Cisticola

Lanner Falcon

Giant Kingfisher

Pied Kingfisher

Threebanded Plover

African Pied Wagtail

Blackwinged Stilt

Diederik Cuckoo

Pygmy Goose

Swainson’s Francolin

Lesser Bushbaby

Whitebrowed Sparrow Weaver

Chestnutbacked Sparrowlark

Amur Falcon

Pearlbreasted Swallow

African Cuckoo

Yellowthroated Sparrow

Monotonous Lark

Sabota Lark

Marsh Terrapin

Klipspringer

Cinnamonbreasted Rock Bunting

Rock Dassie

Tawnyflanked Prinia

Broadbilled Roller

Meyer’s Parrot

Southern Black Flycatcher

Brubru

Plumcoloured Starling

Wiretailed Swallow

Goliath Heron

Marabou Stork

Redwinged Starling

Flappet Lark

Giraffe

Black Eagle

Black Kite

Gemsbok

Redheaded Finch

Redbilled Teal

Longtailed Paradise Whydah

Cut-Throat Finch

European Roller

Goldenbreasted Bunting

Pale Chanting Goshawk

Helmeted Guineafowl

Common Moorhen

Lesser Moorhen

Common Sandpiper

Grey Lourie

Blackchested Snake Eagle

African Spoonbill

Ruff

Marsh Sandpiper

African Darter

Fulvous Duck

Yellowcrowned Bishop

Bluecheeked Bee-Eater

Burchell’s Coucal

Blackshouldered Kite

Steppe Buzzard

Southern Pied Babbler

European Marsh Warbler