Sasol/Princeton Field Guide: Birds Of Southern Africa

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Tara

I am a bit confused as this book seems to have two publishers, this may be a geographical thing. I bought the 3rd edition (2002) published by Sasol the last time we were in South Africa in April 2009 and found the maps and illustrations to be of a very high standard. The latest edition – 4th edition was published by Princeton in Nov 2011 (at least for the USA market) and is available on Amazon.com. The authors are the same – Ian Sinclair, Phil Hockey, Warwick Tarboton & Peter Ryan.

*If you use my link to buy this or any other book through Amazon.com I will get a small commission. Thank you for your support!

Meet “My” Cape Parrot Family

Posted on December 21, 2014 by Tara

Most of my glimpses of wild birds, especially parrots is a bird flying at the speed of light over my head or hiding in trees. I never imagined that I would get to spend a few quality HOURS with this beautiful little family of Cape Parrots! They are part of the flock who live & breed in Hogsback and fly down to King William’s Town during the day to forage. Much to my surprise, they don’t make a lot of noise. Since my eyesight is terrible and I rely on sound and then movement to find a bird I would have missed them completely without the help of Rodnick Biljon who is part of the Cape Parrot Project and monitors the activities of the local birds.

Rodnick with my husband, Ina

Typical street with fruit trees that attract the parrots

You can see the fruit that they are eating in this tree.

All the photos taken in this tree are of the same 3 birds. The father (adult male) is the one with the red forehead and red shoulders. The mother (adult female) has a dull grey-ish brown head but she still has the red shoulders. The youngster has an orange-ish forehead and no red on the shoulders. If you are particularly “tuned in” to birds, you can also see he has this wide-eyed, innocent look about him but also an air of “wow, what a cool world”! It’s hard to explain, maybe you just need to see them for yourselves. Even before Rodnick explained the colouration of the adult and juvenile birds, I had picked the youngster out by his behaviour. He was a bit more awkward in moving about the tree while the parents are agile and graceful, they know what they are doing. A couple times he went for a branch, missed and had to scramble to get his balance…………then he looked kind of embarrassed that I had witnessed his blooper!

All 3 birds were eating the berries and at times the two adults would snuggle and preen each other or one of them would preen the baby or feed him, though he was quite capable of feeding himself. They tended to stick together, never more than a meter or so apart. I was so touched by the affection shown between the family members!

I think this is the part where we drove around the area after seeing a few other Cape Parrots fly past. We saw other birds foraging alongside the parrots, everyone seemed to get along just fine.

Now we are back to “my” Cape Parrot family again. I couldn’t believe they were still there!

Here’s the youngster trying to fly from one branch to another a bit awkwardly.

They all spent quite a bit of time preening. Guess they wanted to look their best for the blog! I have seen 1000’s of birds all over the world, some of which are rare and endangered like these Cape Parrots. But that isn’t why I remember these guys and treasure the time I spend with them. It’s because they let me in. They didn’t mind sharing their private lives with me for a few hours and somehow they knew they were safe with me. I do hope they realize that not all humans are as well-meaning as people like Rodnick, Ina & myself. Some people would try to harm them or capture them so I hope they learn to keep a safe distance from humans. I was at times close to 4 meters below them. I hope they stay safe and the youngster grows up to be a happy, healthy parent of the next generation!

Lodge Review: 2 Oaks Guesthouse, King William’s Town, South Africa

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Tara

King William’s Town is not the easiest place in the world to get information on accommodations. There aren’t even many places on Trip Advisor so we were just planning to drive there, drive around town and hope to find something. Luckily, as I was discussing our birding plans on the Cape Parrot Project Facebook page, one of the members recommended this lovely little guesthouse that was run by one of their members – Joanne Stolk.

I immediately felt at home, this could have been a house in my home state of Queensland. 2 Oaks Guesthouse (and the trees it is named after) is located in a quiet neighborhood only a few minutes drove from town which was great as we didn’t have to listen to noise from traffic, only the noise from the Hadeda Ibises which were just about everywhere! There’s a nice little picnic area on the porch where we ended up eating takeaway for dinner and just relaxing.

The garden gets a lot of avian visitors, sometimes even Cape Parrots but they didn’t come while we were there.

The rooms are nice and large and have attached bathrooms. Beds are very comfy and we got a good night’s sleep after our epic journey but still got up early enough to go birding. Jet lag helped, our bodies never did figure out which time zone they were in! I loved the bird artwork on the walls!

A big home-cooked breakfast is served in the main dining room – eggs, bacon, toast, yogurt, juice, coffee, can’t remember what else but we had plenty to eat! They can do other meals as well, rates are on their website. We didn’t know what time we would be getting in after birding so just went for bed & breakfast. They can work the breakfast hours around birding.

A few birds we saw in and around the guesthouse during the 2 days we were there. The property is very safe and has a secure parking area. The rates are very reasonable, especially if your currency happens to be up against the rand! 2 Oaks Guesthouse is a fantastic deal and we really loved staying here. Joanne and her staff are so friendly, you feel like one of the family! And I am always happy to support someone who supports Cape Parrots!

The Cape Parrots Of King William’s Town, South Africa

Posted on December 18, 2014 by Tara

There is a lot of confusion about the classification of Cape Parrots. In the past, there were 3 subspecies: Poicephalus robustus robusts (Brown-headed Cape Parrots), Poicephalus robustus suahelicus and Poicephalus robustus fuscicollis (Grey-headed Cape Parrots). Cape Parrots have now been reclassified so the Brown-headed Cape Parrots are in their own species now – Poicephalus robustus and the two Grey-headed Cape Parrots are now in their own species divided into Poicephalus fusicollis suahelicus (the Grey-headed Cape Parrots in the Limpopo region) and Poicephalus fusicollis fusicollus (Grey headed/Brown-necked parrots found in West Africa. If all this is confusing, there is a good graph on Thor’s Cape Parrot page.

In this post, I will be blogging about my experience with Poicephalus robustus, the Brown-headed Cape Parrots. The distribution map below is extracted from Birdlife and I have indicated in blue the approximate range of these birds. They breed in the Hogsback area and fly down to King William’s Town most days to forage as fruit trees are plentiful.

Hogsback & King William’s Town

There is a very active, dedicated Facebook group called Cape Parrot Project and the members are happy to advise anyone who is really interested in learning more about these amazing birds.

If you are interested in visiting this area to see the Cape Parrots, you could fly into either Port Elizabeth or East London depending on your other travel plans. I went for Port Elizabeth and rented a car for the trip. You could visit Hogsback or King William’s Town depending on the season and availability of guides. These birds are much less noisy than I had anticipated and I would have had a lot of trouble locating them without the help of Rodnick Biljon from the Cape Parrots group. He monitors them regularly and knows where to find them. I won’t post an exact map of where they are currently found to protect the birds from potential poachers but I suggest contacting Rodnick on Facebook.

Another member of the Cape Parrot group, Joanne Stolk runs a wonderful little guest house called 2 Oaks Guesthouse which I reviewed on a separate post. You can also expect more Cape Parrot photos and other birding opportunities in King William’s Town!

South African Airways: Beijing – Johannesburg, Business Class

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Tara

Since I have already written a guide on how to get to South Africa using frequent flyer miles, I will jump right into the review of the flight. Business class awards are becoming an endangered species and it can be pretty tricky trying to get one on South African Airways since they are one of the best airlines serving JNB, the major gateway airport to this amazing country. This trip was originally going to happen in 2015 but was brought forward to 2014 as I was getting worried about the availability of amazing awards like this and couldn’t afford another devaluation by United.

First look at the plane from the gate in PEK.

Comfortable seats that lie flat!

Seat controls

The seat backs were already loaded with magazines, headphones and a nice amenity kit.

I was REALLY glad we weren’t going to do a 14 hour flight in economy!

The flight attendant took our orders for both dinner and breakfast. It was late and all I really wanted to do was sleep so I asked for a nice liqueur. She recommended Amarula which was absolutely divine and became my addiction for the rest of the trip (when I didn’t have a rental car to worry about).

With seat in the bed position, I slept like a log and was astonished to be woken a couple hours out of JNB with breakfast. Maybe the two layover excursions in Taipei & Beijing helped as I was totally exhausted. Best sleep I ever had on a plane!

These fruit crepes were delicious!

We landed right on time at JNB. The camera showed the plane’s position, it was pretty cool.

Business class got our own bus to immigration which was a breeze. You don’t even have to fill in arrival cards! Why can’t all countries be this smart & efficient?

To say the least, I loved South African Airways! Great service, punctual, comfortable, what more could you want? We still weren’t at our final destination: King William’s Town. One more short flight on British Airways/Comair and we would be there!

Did I Achieve My Birding Goals In Africa?

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Tara

During the planning stages of “The Mother of all African Adventures“, I was targeting areas in which parrot species could be found along with many other bird and mammal species. I will copy the targets here and give you the results to show how goal planning can affect your trip. Of course the trip will be blogged in detail over the next few months.

I have copied below the parrot species I was targeting which represent 17 out of the 24 species that are found in Africa and the neighboring island nations. Successes will be highlighted in lime green.

PARROT SPECIES FOUND IN AFRICA

1. Rose-ringed Parakeet – Psittacula krameri. We have seen them in several places in India and feral populations in Europe. Not a priority but may see them during the trip.

Result: Not seen on this trip.

2. Mauritius Parakeet – Psittacula echo. Habitat in Black River Gorges National Park, easily driven from hotel in Mauritius.

Result: Seen well in Black River Gorges National Park.

3. Gray Parrot – Psittacus erithacus. Has large range but many places difficult, expensive or possible unsafe to travel to. Easiest place to see them near Star Alliance airport is in Ghana at Kakum National Park.

Result: Only a pair seen flying at a distance in Kakum National Park.

4. Greater Vasa Parrot – Coracopsis vasa. Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Andasibe National Park.

Result: Seen well at Ankarafantsika National Park.

5. Lesser Vasa Parrot – Coracopsis nigra. Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Andasibe National Park.

Result: Seen well at Ankarafantsika National Park.

7. Black-winged Lovebird – Agapornis taranta. Found in Ethiopia. Slim chance to see them if there is a long layover at Addis Ababa.

Result: We had a scant hour of early dawn light to try to find them on a brief layover and failed to find any. Needed more time!

8. Red-headed Lovebird – Agapornis pullarius. Habitat not easily accessible, best chance is in Ghana.

Result: Poorly seen in dense foliage at University of Ghana, Accra.

11. Fischer’s Lovebird – Agapornis fischeri. Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Arusha, Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result: Seen well near Ndutu Safari Lodge on Serengeti border.

12. Yellow-collared Lovebird (Masked Lovebird) – Agapornis personatus. Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Arusha, Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result: Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

14. Grey-headed Lovebird – Agapornis canus. Madagascar endemic, easiest place to find them near Star Alliance airport is Anatanarivo’s Tsimbazaza Park.

Result: Seen at Ankarafantsika National Park.

15. Red-fronted (Jardine’s) Parrot – Poicephalus gulielmi. Targeted in Arusha National Park and possible Ghana.

Result: Seen at a distance at Arusha National Park, Tanzania

16. Cape Parrot – Poicephalus robustus. Southern coast of South Africa. Will try to find them as close as possible to Port Elizabeth.

Result: Seen well in King William’s Town, South Africa.

17. Brown-necked Parrot – Poicephalus fuscicollis. Subspecies of Cape Parrot. Have seen in Magoebaskloof, planning on return visit.

Result: Seen well at Magoebaskloof, South Africa.

18. Brown-headed Parrot – Poicephalus cryptoxanthus. Easiest to find in northern Kruger National Park.

Result: Seen well at Pretoriuskop Restcamp, Kruger National Park.

19. Red-bellied Parrot – Poicephalus rufiventris. Found in Tanzania, targeting them in Tarangire.

Result: Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

21. Meyer’s Parrot – Poicephalus meyeri. Several subspecies spread out over southern and central Africa. Best places to target them are northern South Africa and Tanzania’s Tarangire and Serengeti.

Result: Seen well at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania.

24. Senegal Parrot – Poicephalus senegalus. Wide-spread in West Africa but easiest place to see using Star Alliance airports would be Shai Hills, Ghana near Accra.

Result: Seen briefly at Shai Hills, Ghana.

By “seen well” I mean that the bird stuck around long enough to have a good look and get photos. In some cases, all we could see were birds flying rapidly through the trees or scrambling through foliage.

FINAL TALLY

17 out of 24 parrot species targeted.

15 out of these 17 were seen.

11 out of these 15 were “seen well”

That’s actually not bad when you consider how unpredictable wild birds can be, and it only happened because I did TONS of research to give myself the best possible odds!

iziKhwenene Project Wins Biodiversity Stewardship Award

Posted on July 16, 2014 by Tara

Hogsback is a place I intend to visit on my upcoming trip to Africa. It’s great that they are getting more recognition for the endangered Cape Parrots!

I will be flying into Port Elizabeth and renting a car. King Williams Town also has a decent population of Cape Parrots.

Click on the photo from original article for full story!

Hogsback, South Africa: Cape Parrot Project

Posted on April 2, 2014 by Tara

This is one of the areas I will be visiting in 2015 on my big Africa trip. This newsletter and video describe some of the conservation efforts to save wild Cape Parrots in the area.

Children learn about conservation

Please read this latest National Geographic NewsWatch blog:
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/05/involving-children-in-conservation-is-easy/

The Cape Parrot Project and our community-based conservation project, the iziKhwenene Project, are multi-generational projects that aim to stimulate positive change for Cape parrots, other threatened forest endemics (e.g. the Hogsback frog), local communities, and the degraded Afromontane forest patches they all depend upon for food, shelter and environmental services. We are working more and more with local children and through our “micr0-nurseries” and “Forest Custodians Program” hope to establish them as the future stewards and custodians of the communally-owned indigenous forests near their homes. Please watch this amazing 14-minute video on the iziKhwenene Project to learn more about our work.

Choosing The Best Rental Car For A Birding Trip

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Tara

Birding from a rental car can be fun, easy and economical! It allows you to be independent and to go where YOU want to go when YOU want to go there. Since I am on a budget, I have taken this approach several times in places as different as Brazil, South Africa and Australia. Since everyone’s needs are different, here are some things you should look at to help you decide which car you should rent for your own adventure.

VEHICLE TYPE

Economy car vs larger car – if you are traveling a long distance, get a car that will be comfortable to sit in for 8-10 hours. If you are only going short distances, a smaller economy car would be fine. Also consider that you may want to use the car as a hide and poke your camera out the window. Birds seem to be less frightened of parked cars than humans walking around in the open.
What type of roads are you driving on? Do you need a 4WD or at least a SUV? Or will a normal sedan car do? Be aware that 4WDs and SUVs can be more expensive in terms of fuel consumption so don’t get one unless you really need one. Does your preferred car hire company have restrictions on where you can drive (more about this below)?
Make sure there is a seat belt for each person who will be sitting in the car.
Will you have a lot of luggage? Make sure you get a car with enough storage room.
Do you want to be flexible and camp without reservations? Most campgrounds can take walk-in bookings for a camper-van even when their cabins may be fully booked. Or you can transport a tent & sleeping bags if you want to rough it.

RULES & REGULATIONS

In Australia, some car rental companies have rules about where the car may be driven. They nay not be there to enforce it, but if your car breaks down or you have an accident, you may find yourself financially liable for the full cost of the car! Here are some potential “no-nos”:

Driving on dirt/unpaved roads. There are usually exceptions for national parks or roads leading to accommodations or private homes, ask first. Even if you hire a 4WD, they may not allow you to take the car off-road. You need to know the road conditions at each of your birding locations so check beforehand.
Taking the car on a ferry. (Kangaroo Island, Bruny Island, Tasmania)
Driving between dusk and dawn in the Outback. This is because the danger increases that you could hit a kangaroo or other animal.
Driving on a beach or through a body of water.
There may be some restrictions on specific areas that are too remote for the car hire company to retrieve the car if something happens to it. An example would be north of Carnavon, in Western Australia.

GETTING THE BEST DEAL ON YOUR CAR

Once you have decided what kind of car you need, you now have to do more research to get the best price. Even spending a few hours on this can save you hundreds of dollars so it’s worth it! Here are some suggestions of places to look for a rental car bargain:

Your airline’s frequent flyer program may have discounts on the rate and/or give you extra miles. Here’s the United Airlines & American Airlines pages, but most other airlines have them too.
Your employer may have coupon codes for employees of your company if they are frequent car hire customers.
If you use a car rental company often, join their program (such as Hertz Gold Plus Rewards) to get deals for members only.
Flyertalk has coupon code threads for the majors but make sure you qualify to use the code first.
Auto clubs such as AAA, RACQ, NRMA, etc frequently have deals.
Online travel agents such as Expedia & Travelocity sometimes have flash sales which they email out to their customers, this could include a coupon code.
In some countries, you can use Priceline to “name your own price” for a rental car.
Check with Autoslash, they can track your booking and advise if you can get a better deal.
Holiday Autos has some good value car/insurance packages for some countries.
Check with your credit card provider to see if rental car insurance is included. Also make sure the country you will be traveling in in not on their exclusion list. Unfortunately, Australia & New Zealand are usually excluded.
Buying a cheap Sat-Nav/GPS locally will usually work out cheaper than hiring one from the company. Or buy extra maps for your own device.

With the correct research, you can soon be on your way to a truly individualized birding adventure of a lifetime in your very own private rental car!

Birding In Hogsback, South Africa

Posted on August 7, 2013 by Tara

Hogsback is one of the top birding destinations in South Africa and can easily be reached with a domestic flight to Port Elizabeth, then a 3 hour drive.

The most sought after bird here is the Cape Parrot (Poicephalus robustus) one of two subspecies of Cape Parrot. The other subspecies, (Poicephalus fuscicollis) can be found in the Magoebaskloof area. Cape Parrots are highly endangered and there are several people working hard in this area to try to save them. Cape Parrot Project, World Parrot Trust.

Hogsback has accommodation to suit every budget. Since I have not yet been here (it’s on my 2015 Africa trip) I can’t recommend any particular eco-lodge but there is a good selection on this website.

There are several birding tour operators in the area and links can be found on Fat Birder. You could try Aves or Graham Russell. The whole area is rich in birdlife and species you will want to look for include: Cape Parrot, Orange Ground Thrush, Bush Blackcap, Narina Trogon, Knysna Woodpecker, White Starred Robin, Olive Woodpecker, Chorister Robin-Chat, Blue-mantled Crested Flycatcher, Yellow-throated Woodland-warbler, Olive Bush-shrike, Cape Batis, African Emerald Cuckoo, Klaas’ Cuckoo, African Olive Pigeon, Red Chested Cuckoo, Brown Scrub Robin, Dark Backed Weaver,Drakensberg Prinia, Barrats Warbler, Dark Capped Yellow Warbler, Common Quail, Lazy Cisticola, Yellow Bishop, Red-necked Spurfowl, Thick-billed Weaver, Blue Crane, Grey Crowned Crane, Secretary Bird, Ground Woodpecker, Jackal Buzzard, Steppe Buzzard, Forest Buzzard, Long Crested Eagle, African Crowned Eagle, Martial Eagle, Rufous Chested, Black and Little Sparrowhawks , Rock Kestrels, Amur Kestrels as well as Yellow Billed Kites,and more.

Birding guides in the Hogsback area are welcome to leave their contact details in the comments section of this post.

Miles To The Wild

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Tag Archives: South Africa

Sasol/Princeton Field Guide: Birds Of Southern Africa

Meet “My” Cape Parrot Family

Lodge Review: 2 Oaks Guesthouse, King William’s Town, South Africa

The Cape Parrots Of King William’s Town, South Africa

South African Airways: Beijing – Johannesburg, Business Class

Did I Achieve My Birding Goals In Africa?

PARROT SPECIES FOUND IN AFRICA

FINAL TALLY

iziKhwenene Project Wins Biodiversity Stewardship Award

Hogsback, South Africa: Cape Parrot Project

Choosing The Best Rental Car For A Birding Trip

VEHICLE TYPE

RULES & REGULATIONS

GETTING THE BEST DEAL ON YOUR CAR

Birding In Hogsback, South Africa