Darvill Resource Reserve 4/10/2009

The usual first Sunday-of-the-month Darvill outing, dawned cool misty. Instead of the usual 6am summer start, we had a 6.30am start. A fair number of us, led by Gordon Bennett, braved what looked to be slightly wet weather, but turned out to be just morning mist.

A fairly standard morning's birding was on offer [the SABAP2 list reached 75], with fewer than expected swallows. There were some White-throated Swallows and Black Saw-wings about, and very many Brown-throated Martins.

A Purple Gallinule [or rather African Purple Swamphen] showed very well for some time. The ducks were also fairly well represented. No fish eagle about, but a Long-crested put in a little display.

Should anyone want a list of what was seen, drop me an email [or leave a comment] and I will send one along.

Nature's Hideaway Outing on 20/09/2009

Eleven KZNMBC members enjoyed an outing to Nature's Valley on Sunday 20/9/09.

Neville Durow of the Lower Mpushini Conservancy met us at Pandora Long's property and guided us on a very interesting walk through both his and Pandora's property. The trail was well kept and clear.

Birding was perhaps a little slow as the weather was cool with a wind blowing. [We had a slightly late start thanks to the blog's author taking a wrong turn and leading the convoy halfway to Campbell's Drift, but I must stress that venue is extremely easy to find].

One suggestion was for future groups to perhaps be split into more manageable sizes, as much of the area is fairly thick woodland, with the inevitable stringing out of the group. This never the less allowed for some spirited discussion on Black-crowned and Southern Tchagra dialects.

The final tally for the moring was 56 species, the highlight being a Narina Trogon at the picnic site. This bird apparently showed well, but was unfortunately was not seen by the last three people to arrive back after the walk, not for lack of trying, I might add.

This is ceratinly a good birding venue with lots of potential, and is open to the public. Simply contact Neville to let him know when you would like to visit. Please contact me should you need directions and Neville's contact details, or if you would like a copy of the bird list for the day [this courtesy of Malcolm Robinson who completed the atlas card for the outing].