Places to visit

Here are some of the birding destinations I enjoy:

Golden Harvest

This park is in Randburg, right next to Northgate Dome. I often walk my dogs there in the morning, and usually carry binoculars with me. The park has to date produced 139 species of birds, some highlights being Black, Little and Ovambo Sparrowhawks, Shikra, Giant, Malachite, Pied and Woodland Kingfishers, Spoonbill, Lesser and Greater Honeyguide, Black Crowned Tchagra and Black-headed, Black-crowned Night, Green-backed, Squacco, Purple and Grey Herons. In the summer a total of 50+ species of birds in a morning walk is easily possible.

To download a birdlist of the park, click here

Marievale Bird Sanctuary

Marievale is a great destination for a weekend morning, situated just outside of Nigel, it produces a wide variety of water birds as well as some grassland specials found near water, such as Marsh and Grass Owls. African Rails and African Rails are occasionally seen. It is a great place to find African Snipes. Horus Swifts are found near the mine dump next to Shelduck Hide.

Ntsikeni Nature Reserve

This is a wonderfully wild area, where you can really get away from it all. It is about 2 hours drive, West of Creighton, on some pretty harsh roads (especially if it's wet!) One of the more reliable spots to find Eurasian Bittern, however this is definitely not a given, as we found out! All three species of Cranes can be seen in the reserve, as well as Yellow breasted Pipit, Cape Vulture and a chance of Lammergeiers.

Mabusa Nature Reserve

Situated to the North East of Bronkhorstspruit, this reserve has quite diverse birdlife, inside the reserve as well as in the surrounds. It must be one of the most reliable spots around Gauteng for species such as Lazy Cisticola, Shelley's Francolin, Green-capped Eremomela and Barrow's Korhaan, to mention but a few. A four wheel drive vehicle is recommended in order to explore the majority of the reserve, especially after rains.